The role of the private sector in Sweden's total defence has been given much attention in recent years. In light of Sweden's dependency on private companies for many critical functions in society, official objectives have recently declared that the private sector needs to be engaged in the effort to strengthen Sweden's preparedness for long-term crises and ultimately war. This study addresses the following questions: - How did the Swedish state engage the private sector in the total defence during the cold war era? - Which challenges and solutions have been identified today by businesses and official agencies in a total defence context? - What is required to achieve an adequate preparedness in terms of crucial supplies and critical services? - Which methods and approaches could be utilized today in order to engage the private sector in the development of the total defence? These questions are supplemented with an analysis of the threats (from grey zone tactics to war) as well as a mapping of potential tools to move forward in terms of private-public efforts to meet these threats, in terms of regulations, policies, contracts, exercises and joint defence courses.