Ideas and tips for developing competence
For reliable information on a wide range of business-related themes, visit the following websites:
Suomen Yrittäjät website, advocacy for small and medium entrepreneurs
Suomi.fi website, information and services for companies
Sales and marketing competence
Marketing may seem like an unpleasant imposition. However, marketing is a prerequisite for sales. You can market in many ways, for example by using various digital channels or by producing content. Free advice on digital marketing can be found online for example in the video series (in Finnish) made by MKollektiivi and MMA sales and marketing professionals’ union.
Help for marketing planning from the Suomen Yrittäjät marketing checklist (in Finnish) and the Zoner blog (in Finnish).
How do I choose suitable marketing channels? Read more at Kubla blog (in Finnish).
How is customer understanding built? Read more at Proinno blog (in Finnish).
What is brand building about? Read more at Suomen Digimarkkinointi blog (in Finnish) and check tips from Blink Helsinki (in Finnish).
Read more about digital tools in sales and marketing at the significance of digitalisation for the success of SME’s (in Finnish) and test your knowledge of digital marketing terms (in Finnish) on the Suomen Yrittäjät blog.
Social media in sales and marketing, read the Duunitori Yrittäjän opas entrepreneur’s guide on business marketing and social media marketing, the benefits of social media for a company on the Suomen Digimarkkinointi blog and about targeted marketing communication on the LAMK publication (links in Finnish).
What does content marketing mean? Read more at the Genero website.
Financial competence
Financial competence is a key building block for the entrepreneur’s competence. The website of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises and Suomi.fi provides comprehensive information when you need to update your financial skills. Business Financial Management at Suomi.fi. For information on taxation and defining the value of the company (in Finnish), read the materials available on the Suomen Yrittäjät website.
If you need further information about accounting, you can download the Yrityksen kirjanpito-opas (in Finnish) from the Suomen Yrittäjät website.
Everyday economic terms for entrepreneurs? Read about cash flow (in Finnish) from the Netvisor blog, the significance of cash flow in business operations (in Finnish) from the Talousverkko blog ja expenditures, expenses and payments from ALV-tieto.fi.
How do I interpret the key figures in a financial statement? Read more at the Taloustutka website (in Finnish).
You can read about company budgeting on the Yrityksen-perustaminen.net website (in Finnish).
You can read about corporate taxation on the Suomi.fi corporate taxation pages, also do the Checklist for the founding of a new business on the Finnish Tax Authority’s website.
Check the Finnish Customs guide for corporate customers.
Read about corporate financing at the Suomen Yrittäjät data bank (in Finnish).
Read about investment planning at the Suomi.fi data bank.
Legal competence
How do I draw up my company’s agreements? And how do I enforce data protection and copyright laws? Is my company’s information security up to date? You can find information about concluding agreements and copyrights on the Suomen yrittäjät website. We recommend downloading the Tekijänoikeuksien ABC guide (ABC of Copyright, in Finnish) and the information security guide (in Finnish). We also recommend reading the GDPR guidelines on EU data protection regulations (in Finnish). If you need information on improving your company’s information security, read the SME Cyber Security Guide (in Finnish) and the ICC Cyber security guide for business (in Finnish) by the Finland Chamber of Commerce.
If you need more information about various agreements for entrepreneurs, read more at the Suomi.fi data bank.
The data protection principles and the rights of data subjects can be found on the website of the Data Protection Ombudsman.
How to identify and prevent scams Read the Identify and avoid scams guide on the Suomen Yrittäjät website.
Business development
Every entrepreneur must reserve time for business development. On the Suomen Yrittäjät website you can find tips for product and service development, drawing up a business plan (in Finnish), and developing the responsibility (in Finnish) of your company’s operations.
In addition, various networks not only support you in your everyday life, but can be a great place to find help and support for business development. You can find further information on the Networks to Support Small Entrepreneurs guide (in Finnish)! Don’t hesitate to contact your nearest Enterprise Agency or the service network coordinated by TE Services.
Read about a company’s social and financial responsibility on the Vastuullinen Suomi (Responsible Finland) website (in Finnish) and the Finnish Business & Society website.
If you need ideas for developing your own business model, read the article on business models in exceptional circumstances on the Bonfire blog (in Finnish) and about developing your business plan (in Finnish) on the Duunitori Entrepreneurs’ guide, also download the business model template (in Finnish) from the Suomidigi website.
You can find information on closing down a company on the Suomi.fi website, the Finnish Tax Administration website and Yrityspörssi blog (in Finnish).
People management
If your company has staff (including trainees) or you are considering hiring employees, read through the responsibilities of an employer. If you read only one guide, read the Information package for small enterprises.
In addition to the statutory obligations, you should ensure that your team works together and your company remains capable of renewal. Try the tips and exercises on the Onnistutaan yhdessä! (Let’s succeed together, in Finnish) workbook and and read the Guide for enabling an employee-oriented working culture (in Finnish).
You can read about the employer’s statutory obligations on the Suomi.fi website.
When hiring an employee, you can use the Suomi.fi Recruitment wizard.
For information on developing safe and healthy working conditions visit the Occupational Safety and Health Centre’s website and the Nolla tapaturmaa (Zero Accidents) Forum (in Finnish)..
What is a good development discussion like? Read more in the Työpiste online magazine article (in Finnish).
How to promote equality in the workplace? Read more on the website of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman and Equality.fi website.
Managing your own work
Managing one’s own work means, for example, that you draw up schedules for your work, think about the smaller tasks that large work entities consist of, and that you prioritise tasks. It also includes rewarding yourself for work done. Take care of your own ability to work by investing in leisure time.
For example, the Yrittäjänaisen kasvukirja (Entrepreneur Women’s Growth Book, in Finnish) has tools for managing one’s own work from the perspective of time management and setting goals. The book is also ideal for men!
However, do not remain alone with your business. Self-management requires strong support and safety nets. Read about entrepreneur’s well-being work (in Finnish) on the Mieli – Mental Health Finland website (in Finnish, contact the general Crisis Helpline for service in English at https://mieli.fi/en/support-and-help/). You can also contact the Yrittäjän kriisikeskus (Entrepreneur’s crisis centre, website in Finnish). Yrityskummit business mentors also offer exchange of ideas and mentoring.
Read more about time management on our website (in Finnish).
For tips for managing your own work, visit the Redesan blog (in Finnish).
You can read about managing your own work and taking care of yourself on the website of the Finnish institute of Occupational Health (in Finnish).
How do you turn stress into a resource? Read more at Tytti Laine’s blog (in Finnish).
Read more about self-awareness and self-appreciation on the Mieli ry website (in Finnish)