"I never would have believed it," I said to myself a few years ago, when I found myself in the middle of growth programmes and start-up buzz. Startup entrepreneurship is challenging, gruelling, exhilarating and immersive. How do you get through the journey unscathed? What is the importance of where you operate? Can a city support or enable growth? What do you find in front of you if you are a start-up entrepreneur in Järvenpää?
Start-up is the term for a young company that aims to grow strongly with a good business idea. Resources are often scarce and finding funding and the right partners can be time-consuming, especially if you start building new contacts from scratch. It is therefore important to take care of your own and your team's well-being from the start, as very few start-ups rise to success in the first few years. So you need muscles that can take the pressure and the miles - both in body and mind.
20 years as an entrepreneur have taught me a lot, but not much about what it's like to jump into a new kind of entrepreneurship as an early-middle-aged woman. It has felt strange to realise that what I knew or had achieved through previous business ventures meant very little when I was working in the startup world. This world was fast and changing, full of contacts, growth programmes, balancing a strong idea with financial inadequacy. And it took me with it completely.
In Finland, there is increasing talk about the social importance of start-ups, both in terms of job creation and strengthening a vibrant export culture. Support in the early years is very important. Many of the growth programmes for start-ups are run with the help of large cities and their partners. Of course, all cities would like their region to be the perfect breeding ground for growth. Can a start-up even take off from a smaller town with the help of local networks?
The City of Järvenpää supports you on an unknown journey
Järvenpää is an energetic and vibrant centre of businesses, entrepreneurship, work and labour with a population of around 46 000, located on the outskirts of the capital region. Diverse business activity through products or services provided by 3 000 companies in different sectors is the cornerstone of Järvenpää's growth and prosperity. In Järvenpää, SMEs account for around 90% of the city's business base, the same as in many other municipalities.
A smaller city that recognises the opportunities for growth and support for entrepreneurship, especially at an early stage, can be a force for the future. Decision-makers and city officials are more accessible and, at best, will surprise the start-up entrepreneur by going along for the ride.
As a start-up entrepreneur from Järvenpää, I found the Business Järvenpää team, which promotes the city's business and entrepreneurial life, and with them we were on the verge of something new. After a moment of reflection, the team dug out a bunch of contact details for local businesses and helped me to network with them in a concrete way. Business Järvenpää's experts are very familiar with the area and the companies that operate there, the services they provide and their strengths.
It's an overwhelming feeling when several people in the same room get excited with me, strive to open doors of growth through their own contacts and raise the flag high. You could even say that the first, small local network was born to support the growth of start-ups. We will arrange regular meetings with this team in the coming months to identify needs and support growth. I am delighted that we have been able tohe city's new Enterprise and Economy Programme and the city's underlying strategy aim to help in time, including helping businesses in time.
Working together, valuing different skills and enthusiasm can go a long way. The most important partners for a growth company can be found very close by, and at the same time the potential growth story supports both parties. As a start-up entrepreneur in Järvenpää, I found encouragement and new networks in front of me. Most importantly, I got to meet people who, through their positive attitude towards me and our small team, created a feeling that we are important to the city. I will always remember this no matter what happens in our growth story.
The author is ONIT Sport start-up entrepreneur and psychotherapist Laura Andelin (main photo).
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The Järvenpää Entrepreneurs blog features entrepreneurs in Järvenpää, who share their thoughts on entrepreneurship in the city, their own business history and their cooperation with the city's officials. Each business is an important part of the Business Järvenpää network and the city's attractiveness.