Background information

Enterprise Finland collects under a single umbrella brand all public entrepreneurial services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and for individuals interested in entrepreneurship.

Enterprise Finland is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment together with the organisations and interest groups of its administrative branch. The aim is to improve and facilitate the operational environment and conditions of enterprises in order to increase the country's competitiveness. Enterprise Finland helps firms to set up, expand, and develop their business operations and personnel. A range of services are provided; examples include providing assistance in setting up the company and evaluating alternative financing options.

Entrepreneurs may access business partners, guidebooks, and calculators and other tools for estimating, for example, costs or environmental effects, as required. Companies and those interested in founding a company are to be able to reach public business services equally everywhere in the country.

Content of measure

Enterprise Finland operates through three service channels:

• face-to-face services, which are provided by national and regional organisations;
• the Suomi.fi/company online service that offers up-to-date information on entrepreneurship and corporate activities, as well as corporate services and tools. The site contains administrative forms needed in the establishment of enterprise. The service also includes an electronic desk which offers information based on the user's profile information and tools to help entrepreneurs;
• the Enterprise Finland telephone service is a national service channel of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy for entrepreneurs and those planning on going into business. In addition, they offers an online chat service with the public enterprise services in Finland.

From 2018 onwards most of the services are found in the new online platform. The platform gathers a number of public administration services for citizens, companies and authorities, including information, electronic messages to authorities and authorisations. Local service points can be found at the TE Offices (Public employment and business services)

The following public business service organisations provide assistance to entrepreneurs in setting up and expanding their businesses: Finnvera (the official Export Credit Agency of Finland); Business Finland (Finpro - the national trade, internationalisation and investment development organisation and Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - merged); the Finnish Patent and Registration Office; Finnish Industry Investment; and the Tax Administration. A network of collaborators contribute to the web-based content.

Use of measure

According to a survey among Finnish SMEs (n=900) conducted by the Population Register Centre in early 2018, the awareness of the Suomi.fi/company online service had increased compared to the previus year. Approximately 40% of the companies reported that they had heard about the online services, and an additional 17% reported having used the services. This is an increase in awareness of the services of 10% compared to autumn 2017 when a corresponding survey was conducted. Some 27% of the respondents said they would recommend the portal.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government Public employment service	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

Views and reactions

Representatives for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and for the peak-level employer organisation, the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, agree that the main strength of the scheme is the coordination of all entrepreneurial services under one umbrella, which is helpful for entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs.

As noted both by representatives of the Ministry and the employer side, the user-friendliness of the service requires further development: there is much information available in the service, but it might be difficult for an entrepreneur to find what is relevant for them. The service could also be better coordinated with similar services, such as those of the internationalisation network Team Finland (Case FI-2013-5/2536).

Sources

• 18 April 2018: Population Register Centre VRK (2018), ’Suomi.fi-verkkopalvelun tunnettuus noussut yrittäjien keskuudessa’ (www.suomi.fi)