The City of Helsinki and the 4H Association's summer entrepreneurship programme aims to strengthen young people's skills in the world of work and lower the threshold for trying entrepreneurship. At the beginning of the summer, the participants completed 4H business training, after which they started their own businesses. The City of Helsinki offered each participant a €300 business voucher and the support of a personal entrepreneurial mentor for the whole summer.
This summer, 60 participants started in the 4H Business Summer programme, 58 of whom got their businesses off the ground. This is the fifth time that the City has offered this free programme.
“It's great that young people are interested in entrepreneurship. We want to support them in their first steps towards entrepreneurship, and the summer entrepreneurship programme has proven to be a great way to reach and support business-minded young people," says Team Manager of Business Advisory Services Simo Kovalainen from Business Helsinki.
Entrepreneurship skills can be learnt and developed through practice.
“The experience of doing something tangible and practising entrepreneurial skills when you are young makes it much easier to apply them later on. That is why working together and building skills are particularly important opportunities for young people," Kovalainen continues.
Young people come up with all manner of business ideas
During the summer, the young participants in the programme started a total of forty-one 4H businesses and established two trade names. These included a wide range of business activities, from café entrepreneurs to service and product entrepreneurs. According to the final survey, half (52%) of the participants plan to continue their business after the summer.
“The majority of the participants in the 4H Business Summer programme got their businesses off the ground and sold their products or services alone or together with friends,” says Business Coordinator Laura Tunkkari from the 4H Association of the Capital Region.
The participants felt that they had received useful information and support from the programme. The 4H business training, the availability of the entrepreneurial mentor and the opportunity to learn from other young entrepreneurs, in particular, were highlighted in the feedback. The programme received an overall rating of 4.1 (on a scale of 1 to 5), and 95% of the participants would recommend the programme to a friend.
“Young people's interest in entrepreneurship is constantly growing. According to our survey, summer entrepreneurs are motivated by the opportunity to earn money by doing what they like," Tunkkari continues.
Summer entrepreneurship programme strengthens important future skills
The summer entrepreneurship programme offers young people the opportunity to earn money by working, whilst also supporting them on their path to the world of work. After the programme, almost all participants (98%) said that they had identified their own strengths and interests, which they can build on in the future.
Friends Ronja Kemppainen and Ilona Lastunen set up a window cleaning company called Pesupimut.
“Our business was a real success! We had a good number of customers and the turnover was so good that we were awarded by the 4H for excellent turnover. The best thing about our business was that we were able to work with a friend and determine when we wanted to work," Lastunen says.
“We learnt a lot of useful information about accounting and invoicing during the 4H Business Summer programme training sessions. In addition, our self-confidence and the belief that we can achieve our dreams grew significantly during this summer,” Kemppainen says.
The City of Helsinki offers advice to start-up entrepreneurs and support for business start-ups.
