If you are planning on starting a business, you are welcome to stop by at Startia to discuss your business idea. Startia’s services are free of charge and the discussions are confidential.
- For a first time customer we usually reserve a two hour appointment, during which we discuss the business idea and how it came about, says Startia’s manager Tommi Virkama.

A handful of business advisors at Startia and VASEK help getting businesses up and running. The customers are booked for an appointment to the business advisor who knows best the customers branch of business . During the appointment the prospective entrepreneur is offered some practical advice and a cup of coffee to clear the thoughts.

Consideration and courage are usually what leads someone to take the decision to become an entrepreneur.
- Everything starts with a business idea and the thought how to make money off the idea. Also during the customer’s first appointment we usually examine the competition on the market and begin writing the customers own business plan through Lissu, Virkama continues.
Lissu is an interactive tool that helps create a business plan. In Lissu important facts like business environment, finance and funding possibilities are documented.
- When all the relevant information, for example utility calculations, is written in Lissu, the competitiveness of the business idea can be determined, Virkama explains.
The customer fills in all the calculations in the Lissu-program and the business advisor can comment the calculations directly in the system. This way the customer can start up the business at his/her own pace and gets to meet up with the business advisor in person when necessary.

Preparing for the first Startia visit

The prospective entrepreneur does not have to have the whole company package just about done when becoming a customer at Startia, but it is important that the customer has taken the time to think through the business idea.
- Startia supports all prospective entrepreneurs, whether they are experienced or beginners who know nothing about running a business, Virkama assures.

Sometimes the customer finds out through Lissu, that the business idea isn’t very competitive.
- It happens and there is nothing to be ashamed about. Then the plans have to be looked over carefully to see how they could be adjusted, so that the business idea would be profitable. The customers also have to ask themselves, if they have what it takes and if entrepreneurship is something they really want.

Paying Startia a visit is profitable in the long run. Companies started by Startia customers are more viable than others. 90 % of the companies are still up and running two years after the start and 80 % are active after five years. It is also necessary to underline that only 4 % of the companies are shut down because of bankruptcy. In comparison, a look at the Statistics Finland numbers show that only half of the new companies in Finland are active five years after start up.
- Enterprise agencies try to find all the pits before the customer starts the business, which explains the differences, Virkama knows.

Plans confirmed at Startia

Patrik Wargh and Joni Uunila found their way to Startia through the Employment and Economic Development Office, where they had gone to ask about start-up money.
- At the office they tipped us to come to Startia. And this visit really paid off. Lissu was a useful tool. We got our estimated calculations confirmed concerning our company’s turnover, says Uunila.
- All prospective entrepreneurs should count the turnover carefully, so that they have money left over for their own salary. Our calculations were somewhat imprecise but Startia gave us accurate numbers, acknowledges Wargh and continues:
- We also got useful information about taxes, insurances and pensions. Those are all things that entrepreneurs have to figure out themselves, since nobody comes to you to tell about them.

Tommi Virkama (on the left) helps Patrik Wargh and Joni Uunila with their turnover calculations.

Wargh and Uunila are both recent graduates and they will start working full-time with their company in June. The company will concentrate on digital media. Until now they’ve worked part-time with their company while studying.
- The following big step will be to market us and get new customers, Uunila laughs.