In this section, you can find information about starting out as an entrepreneur and how you can employ yourself as an entrepreneur either full-time or as a secondary activity. If you are interested in unemployment security as an entrepreneur, check out our Unemployment security section.

If you are an entrepreneur and about to become an employer, check out the other sections of the Employers and entrepreneurs target group.

Information and services related to company forms or company development, meanwhile, can be found Suomi.fi online service.

Entrepreneurial training offers you information on the daily running of a company and helps you plan your business.

In career coaching, you can clarify your thoughts on entrepreneurship as a career option.

In training for the purposes of establishing a business, you can deepen your understanding of, for example, marketing and the risks linked with running a company. You can also familiarise yourself with procedures related to setting up a business and develop your business idea and business plan further.

You can develop your business idea and receive support in the drafting of a business plan in a short-term entrepreneurial training, which is organised as labour market training. You can complete entrepreneurial training and courses for entrepreneurs as independent studies. Training for completing the Further Qualification for Entrepreneurs or parts of it is also organised as labour market training.

You can start your business while enrolled in entrepreneurial training.

When you are looking for a new employee, you should first go through your own networks, as well as those of your acquaintances and employees. The right person can be easily found this way. However, a person with the required skills is not always found in these networks, and this is when you should publicly announce the vacancy.

Nowadays, there are a lot of different job search and job posting sites online that allow you to easily search for new employees. Also publish the vacancy on your own website. Make sure to submit your job posting to Job Market Finland.

As an employer, you should also utilise social media. For example, LinkedIn has a wide range of experts from various fields who are looking for a new job. Many employers report their vacancies on Twitter with a # recruitment tag. In addition to this, Facebook and Instagram can be used to find suitable employees. With paid marketing, you get more visibility for your job postings on social media. Job postings are also still published in newspapers.

A recruitment event is a good way to find employees quickly, easily and efficiently. When you want to organise a recruitment event, you can use the premises of the TE Office or its partners. You can also get free expert assistance on event planning. Contact the TE Office and arrange an event.

If an employee cannot be found regardless of efforts, you can apply for support from the TE Office or the municipal employment services.

If you would like to recruit a young employee or skilled labour from abroad, please refer to our related content.

Financial support for recruitment and services for training a new employee

The employment subsidies granted by the TE Office and local government pilots, i.e. the pay subsidy, employment subsidy for those aged 55 or over and the subsidy for arranging working conditions, are based on the needs of both the job seeker and the employer. A job seeker needs help in finding a job and, as an employer, you need to find a skilled person for the job. A new suitable employee may be found in a job seeker whose job seeking is supported. A person who is partially able to work, has been unemployed for a long time, or is young, can also have useful skills and the right attitude to work and learn new things. You should also find out if your municipality offers employment bonuses.

You may also know a person that you would like to hire for your service but who does not have the skills required for the job. You can train employees in your organisation through an apprenticeship, Recruitment Training, vocational labour market training, or pay subsidy. In some situations, you can test a person's suitability for work by means of a work try-out. 

Working ability coordinator in support of the employer

The task of the working ability coordinator is to create practices and a procedure to promote the situation of job seekers and employees with partial working ability. The coordinator cooperates with employers and other regional networks in a goal-oriented and developmental manner.

The working ability coordinator helps you find solutions to your organization's labour shortage and offers hiring job seekers with partial working ability as an alternative. The coordinator will help you to understand the possibilities of employing job seekers with partial working ability and the appropriate tasks for them.

The working ability coordinator will also guide you in finding the right solutions for your already existing staff with partial working ability.

In addition to this, the working ability coordinator informs employers about various support services related to the employment of people with partial working ability.

You can hire an employee in your organization, but, instead of traditional recruitment, you can also buy or commission a service from another entrepreneur or professional. You can also use temporary hired-labour through an agency.

Different ways of employing skilled people give you flexibility to face changes in the labour market. The essential thing is that you understand what your needs are, what professional skills you need from the employee, and how often the task recurs. This way, you will be able to find the best possible employee for the vacancy, even in the long term.

All work carried out is paid either as pay or as compensation for work. When you commission work, you are usually subject to the contractor’s obligations and liability. This means that you have an obligation to determine whether the contractual partner has fulfilled their legal obligations. The client liability applies to temporary work and subcontracting contracts, but does not bind all private traders or households.

It may also be possible to commission business activities as voluntary work, but, in this case, taxation and other legislation related to voluntary work must be taken into account.

As a household, you can employ, for example, a personal assistant, a cleaner, or a renovator.

If you are interested in different ways of working from the job seeker's perspective, read more about self-employment.

When you are looking for special skills for your organisation, finding the right employee can be difficult. Take your time to think about what kind of skills are necessary for success at work and what skills you can be flexible about if necessary. Make a job posting carefully to ensure the best possible recruitment. Be prepared to not find a suitable employee in an instant. Instead of ready-made expertise, you can emphasise a readiness to learn and acquire new skills in the recruitment.

The following tips may be useful when recruiting people with special skills:

• Keep the list of requirements at an appropriate length. Too long a list can drive away good applicants. In a large group of candidates, you are most likely to find a skilled and committed employee.
• Ensure that the recruitment process is a smooth and pleasant experience for the candidates. A lengthy process can deter good applicants. Currently, in some sectors, there is a labour shortage, which has made the recruitment process speedier in general.
• Also see the potential in younger job seekers. You may find an employee among them who is willing to develop their professional skills.

You can search for a specialist in a particular field when you log in to Job Market Finland. You can create a job posting or browse the profiles published by job seekers by using different search criteria.

If you cannot find a suitable employee, you can, for example, train a specialist to meet the needs of your organisation, commission work from an entrepreneur, or look for a suitable person abroad.

You can also find entrepreneurs on the TE Offices' Vacancies service. You can also search for a partner for a cooperative or franchising chain or for an entrepreneur for a company that has a complete business idea.

You can leave your own job posting on the website free of charge or search for a suitable partner in the postings already on the website.

Announce your vacancy for an entrepreneur to the local TE Office or use the E-services (in Finnish).

There are many ways to broaden the competence of your employees. As an employer, you can offer your employees various courses or training and coaching sessions. You can also support employees' own studies. Job rotation also offers an opportunity to develop the expertise of your staff. It means that the employee is transferred to work on other tasks within the organisation for a fixed period. In addition to learning new tasks, the employee's knowledge of the organisation's activities is expanded.

For your organization to succeed, it is essential that you encourage your employees to learn new things. Encouraging your employees to have discussions together and share their experiences improves their sense of belonging there and they can learn from each other as well. As an employer, you can create an atmosphere that encourages everyone to learn new things.

Joint purchase training

You can get help with improving your staff’s expertise from the TE Services. Joint purchase training enables you to train your current or new employees in cooperation with TE Services. TE Services provide help in organising training, and as an employer, you participate in funding the training and student admissions. New or current entrepreneurs as well as temporary agency workers working in the company can also participate in the training.

Read more about joint purchase training on the ELY Centre’s website.