Supporting innovation and growth of microenterprises in peripheral region

Abstract

This study shares experiences of growth-oriented microenterprises and regional actors during a business development programme of peripheral region in Finland. University of Applied Sciences (UAS) and three Development Companies (DC) joined forces to build and test measures together with the entrepreneurs. DCs supported business planning and identified bottlenecks and potential development projects. UAS organized training camps in fundamental business skills and integrated students into development projects. The qualitative study aimed to better understand needs of microentrepreneurs and measures useful for them. As age and field of participating enterprises varied it was also used to identify differences between them. Theme interviews helped to discover perceived benefits and learning experience of microentrepreneurs and respective company developers. Altogether 24 micro-and small enterprises were followed throughout the two-year programme, which resulted in six product or service innovations and significant growth in seven enterprises. Entrepreneurs were also better equipped to face the challenging economic times. Policymakers and regional actors could use the findings when preparing their plans and actions on regional development. It was evident that intense cooperation between the actors increased the perceived and actual benefits for all parties. The study also revealed that jointly orchestrated measures clearly supported the development of most microenterprises by learning, cooperation, and anticipation. The same is even more true if the actors share the same field of interests. Circular economy was common field for some enterprises. This created potential for future cooperation and joint business development. Combination of different measures was assessed very useful. Though, start-up and young enterprises could utilize learning possibilities better than the incumbent entrepreneurs, who would prefer more tailored approach. Most useful fields of learning were future orientation and marketing. Microentrepreneurs anticipate future learning needs as well to be in digital marketing and sales. Development projects by students enhanced business development and even lead to innovations by some enterprises. In addition, students we found to gain wide entrepreneurial learning possibilities when cooperating with microentrepreneurs.