Speech, part 2
4) state-supported and local business offices, help on the way.
This previous milestone regarding Administration brings me to the support system in Finland.
We find that there is the state operated offices, and the privately run organizations – and companies.
On the state side, we have : KELA, TE-office, YristysEspoo.
In the private sector, we have : Suomen Yrittäjät, with local chapter Espoo Yrittäjät, which is an organisation of mostly high level service companies, such as bookkeeping, law advising companies, insurance, etc.
On the state side, YristysEspoo has by far been the most helping office. Here I have participated in a number of informative sessions, for example :
- the difference between company forms. (stock, limited, sole)
- what to think about when starting a company.
- one is made to reflect upon questions such as : Does one have sufficient experience, the mindset to be run a business?
- who are the potential customers, the customer segment?
If you need a bookkeeper, bank or insurance company, YristysEspoo will typically hand you 3 contacts of each category from the local businesses, registered in Suomen Yrittäjät.
- special sessions : to make a business calculation. How to prepare for, and fill the papers for starttiraha support.
- guidance of where to find the electronic application at PRH, the state ministry for company registration.
After having registered a company, meaning now being in operation, YristysEspoo invites companies regularly to free information sessions, for example:
- on best practice in social media
- marketing, billing for your services, and
- cyber treats like fraud billing
These sessions are also excellent networking opportunities, where time is allocated to talk with like-minded and exchange ideas.
[ Then there is Espoo Yritykset, which is a sub-organisation to Suomen Yritykset, a network of companies that have registered for a fee. A marketing tool for quick access to local companies. ]
5. project manage the road to creating sales & marketing channels.
Continuing building on my key excel sheet of Schedule management,
I needed to manage and collect my thoughts on social media, the content and channels I wish to use.
All the details, ideas and so on, I record on my iPad in an app called ‘Office Assistant Pro’. This is a collection of 4 tools, that are very similar – and almost compatible – with MS excel, word, adobe pdf and notes.
So, here I use excel, where, within one file, I maintain and update about 8 separate pages. For example:
- my CF strategy,
- marketing strategy,
- list of contact types (marketing channels),
- list of possible Risks (and their likelihood, as well as
SoMe channels I utilize; FB, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn.
6. project manage the road to create substance to sell (case specific).
As before mentioned, in the start I had only a vague vision of how the products I would sell would look like, I only knew what service they would provide and for a very limited portfolio of products I knew what they would actually look like.
As a continuous process, I would update a set of note files on my mobile any time an idea would emerge.
Some key constraints, in addition to money, have so far been space where to build. My start-up garage has been my living room at home, where at times my tools and material have take the space for a number of selected weekends or a whole week – to my wife’s joy… the ceiling and walls in our home are getting filled by prototype projects.
About the author
Martin R.C. Andersson is an engineer with a soft spot for project management.
With a keen interest in room treatment through sound and light control,
always looking to tweak for that noise-free listening… to be a norm.
Values silence, and now and then some solitude.
Thinks Mindfulness is a state of being when work really gets done – well done.
When thoughts flow – without disruption – to reach a creative state or finish what’s at hand.
When the outside world is tuned out, and performance is tuned in.
Feels best when Minimalism, Functionalism and Art come together, crossing their paths.
Return to home page Desiderata.
[ mr_martin_1@hotmail.com ] edecd8