Starting your own

company in Finland
The number of small and medium-size companies has increased
in Finland in recent years, and entrepreneurship has become a
significant form of employment. If you would like to become
self-employed in Finland, there is a lot of information and advice
available also in English.

If you want to start your own company, you need to register with the
Business Information System (BIS), a service jointly maintained by
the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) and the Finnish Tax
Administration. When you register, you will receive a Business Identity
Code (Business ID). You need a business ID in order to be self-employed and work as an entrepreneur. More information here.

If you are thinking about becoming your own employer and establishing a limited company (osakeyhti) or a one-person business name
(toiminimi), there are many places to go for counseling. Business
counseling in Finland is a free service. You can receive counseling at
the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Finnish Enterprise Agencies, Enterprise Finland.

Read also Finnish Enterprise Agencies guide to entrepreneurship

and more tips here and here.

As an entrepreneur, you usually have to join the prepayment register and VAT register. Read more about the tax registers and taxation
here.

It is useful to make a thorough business plan and find out about the
licenses you need.

There are also several forms of financial support for starting entrepreneurs. Useful sources are Finnvera loans, or funding/support through
Yrityssuomi, Tekes, Ely-keskus, Invention Foundation - Keksintsti (website in Finnish).

Learnmera Oy
Info4Migrants

www.thelanguagemenu.com
www.info4migrants.com

I4M project number:

UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615

Starting your own

company in Finland

You can also apply for support for starting entrepreneurs in the form
of the start-up grant Starttiraha. The purpose of the startup grant is
to encourage new businesses and promote employment. The grant
provides an entrepreneur with a secure income during the time that
getting the business up and running, up to 18 months. You can apply
for the grant on the Enterprise Finland website.

The only form of insurance that entrepreneurs must take is entrepreneurs pension insurance (i.e. YEL insurance). This is available from
pension insurance companies. The largest pension insurance companies in Finland are Varma, Etera, Elo and Veritas.

You can also register for the entrepreneurs unemployment fund.

Read more here.

Read more information about living in Finland here.

Learnmera Oy
Info4Migrants

www.thelanguagemenu.com
www.info4migrants.com

I4M project number:

UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615