Business advisory services successfully transferred to the City of Espoo
At the beginning of 2024, the responsibility for providing business advisory services transferred from Espoon Seudun Uusyrityskeskus (Espoo Regional Enterprise Agency) to the City of Espoo. The service that supports entrepreneurs and businesses has produced excellent results.
The business advisory services now provided by the City of Espoo are free of charge and offer a wide range of advice on all matters related to entrepreneurship and starting a business.
“Our typical clients are people applying for a start-up grant and immigrants who want to become self-employed,” says business advisor and team leader Matias Holmqvist. Advisory services are confidential and available in several languages: Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian and Chinese.
Clients are satisfied
From a client’s point of view, the transition was smooth. The Business Espoo network is now responsible for the appointment booking calendar and customer service, and most of the business advisors transferred to the City of Espoo. EnterpriseEspoo (YritysEspoo), which used to provide business advisory services, also changed its name to Espoon Seudun Uusyrityskeskus.
The results of business advisory services have remained at a high level. The Net Promotor Score (NPS), which measures customer satisfaction, has remained at an excellent level of 85–90. This means that 85–90% of clients would recommend the services to others. According to the 2024 Municipal Barometer, business services are among those city activities that entrepreneurs are most satisfied with. Espoo’s business advisory services have also received a record number of clients in comparison with other municipalities.
The city has also set the bar high. “Our goal is to offer Finland’s best business advisory services, have 2,000 advisory sessions every year and maintain a high level of service,” Holmqvist says.
Business Espoo helps in many situations
The City of Espoo is part of the Business Espoo network that brings all business services under one roof – both physically and online. In addition to the City of Espoo and Espoon Seudun Uusyrityskeskus, the network includes Enter Espoo, Espoon Yrittäjät, the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, Omnia and the Uusimaa TE Office. For clients, the network is a unified entity.
“For a company, it does not matter who offers the service. They just want to find a solution to their problem,” says Senior Planning Officer Maarit Viik-Kajander, explaining Business Espoo’s client-oriented approach.
Besides business advice, Business Espoo offers a wide range of services to support entrepreneurs from starting a business to recruitment and internationalisation. The services are divided into six categories: from an idea to a business, towards growth, internationalisation, competence development, recruitment support, and support for changing situations.
“Business Espoo’s extensive one-stop-shop service for businesses based on such close cooperation is unique in both Finland and globally,” Viik-Kajander says. In 2020, Business Espoo was one of the three finalists in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA).
Read more about business advisory services on the Business Espoo webpage.