New skills and lessons from Vuosi yrittäjänä, Yeas as an entrepreneur
When Peik Ingström and Otto Bengts decided to participate in the Nuorten yrittäjyys and talous NYT:n Vuosi yrittäjänä, they wanted to establish a company that would address a specific need.
"Our thought was that there are people who don't have the opportunity to transport and recycle their old belongings, says Peik Ingström, who, together with Otto Bengts," founded a company called TavaratVientiinNYT.
The program is designed for comprehensive school grades 7–9, secondary education institutions, and higher education. Young people participating in the program establish a NYT company. The company operates with real money, and the young people decide for themselves what kind of company they establish. In addition to running the company, young people can, if they wish, participate in various NYT events both domestically and abroad.
Peik Ingström and Otto Bengts chose a business idea based on helping people transport and recycle used items such as furniture and home appliances. Although the company's idea was based on a need, starting the company's operations was not easy.
"The hardest part was simply getting customers for the company. Marketing was difficult," and we didn't succeed in it, says Peik.
Despite this, he felt that participating in the program brought many lessons.
"If you've ever thought about wanting to start your first company, but it seems too difficult, this is the perfect opportunity. You can start the company with guidance, and during the course, you learn a lot about entrepreneurship. We learned, among other things, how to make an invoice," Peik says.
Jill Sundström, a teacher working at Mattlidens gymnasium and one of the entrepreneurship course instructors, also believes that students can learn new things and ways of thinking by starting their own company. The teacher's role is to guide and mentor.
"I think it's important that we as teachers encourage our students to dare, to dare to try their business idea and learn from their mistakes. Our role is also to get students to think from a business perspective, for example, what our idea is, what customer problem our idea solves, what our target group is, and who we compete with," she says.
Both Peik and Jill felt that one of the highlights of the program was the closing event held at the Sello shopping center.
"The “Uskalla yrittää” event was probably the highlight of the course. It was a fun experience where you got to meet new people. It was also interesting to see what kind of companies students from other schools had come up with," Peik says.