Growth outside growth centres

For the development of municipalities and regions, it is essential that there are, and will be, developing companies in the area. Growth companies do not come out of nowhere. Growth requires the will and ability of the entrepreneur and the decision to grow. In addition, the right kind of soil is needed for growth, which is why decision-making and public business services in the state, regions and municipalities also have a role to play in building the conditions for growth. There are many definitions of growth. Some entrepreneurs speak directly about the desire to grow, while others prefer to talk about developing a business rather than growth. Growth is development and development is growth. Growth is success in development efforts, i.e. the result of doing the right thing.
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Growth can be identified by many different indicators. In the KASVA project, implemented by eight different organizations, we have interviewed business developers working in publicly funded business operators outside growth centres. According to them, growth companies are identified through euros, i.e. through turnover, profit or positive development of investments. The development of the number of personnel is also growing. However, these characteristics look back and do not indicate goals or opportunities for further growth.

It is necessary to dig deeper into the souls cape of an entrepreneur, exploring the will and ability to achieve growth. Growth-oriented entrepreneurs are associated with the words active, development-oriented and systematic. They are described as having a positive attitude towards change and new opportunities. They are also associated with the ability to assess the impacts and benefits of different solutions so that decisions can be made in a well-founded manner. The ability to reflect on one's own behavior is also at the core of the activity.

There are many ways to identify growth potential and growth characteristics. However, success in growth, like success in general, depends on the combined effect of many different factors. It can be about the factors of human, social and economic capital, which, if successful, can be achieved at the same time as growth and development that will stand the test of time and can be replicated. Human capital is competence and different ways of working, social capital can be thought of as networks and relationships, and financial capital returns to euros and the ability to produce financial good for customers, companies and its personnel.

A good question, however, is whether success can be repeated at all, or whether it is always a one-off situation that will never work the same again. When striving for success, it is good to at least remember that success once does not mean success in the future. Time, people and circumstances change, which is why the ability to observe upcoming changes in one's own operating environment and adapt to these new conditions is at the core of sustainable growth.

KASVA - Sustainable growth in SMEs through regional collaboration of research, innovation, and business development services project is a group project of low-threshold business service operators, entrepreneurs, researchers and innovation actors operating in different parts of Northern Ostrobothnia, the main objective of which is to promote the sustainable growth, renewal and development of companies in the region, the ability to change and the living and retention power of the regions.


Author: Henna Väätäinen, D.Sc., Project Manager of the KASVA project, researcher, Kerttu Saalasti Institute, University of Oulu, Microentrepreneurship Research Group MicroENTRE