Gaining Useful Skills for Entrepreneurship
The expert organisations in education, Rastor, VAKK (professional education centre for adults) and YA! Vocational College of Ostrobothnia, offer entrepreneurs training, most of which leads to a qualification and all of which will help entrepreneurs to complement their skill set. All three of these partners organise, for example, training that leads to a further vocational qualification for entrepreneurs, or equips them for managing a company, as well as other vocational training.
Different skills are needed at different stages of a company and, with training, an entrepreneur can acquire the necessary skills and knowledge for themselves or their employees. A competitive market emphasises the importance of competence, because customers only want to buy the best.
“For each person starting a training course we construct a personal curriculum that takes into account their strengths and training needs. Our aim is to give our students, in a positive way, information that is as practical and realistic as possible about entrepreneurship and its challenges and possibilities,” says Päivi Ikävalko-Kivihaka, management and business trainer at VAKK.
Training leading to a further vocational qualification for entrepreneurs is well suited for both business owners just starting out and those who have been in business for some time. This annually provided training is flexible; you can apply for it throughout the year, the study materials can be accessed through a cloud service and personal training is provided according to each student’s needs.
Päivi Ikävalko-Kivihaka welcomes forward-looking entrepreneurs to VAKK’s training courses.
Documented training needs
The YA! college bases its own adult education and training on Ostrobothnian companies’ training and skill needs which have been documented. This is why there have been plenty of participants for YA!’s entrepreneur training courses, especially from the Swedish-speaking municipalities in its area.
For small businessmen and people planning to start a business, YA! organises the Företagarakademin (Entrepreneur Academy), which consists of training, themed events and personal guidance. The Entrepreneur Academy’s themes support the further vocational qualification for entrepreneurs extremely well and give small businessmen a chance to network.
“Ledarskapsforum (Leadership Forum) is a series of lectures designed for the needs of businesses, with networking and the social media playing an important role. Entrepreneurs and business managers can choose the most interesting lectures from the forum’s topical subjects and join us to learn and network,” YA!’s training coordinator Kim Byholm suggests.
There is something new in the Leadership Forum every year. This year it includes training events at successful Ostrobothnian companies which outsiders can also attend.
“This is a great way to present companies’ tried and tested methods in a concrete way also for other participants,” says trainer Johnny Forsman.
Johnny Forsman, Kim Byholm and Björn Brännbacka want
to accelerate entrepreneurs’ development through their training.
Excellent cooperation that serves companies
Rastor works nationwide and cooperates with enterprise agencies throughout the country. It has worked together with Startia for more than ten years.
“In Vaasa, we have organised and continue to organise training that leads to a further vocational qualification for entrepreneurs and a specialist vocational qualification in management. As a new offering in Ostrobothnia, we provide training that leads to a product developer’s specialist vocational qualification, because service and product development are key competitive factors in international markets,” says Rastor’s Customer Solution Manager Antti Vasela.
The representatives of all three training organisations praise Startia and VASEK for excellent, active cooperation. The Business Advisors know the study programmes their partners are offering, recognise their customers’ competence needs and so are able to recommend suitable training for them. Tommi Virkama from Startia also participates in the training, for example, by assessing students’ skills demonstrations for their further and specialist vocational qualifications.
“The cooperation works both ways, as we sometimes recommend that our entrepreneur students make an appointment at Startia," says YA! trainer Björn Brännbacka.
“And our shared customers can make use of Startia’s LISSU business plan programme also in their training,” Ikävalko-Kivihaka adds.
Text and photographs: Johanna Haveri, Viestintä Oy Prowomedia
Translation: Taina Pemberton
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