Understanding the diaspora entrepreneurship in Finland

Diasporas are people that live and work somewhere else than in their original home countries. They like to maintain strong ties to their origin. When they start their own business, they play a critical role in two different nations. In Finland, we need to understand the diaspora phenomena and develop the business services to immigrant entrepreneurs.

Diaspora refers to groups of persons of the same ethno-national origin who themselves, or their ancestors, voluntarily or under coercion migrated from one place to another, or to several other places, settled in these other places, and maintain their identity and various kinds of contacts with their place of origin. (Sheffer 2022.)

In Finland, the number of entrepreneurs, who originally come from some other country is around 10,000. In all, their businesses have around 30,000 employees and a turnover of €3.5 billion (Manai 2019). The trend is that the number of immigrants and international students are growing. It will most likely result in the growing numbers of business start-ups by the immigrant population in the future. Understanding the motivation factors, opportunities, challenges, and survival factors of diaspora businesses are important to help future immigrant entrepreneurs and policy makers.

Experiences of the entrepreneurs themselves

In her bachelor’s thesis, Dharel (2022) interviewed five entrepreneurs from four different cities to understand their experiences as an immigrant diaspora business owner in Finland. The results revealed that self-employment is viewed as a major accomplishment among immigrants, particularly in the context of the difficulties they encounter, such as the language barrier, a lack of employment possibilities, and a lack of cultural understanding.

People are sometimes “pulled” into self-employment. They may be enticed to the benefits and independence it offers but immigrants who have difficulties in finding employment are often “pushed” into it. (Aaltonen & Akola 2012, 3). Dharel’s (2022) thesis study discovered a mix of both push and pull factors among the entrepreneurs who had started their diaspora businesses. The common survival factors for the diaspora businesses were education, strong connection to ethnic and other networks, motivation and goals, and other sources of income.

Recommendations to help uplift diaspora businesses

Dharel’s (2022, 33–38) study results show few additional approaches to current business support system:

• tax incentives for start-ups until the business reaches certain profit ratio
• linguistic inclusion in government authorities
• better financial aids for immigrant businesses
• more inclusive policy making processes
• cultural awareness.

The well-prepared policies and government services help to attain the best outcomes for the ethnic communities and the host countries economy. The policies and services could be improved to motivate the immigrant entrepreneurs.

References

Aaltonen, S. & Akola, E. 2012. Lack of trust – the main obstacle for immigrant entrepreneurship? Turku School of Economics, University of Turku. Cited 21 Oct 2022. Available at http://pyk2.aalto.fi/ncsb2012/Aaltonen.pdf

Ashleshkshatri. 2020. Kshatri, A. Temppeli-palatsi-durbar–neliö-katu-5790082. Pixabay. Cited 9 Nov 2022. Available at https://pixabay.com/fi/photos/temppeli-palatsi-durbar–neli%c3%b6-katu-5790082/

Dharel, A. 2022. Motivation, challenges, and survival of diaspora entrepreneurs in Finland. Thesis. LAB University of Applied Sciences, Bachelor’s Degree Programme in International Business. Lahti. Cited 7 Nov 2022. Available at https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022110722130

Manai, A. 2019. Blog post: Entrepreneurship among immigrants to Finland on the rise. Suomen Yrittäjät. Cited 7 Nov 2022. Available at https://www.yrittajat.fi/en/news/blog-post-entrepreneurship-among-immigrants-to-finland-on-the-rise/

Scheffer, G. 2022. Diaspora. Encyclopedia Princetoniensis. Princeton University. Cited 9 Nov 2022. Available at https://pesd.princeton.edu/node/256