The unstable global situation has introduced new challenges also to business life. According to the regional forecast (2023), the growth expectations of entrepreneurs in Southwest Finland are now extremely low. The competence and growth of entrepreneurs and staff should thus be supported. According to the smart specialization strategy of Southwest Finland, the objective in supporting companies’ innovations is the continuous improvement of their competitiveness. In particular, the region should invest in increasing the turnover yielded by sustainable business and the related competence 

Several entrepreneurs in the region are also about to retire and thriving enterprises will disappear. According to the Change of Ownership Service in Southwest Finland, over 62% of over 55-year-olds estimated that they would resign the main responsibility for the company’s operations within the next 3 years and 81% believed they will resign in the next 5 years. The lack of buyers and successors is, however, a large obstacle to the change of ownership. These obstacles should be removed by increasing information on putting the company up for sale, companies’ purchasing options and company development.

The target group of the project are SME entrepreneurs and their employees, who want to develop themselves and their opportunities in their company and the world of work, and the employers and employees undergoing changes, such as those renouncing their companies and those continuing the company activities. The target group also includes representatives of renewable technology.

The main objective of the project is to provide the target group opportunities for continuous learning by creating a training entity, which provides the target group the opportunity to develop themselves and at the same time, develop the company activities and success opportunities in the changing operating environment and to verify their competence.

The project provides the target group the opportunity to develop their business and at the same time, educate themselves. In the beginning of the project, each participant drafts a learning agreement, which describes their own learning history, the current status and targeted competence and creates a plan for achieving new competence. In the Bootcamps in the first work package, the participants’ business plans are clarified. Here we utilize e.g., the Lean Canvas model. After this, the renewed business plan is elaborated with functional online training sessions and the Development Engine section. 

In the Work Packages, experts from different fields in Southwest Finland help entrepreneurs and their staff to renew their business operations. Along with the renewal, the participants network with other entrepreneurs and will get the Business Reformer Open Badge developed in the project.

As outputs, the project will yield learning agreements, renewed business plans developed with Lean Canvas and first changes according to the new business plans. New business competence to support the renewal and better customer service, new networks between companies, employees and experts in different fields will also emerge. The entity will result in the Business Reformer Open Badge and online course and a community of Edelläkävijät which can also be utilized after the project.

The project is implemented by Turku University of Applied Sciences Ltd and Yrityssalo Ltd and different experts from the region of Southwest Finland.