Student entrepreneurship

Different forms of entrepreneurship 

The transformation of work is a fact. Work is fragmented into increasingly small pieces, and people can have many different careers during their lives. In particular, today's young people do not want to limit their own interests to very narrow ones, but rather build a more diverse identity for themselves. 

Many people may take part in daily work for the payment of invoices, but at the same time invest time and energy in other matters – to express their own creativity and to live according to their personal values. Entrepreneurship is a natural way to implement one of these many working personalities. 

The future entrepreneur and employee have several different roles simultaneously and realise their dreams more diversely than before. Entrepreneurship and paid work are approaching each other, and there is increasing demand for the forms of work that exist somewhere between them. In the future, employee work and entrepreneurial work will be carried out in successive and overlapping periods. A full-time employee can be a part-time entrepreneur – and vice versa. It may be difficult to distinguish between paid work, dividend revenue and work for which an invoice is issued as main work and secondary work, as the person may feel that they are of equal value. 

Future researchers have predicted that by the end of the 2030s, up to 60 per cent of the Finnish labour force will be entrepreneurs or freelance workers and only 40 per cent will be traditional wage earners. For this reason, it is a good idea to start familiarising yourself with entrepreneurship well in advance and to map out the most suitable form of entrepreneurship for yourself.

The above figure illustrates the different forms of entrepreneurship and visualises Laurea's focus area of entrepreneurship education. With regard to entrepreneurship studies, Laurea wants to provide each student with an adequate basic understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of future working life and the ability to cope with it. After acquiring a basic understanding of entrepreneurship, students can progress to more challenging forms of entrepreneurship, such as sales agent entrepreneurship, change of ownership entrepreneurship or start-up entrepreneurship. 

Entrepreneurship studies at Laurea 

Each degree programme includes a certain number of entrepreneurship studies as part of compulsory studies. The number of compulsory entrepreneurship studies varies depending on the degree. In addition, each student can deepen their competence in the form of complementary entrepreneurship studies. Complementary entrepreneurship studies are the same for everyone, and they are presented in the figure below. 

From a Student to a professional, 1–2 credits 

Due to the accelerating pace of change in working life, more and more students are considering entrepreneurship as a career option for the future. For this reason, entrepreneurship is one of the themes of optional assignments for the ‘From a Student to a professional’ study units. The assignments related to the entrepreneurship theme in this module are on working life in the future (1 cr) and recognising one's own competence (1 cr). Students can complete both assignments or only one assignment according to their own needs. 

For whom? Bachelor’s degree 

When: Continuous implementation 

Language: English/Finnish 

Contact person: The personal tutor 

Entrepreneurship as Part of Career, 5 credits 

Entrepreneurship as Part of Career introduces the student to the changing working life and its entrepreneurial nature in particular. The course provides concrete tools for identifying your competence, pricing and commercial reflection. The course also provides an adequate understanding of the competence areas of accounting which a self-employed person needs. 

The course has been built as an online implementation where students can proceed according to their own schedule. The course is suitable for each student, regardless of their background or degree programme. This course may accelerate one’s own studies or complete summer studies. Enrolment for the course takes place three times a year, but you can join the course even during periods outside the enrolment periods.  

For whom? Bachelor’s/Master’s degree 

When: Continuous implementation 

Language: English/Finnish 

Contact person: antti.sekki@laurea.fi 

Activating Entrepreneurship Mindset and Understanding the Ecosystem, 5 credits 

Laurea organises various networking events together with LaureaES. At these events, you can meet other people interested in entrepreneurship, present your own business idea and receive feedback and inspiration. Each student may become an active LaureaES member and receive credits for it. Within this course, the student will assist LaureaES in organising events. In this way, the student learns to understand Finland's entrepreneurial ecosystem better and develops their own entrepreneurial capabilities. 

For whom? Bachelor’s degree 

When: Continuous implementation 

Language: English/Finnish 

Contact person: antti.sekki@laurea.fi 

Hatch incubator – programme, 5 credits 

Laurea, together with LaureaES, offers an 8-week Hatch programme In the autumn term that offers all students the opportunity to develop their business ideas and earn credits on the side. A total of 8–12 teams are selected for this idea incubator each year. The application process for Hatch Incubator Programme studies takes place on Hatch's own website. 

For whom? Bachelor’s/Master’s degree 

When: Autumn 

Language: English 

Contact person: antti.sekki@laurea.fi 

Cambridge Venture Camp, 5 credits 

The students participating in Cambridge Venture Camp learn about entrepreneurship and get guidance for developing their own ideas and earning credits. This international entrepreneurship camp has been organised in Laurea for more than ten years, and today it is being implemented together with LaureaES. There is a separate application process for Cambridge Venture Camp, which is available on the programme's own website. Each year, 5–8 teams are selected from Laurea to participate in the programme in question. 

For whom? Bachelor’s/Master’s degree 

When: Spring 

Language: English 

Contact person: antti.sekki@laurea.fi 

If you wish to develop your own company in a project-like manner, or if you wish to have prior learning or work related to the content entities described above recognised, contact the person responsible for the course. 

3AMK 

The 3AMK consortium (Laurea, Haaga-Helia and Metropolia) also offers joint studies in the field of entrepreneurship. 3AMK entrepreneurship courses are available on the 3AMK website. 

Other options include a variety of intensive sprints, such as the 10 Days 100 Challenges innovation challenge programme, where participants solve companies’ business challenges using co-creation approaches. This intensive implementation may be viewed from the course pages.

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