Browsing by Subject "väestön rakennemuutos"

The thesis examines how social care entrepreneurship appears on farms and what kind of problems and challenges entrepreneurs might face in entrepreneurship. This thesis also describes the significance of farm work and the surrounding nature to daily business. Qualitative material consists of seven theme interviews. Interviews consists of three couple interview and four single interviews. Besides providing social care services on farms, entrepreneurs needed to practice active farming or provide services from the farm (in other words, the entrepreneur lives on the farm). Social care business could be at a planning stage or a functioning business. The most apparent underlying reason to start social care services were the structural changes in agriculture. Weak economic profitability in farming forces the entrepreneurs to search other sources of income. General interest and education related to social care was more common among the women and therefore also motivated women to start business in social care service businesses. Most problematic area in providing social care services was getting information and getting help in starting the business and also along the way. Acquiring customers and knowledge on open tendering in public purchases were also found difficult. Marketing wise entrepreneurs were not quite sure how to market the business in the right way. Ways of marketing were multiple, but difficulties were in identifying ones own business idea and providing the right information. Entrepreneurs were very aware of added value which comes from the surrounding nature and the visible work on the farm, but those values were not highly utilized in marketing. Many stimuli arising from farm activities playing a role in the daily business are not available in an urban setting. The combination of providing social care services and practicing farming causes problems in vacation arrangements and also takes care that entrepreneurs do not have problems in spending their leisuretime as it doesn´t exist much. Strength factors on farm background social care entrepreneurs are associated with the entrepreneurs experience in self-employment and the added value of rural areas. Entrepreneurs providing social care servies can succeed in competing if they carry on providing services in a professional way and are committed to their business.