The financial situation of our member companies is very good
and is expected to remain so
Finnish start-ups see the financial situation of their own company as very positive.
More than two out of three companies feel that the financial situation has been good or very good and only well under a tenth of companies feel that the financial situation has been bad or very bad in the last three months. The member companies of the Finnish Startup Community also expect their own financial situation to develop favorably in the coming months.
Those that responded to the Finnish Startup Barometer have significantly increased their staff in recent years. The majority of companies estimate that they will increase their headcount in the near future. However, the lack of a skilled workforce is currently perceived as an obstacle to growth, and there are also indications from other statistics. As many as 56 percent of respondents mentioned a shortage of skilled labor as a barrier to growth, or at least slowing it down.
In the figures presented below the answering options “good” and “very good” are grouped together. Similar grouping method is applied to options “bad” and “very bad”.
How was the financial situation of your company in the last 3 months?
How do you assess the financial situation of your company in the next 3 months?
The data presented above can be summarized with so-called balance figures, where information is shown with one number.
From the balance figures of the responses, it is easy to see that the estimate for the next three months is slightly more positive than for the past three months.
The balance figures are obtained by deducting the weighted proportion of negative answers from that of positive answers.
Estimate of the company’s financial situation in balance figures
The development of the surrounding economic situation worries startups
Startups see the financial situation of their own company in particular in good shape but believe the surrounding economic situation is a little weaker. About 70 percent of companies believe that their own financial situation is good or very good, while the corresponding figure for the surrounding economic situation was only 56 percent.
In addition, confidence in the development of the surrounding economic situation over the next three months is weaker, as only 48 percent of respondents feel that the surrounding economic situation is good.
Surrounding economic situation in the last 3 months
Surrounding economic situation over the next 3 months
Startups’ confidence in the surrounding economic situation is declining. The background is the rise in costs caused by inflation, the nodes of international logistics and the availability of microchips. In addition, Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine have had a negative impact on startups’ outlook for the surrounding economy.
On the basis of the balance figures, it is clear that confidence in the economic situation surrounding the near future is weaker than the experience of the last three months.
Estimate of the surrounding economic situation in balance figures
Finland’s future big employers from start-ups?
The company’s ability to employ is important for economic growth. In terms of the sustainability of Finland’s public finances, the employment rate should increase significantly. According to the barometer’s results, the importance of the startup ecosystem for Finnish employment has grown and will continue to grow in the near future. As many as 75 percent of respondents reported a slight or large increase in staff over the past three months.
Number of employees in the last 3 months
Number of employees in the next 3 months
From the balance figures, it can be seen that the view on the development of the number of employees in the near future is slightly better than the estimate of the development of the last three months. The growth in the number of employees in startups strongly describes the rapid growth of the importance of startups as a new cornerstone of the Finnish economy.
Estimate of the number of employees in balance figures
