Interview with Aline Hubregtse from Studio Formo - Finland
Interview with Aline Hubregtse from Studio Formo
'Be flexible. Be prepared that things might go differently. Show your ‘sisu’: don’t give up.'
What does your company do and which products or services do you offer?
Studio Formo is a graphic design company, founded by my Dutch husband Jaco and me in 2009. After moving to Finland we also created a new product brand called AKUprintti. AKUprintti are custom made, printed, acoustic walls for instance for schools, offices, and modern interiors.
How did you end up in Finland?
Jaco and I are nature lovers and always knew we wanted to move abroad. Northern Europe was where our heart was pulling us. In 2007, I visited an educational fair in Stockholm for work. At that time, I was pregnant with our first child. Walking around in Stockholm, I strongly felt that his could be the place for our family to settle.
To make that dream come true we decided in 2009 to start a graphic design business. Our work would give us flexibility and the first years we tried to access the Swedish market. Without success.
At the same time Holland was in the middle of a housing crisis affecting our plans. Selling our house was no longer an option. We let go of our dream of moving north for the time being and concluded that we should first focus on building our company and family in the Netherlands.
A year later, my brother found the love of his life in Oulu, Finland and he moved up north. I had never heard from of Oulu before. Together with our 6-year-old son, I visited my brother and his partner in Oulu in 2014. I remember, we talked a lot about living in Finland and the educational system. In the meanwhile, my brother started up his own company and we began to cooperate. He helped us deliver our graphic services to his Finnish clients. This proved to be the chance we needed. In 2016 we moved from The Netherlands to Oulu with our 3 kids.
How did you eventually start your own business?
We started it in the Netherlands in 2009. After we moved to Finland we kept the Dutch firm until the end of the year, while we started a Finnish Oy. That was quite challenging since we entered a few bureaucratic loopholes. Perseverance and great help from our Oulu-based accountant and our bank advisor eventually got us out of them.
Oulun seudun Uusyrityskeskus also helped us in this process. Based on our business plan they wrote a recommendation letter to the immigration police.
Do you also have experience with running your own company in the Netherlands?
Yes, since we started our business while living there.
What are the major differences and similarities in the field of entrepreneurship between the Netherlands and Finland?
Differences:
Communication. Contact with the clients. Example: after we deliver a design Dutch clients respond quickly and provide straightforward feedback. Finnish clients often don’t give any feedback. We have learned to simply ask for their concrete feedback by providing them a few clear questions. That way we know what they want and we can improve our services even better.
In the Netherlands you know more personal things about a client. In Finland you just do business and don’t start talking about the weather and personal things. You just start the meeting right away, get to the business. Which is also kind of respectful.
In working with smaller Finnish companies who develop something (for example a new design or a new product) the level of professionalism is very high and they are thorough in the way they work. In the Netherlands clients often make quicker choices based on their intuition.
There is pros and cons about both ways. We just try to adapt to whoever we talk to and we enjoy the diversity.
Similarities:
In both countries it is extremely important to have a good network and a good company image. New clients usually come via the existing network.
Both countries have a high level of trust.
Did covid19 have an impact on your business? If yes, how?
Yes, it had a pretty big impact. Who needs acoustic visual solutions in the office when people are working from home? Also requests for visual design were declining rapidly. We applied for government support which gave us time to develop a new service: a ‘visual info factory’.
We also decided that one of us would need an external part time job to secure a certain income. Luckily a good opportunity for that came by and that has provided some form of stability. It took away the tension and gave room for creativity.
During 2021 year growth for our company has picked up again and we had our best year ever.
Our work/private balance has changed a lot. During covid19 we started working from home and eventually quit the rent of our office. Actually it has been very positive for our family live. No time or fuel wasted in commuting. More time go to out into the nature. Being around for the kids more. All reasons why we came to Finland in the first place.
Do you have any tips for other Dutch, or international, people who want to do business in Finland?
Be flexible. Be prepared that things might go differently. Show your ‘sisu’: don’t give up. Finns will value that.
Enjoy! Finland is a great country to live and do business in. Keep remembering why you started your adventure and see the good things and the wonderful people it brings you.
A peek into the future: where do you see yourself and your company in 5 years?
Our base is solid now. We have a good divers group of clients and resellers. The next 5 years will be about scaling up. We don’t necessarily want to hire staff. We prefer to work with partner companies (incl. freelancers) with the right expertise.
We want to be climate positive in 5 years. We want to make our product chain transparent and circular.
Anything else you would like to bring forward?
For us it was very important to contribute to our local community. It helped us integrate and feel valuable, which reflects back to us as entrepreneurs.
See more of our services at www.studioformo.com and our acoustic solutions at www.akuprintti.fi.