Hussein Mohamud, 24, found his own path by starting his own business

Migrant-owned business owners play an increasingly larger role in job creation.

The share of migrant business owners in all businesses has grown, as has the share of migrant employees among all employees. These are the results of a new study by Pellervo Economic Research (PTT).

Migrant business owners are a significant group, particularly in the hotel and catering, logistics and warehousing, and administration and support service sectors.

Hussein Mohamud, 24, from Helsinki, believes that entrepreneurship is the answer to migrants’ employment issues. A while back, he founded the Fitionled marketing agency with a friend. The company provides websites and better visibility for companies.

Mohamud arrived in Finland as a child migrant and lived in Hämeenlinna for the first 12 years of his life.

“In my youth, I saw first-hand paths that could have led to criminality and violence, but I chose a different path. I decided to focus on building something of my own, and running my own business turned out to be the path that opened doors and gave me the chance to shape my life.”

Migrants are enthusiastic business owners

The PTT study found that migrants’ share among all business owners was 10.5%, and among employees 8.6%, in 2022. Migrants’ self-employment incomes were higher than other business owners’, particularly in the hotel and restaurant and IT and communication sectors, but also in industry, the administration and support service sector, and in professional, scientific and technical business. 

Business ownership is more common among migrants than the Finnish-born population: in 2022, 11.9% of working migrants ran their own business. Among the Finnish-born population, the corresponding figure was 9.9%. Entrepreneurship has increased among migrants born in Africa, Estonia and Russia, especially. An increasing number of business owners do not earn self-employment income at all, but do receive wages. 

“Sole traders mostly pay themselves self-employment income, whereas light entrepreneurs are primarily paid wages through an invoicing service. Thus, the changes to the income structure show that one of the factors behind the rise in self-employment is the growth of light entrepreneurship,” says Henna Busk, a senior economist at PTT.

“People seek out comfort zones”

Hussein Mohamud has noticed that business owners are often satisfied with low incomes and Kela benefits, even though many of them could have potential as business owners.

“Few of them live to their full potential. In today’s society, it feels like people seek out comfort zones. Even small changes to mindsets can achieve a lot.”

Mohamud has decided to live differently. He says he is aiming high.

“I’m trying to do things with total engagement, and even if I don’t reach my goal, I’ll still get a lot further than if I hadn’t tried. Running my own business has been a way to move forward. It was the best decision in my life, because it’s how I know that I’ve tried my best.”

The Helsinki-based business owner encourages migrants and other young people to learn new skills and use them, such as in their own businesses.

“You can sell the skills you’ve learnt to other people and tell others what you’ve learnt. Everyone is better than someone else at some particular thing. Migrants are sometimes criticised by the Finnish-born population, which can make them think that they’re not good at anything. There can sometimes be challenges with language skills, but that shouldn’t be an obstacle either. Everything depends on attitude.

“Proven their motivation”

Sonja Antosalo, a specialist at Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association, says that the number of migrant entrepreneurs has increased almost eightfold in 20 years.

The results of the PIKEUS project, conducted by E2 Research and published last year, show that migrants have proven their motivation as employees. The results also show that migrants outside the big cities have given businesses the opportunity to keep operating locally, thus securing Finnish jobs in the company and local vibrancy.

Antosalo says that European competition for skilled labour offers foreign workers even more opportunities to choose their jobs among companies and countries.

“For this reason, it’s important for SMEs to develop their international recruitment and systematically think about their job descriptions, working conditions and management.” The same applies to the conditions for self-employment. Finland must ensure that it has good conditions and support for establishing, growing and developing a business, whilst also paying attention to acquisitions.

“Outsized significance”

The PTT study shows that the number of migrant-owned companies with employees grew significantly between 2013 and 2021. In 2021, the number of migrant-owned companies with employees was around 14,000.

The share of migrant-owned businesses of all business-owner-run businesses in the sector was highest in the restaurant sector, as well as in the postal and courier sector, which includes food delivery riders. Around half of migrant business owners’ businesses are sole traderships, while the rest are limited companies. However, most businesses are young and very small – micro-enterprises with fewer than one full-time employee.

“The results indicate that migrant business owner companies could have an outsized significance in job creation. “Migrant business owners’ micro- and small enterprises created more new jobs than owners of similarly sized businesses between 2014 and 2019,” Henna Busk says.

The PTT study investigated working migrants as employees and business owners in a range of sectors. The study was funded by Suomen Yrittäjät, the trade unions Suomen Ekonomit, TEK and Inisinööriliitto, and the Finnish Pension Alliance.

Are you a Suomen Yrittäjät member yet? Read about member benefits and advantages