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Financing a Business in Finland

Financing your business in Finland is key to its success. Having a chat with your accountant is important, money is their business and they want you to do well, so their advice and help can be vital.

Here are some potential ways of obtaining your finance for your business in Finland:

• Bank Finance your bank may be able to help with the finance of your business in Finland. To support your application you will need a well written and well researched business plan. This will be able to tell the bank what the finance is for, what you plan to do with your business and potential growth.
• Stock Market floating your company on the stock market can help raise funds in the future. It depends on whether the type of business formation allows you to sell shares. AIM, the junior partner of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), has established itself as the preferred route for younger companies wanting to go public.
• Public Aid Finnvera is a special financing company owned by the state of Finland. Their financial services include loans, guarantees and export guarantees. Finnvera's objective is to offer financing solutions suitable for the various stages in the development of companies. They can be found on the following link; http://www.finnvera.fi/eng
• Tax Relief and Incentives finding out more about potential taxation relief and incentives can help you find possible ways of financing your business. Normally going to the Chamber of Commerce for your chosen country will be of benefit. There are 19 independent regional Chamber of Commerce in Finland and the Central Chamber of Commerce is their national body for co-operation. They can be found on the following link: http://www.keskuskauppakamari.fi/en_GB/
• European Aid grants are direct financial contributions from the EU budget or from the European Development fund. It is worth checking out your possible grants, funds and programmes by following the link and looking under a particular section i.e. Agriculture, Energy or Audiovisual and Media. http://ec.europa.eu/grants/index_en.htm

It can be overwhelming when trying to find ways of obtaining finance. It is worth remembering that there are over 450 funding sources for reimbursable grants, aid schemes, individual fellow and traineeships, loans and guarantees in the EU. These can be awarded from such organisations like the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Investment Bank and others.Helpful links are:

http://www.eubusiness.com/funding/eu-funding/european-funds/
and http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/finding-sources_en.html

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