Growth company coaching aims to develop a company’s business operations in a way that enables growth. How does Yritystehdas’s Hautomo incubator provide growth coaching? Mika Fisk, a business coach who works with companies at Hautomo – focusing particularly on sales and marketing – explains the coaching process in more detail.
Hautomo is a 24-month coaching program offered by Yritystehdas for startups and growth companies with a scalable idea and ambitions to enter international markets.
The monthly fee for Hautomo includes coaching and access to shared facilities. If desired, a company can also rent a completely private workspace from Yritystehdas.
Mika Fisk believes that Yritystehdas’s fantastic facilities are a major advantage for Hautomo’s companies. Take a look at what Yritystehdas’s offices in Jyväskylä look like!
“A Hautomo company can use the facilities not only for its own work but also for collaborating with its own customers or partners. The stylish facilities enhance the company’s appeal and credibility in the eyes of customers and partners.”
The shared spaces make it easy to network with other entrepreneurs.
“At Yritystehdas, there are other like-minded and ambitious entrepreneurs as well as team members with whom you can share best practices,” Fisk notes.
Events organized by Yritystehdas can help you find both new customers and partners.
“Yritystehdas attracts, for example, financiers and investors, and various collaboration opportunities also arise from time to time through the educational institutions that own Yritystehdas.”
Check out our business coach Vesa Lehtinen’s tips for finding a venture capitalist. However, the coaching program has a clear limitation regarding what it does not offer.
“We do not accept assignments from companies; in other words, we do not do, produce, or procure anything on behalf of our clients. Nor do we provide ready - made contact lists for financiers or investors,” emphasizes Mika Fisk.
“We are a full-fledged partner working alongside the company to promote and streamline its business operations. For example, I can’t run a sales campaign on the company’s behalf, but I’m happy to brainstorm with the company about the best direction for the campaign,” he explains.
Every company in the Incubator has been selected for coaching by a panel of judges from outside Yritystehdas. The Incubator program begins with a joint agreement on the focus areas and practices of the coaching.
“About two weeks after acceptance into the Incubator, we organize a small event with the client company, attended by the company’s future lead coach and often also the account manager,” says Mika Fisk.
However, the company’s coaching may often begin even before the actual Hautomo program starts.
“The Pre-Hautomo program is for companies that do not yet meet the criteria for Hautomo, but where we see potential.”
The Hautomo Sprint, on the other hand, is intended for companies that already meet five of the six criteria for the Hautomo coaching program. In this case, the company receives intensive coaching to help it meet the missing criterion. Check out the Hautomo criteria on the Hautomo page.
The situation of the company and the entrepreneur is always assessed on a case-by-case basis. A business that’s still in its very early stages isn’t necessarily a barrier to receiving support from Yritystehdas:
“If we come across a truly top-tier entrepreneur with a really good idea, then yes, we’ll do our best to keep them around here,” Mika Fisk reveals.
The focus areas of the incubator program and the lead coach are always selected based on the company’s wishes and needs.
These priorities influence the choice of coach, as Yritystehdas’s coaches specialize in specific areas of business. For example, Mika Fisk’s strongest area of expertise is sales.
“The starting point is what the company’s business needs in the near future. Whatever the company needs, that’s what we aim to deliver,” Mika Fisk promises.
“For example, the coaching for one growth company has focused on improving the company’s own and its employees’ skills—that is, how to make the company’s corporate culture one that fosters skill development.”
“With another company, we’ve discussed management systems in great detail. Then, with a company led by experts, we’ve focused on systematic sales approaches and identifying new potential customer groups,” Mika Fisk explains.
Each incubator company receives 4+2 hours of coaching per month, tailored to its specific needs.
“You get four hours of coaching from the head coach, and two hours can be spent with other coaches, meaning you can get feedback on a specific topic from coaches other than your own,” says Mika Fisk.
A typical month of coaching with the head coach includes a two-hour business review and two hours of coaching on a specific topic important to the company.
“The business review is like an X-ray of the business. Its purpose is to allow the company’s core team to pause, even in the midst of a busy day, and take a look at how things are actually going within their own company,” Fisk explains.
Hautomo’s coaches support companies in setting good goals and achieving them. The purpose of the coaching is to enable the participating companies to allocate their resources as effectively as possible.
According to Mika Fisk, the coaching requires entrepreneurs and CEOs participating in the incubator to have a genuine desire to receive coaching and an outside perspective on their company’s operations.
“A company accepted into the incubator must actively promote its own business to ensure that the conditions for collaboration with the incubator are met. Beyond that, the only thing we require is a positive and forward-looking attitude toward the collaboration,” says Mika Fisk.
“On a practical level, the coaching requires a commitment to mutually agreed-upon meetings and tasks,” he adds.
“In my work, I also see the operational side of our client companies, and it’s great to see how the work done during coaching makes their jobs easier. They’re able to focus even better on the things that are essential to their business and their own work.”
- Mika Fisk, Business Coach at Yritystehdas
Mika Fisk takes pride in the numerous successes he has experienced with the companies he coaches. He particularly remembers experienced entrepreneurs whose perspectives have broadened through coaching, allowing them to see new aspects of business. Another great success has been when an entrepreneur with a research background has gained many new customers and achieved growth for their product.
“In my work, I also see the operational side of client companies, and it’s great to see how the work done during coaching makes their jobs easier. They’re able to focus even better on the things that are essential to their business and their own work,” Fisk explains.
“Hautomo’s experience with what works and how it works is extremely important to us, and we regularly discuss this with the companies we coach,” Mika Fisk emphasizes.
Many participants have praised, in particular, the systematic nature of the coaching sessions.
“Hautomo provides a coach who is the right fit for the company to walk alongside them on their journey. The coach challenges, encourages, and also serves as emotional support amid the ups and downs of growing a business,” Mika Fisk summarizes.
Yritystehdas’s Hautomo is accepting applications on an ongoing basis! Learn more about our business coach, Mika Fisk, in the video below and discover Hautomo!