Studying in Helsinki & thinking of starting a business

jjdub21 · Post by **jjdub21** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:54 am

I have been studying at HSE in Helsinki for several months now and have been considering what my best opportunity for work would be. I have read lots of good information on the web and have started to make some friends here but I wanted to hear what other people have to say about my specific situation.

I moved to Helsinki from California where I worked for a few years in the wine industry in sales. Before that I went to school and earned a BA in political science at a California State University. The reason I moved here is because my girlfriend is Finnish and working as a lawyer here so the best way for me to get here was on a student visa. I don’t speak Finnish and have found it pretty hard to find a job here because I am under qualified (due to lack of experience and only having 1 degree) for the type of jobs that are in English.

I would really like to work with wine here in Finland and it seems to be a growing industry with lots of potential. I tried to contact Alko for a job but they only had service jobs which required Finnish. I am considering starting my own business of importing specialty wine or possibly starting a wine bar here in Helsinki where I could sell wine by the glass and also sell to businesses like Kesko and Alko. My main strength here is wine. I know a lot about the industry, costs, and have several contacts in the distribution and wine making parts of the business. I do not have a lot of experience in running a business however, but I am confident I could do it because I am highly motivated.

My main concern is that once I open the business it will fail because of some unknown factor because I am not a native. One question I have is would it be advisable to get a Finnish business partner? I would also just like to hear any advice people have on similar situations, especially if you think it’s a bad idea and why.

regards,
Jon

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rinso · Post by **rinso** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:41 am

I am considering starting my own business of importing specialty wine

Since Alko has the monopoly on sales, you will be almost totally depend on their policy.
They can stop buying your products and you're out of business.

I would really like to work with wine here in Finland and it seems to be a growing industry with lots of potential.

I'm not sure. Wine is not a "normal" diner drink in Finland. In the past 10 years It has had its ups and downs, mostly related to tax measures and import restrictions.

jjdub21 · Post by **jjdub21** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:06 am

I guess I should be more specific. I agree there isn’t stability distributing through Alko, but I would be more interested in selling to individual restaurants and other distributors like Kesko and maybe even set up a wine bar with wine tastings. I have searched all through Helsinki to find a nice wine bar and they do not exist! The restrictions for importation have loosened a lot in the past few years and consumption and sales have been increasing more than most beverages in Finland. It is more of a specialty item though, which could hurt the business.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:45 pm

It think you should study a few more months

BTW wasn't it a HSE proffa who coined up the difference between business in Finland and business in the USA:
- In the USA you invent something in the garage, you open the door and theres 100 people lining up wanting to buy it...
- In Finland you invent something in the garage, you open the door and theres a meter of snow...

wei-ste · Post by **wei-ste** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:50 pm

Alko being a monopoly, i think it means that within Finland all alcohol distribution are through Alko, you can't just import wine yourself and sell it yourself. Maybe that's the reason there is no such kind of wine bar for wine tasting: what you get from wine bar you get also from Alko with less price.

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:07 pm

but I would be more interested in selling to individual restaurants and other distributors like Kesko

Restaurants will go as much as possible for one supplier. They are not really interested in a special wine from somebody else.
Dealing with Kesko is probably even worse than with Alko

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:55 pm

I know someone who tried selling wines to restaurants, individual enterprises and alko, after working for years in the restaurant sector.
He still is in business but doing something totally unrelated

If you wish I can pm you his contact info.

While I don't share the negativism in this thread, I think that running a import business here and making a profit on top of all the transportation and inventory costs requires scale, good business contacts and quite a bit of luck

EP · Post by EP » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:02 pm

I know someone who tried selling wines to restaurants

Is that someone Petri Viglione: http://www.winital.fi/yhteystiedot.html

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:36 pm

No, the person I know is no longer working with wines (or are you meaning to say that Petri quit?).
I'd post his url here but I am not sure he'd be happy with it.

EP · Post by EP » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:51 pm

No, I don´t think that he has quit: "Omistan Suomen suurimman italialaisviineihin erikoistuneen maahantuontiyrityksen."

It just looks like it is almost a year since he last did anything to his blog.

Dejan · Post by **Dejan** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:50 pm

Congratulation on your courage to move on the other side of making money.The problem could be,that you don't have experience in running a business...What about the starting capital?
Have you looked for other business opportunities...possibilities?
You must go through some business training,also.
Me,my wife and my business partners in Finland are doing something interesting.You can come,see is there something for you.
Best Regards

Nallis · Post by **Nallis** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:16 am

There are these two ladies who opened a new style wine bar in Helsinki last spring/summer. It's called Foxy Wine House (http://www.foxywinehouse.com/engindex.html). Maybe you should go there and sniff around, see what's going on, are there any customers etc. Maybe even have a chat with the owners (they are usually the ones behind the counter, they don't have much hired staff I believe).

jjdub21 · Post by **jjdub21** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:59 am

Dejan wrote:Congratulation on your courage to move on the other side of making money.The problem could be,that you don't have experience in running a business...What about the starting capital?
Have you looked for other business opportunities...possibilities?
You must go through some business training,also.
Me,my wife and my business partners in Finland are doing something interesting.You can come,see is there something for you.
Best Regards

Thanks for the offer! I would like to check it out and get more details. Let me know

Regards
Jon

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:18 pm

Great idea, Good potential extremely big pitfalls.

The biggest problem with your case is that the Restaurant and Beverage Industry is still closeted!! You need heavy industry contacts ( that you will not get without being exposed to many many years in the line that you want to work in, for e.g. Wine vending)..If you dont have those contacts, chances are that you probably wont have any customers..

The second biggest problem that you have is following legislation, import laws, regulation of Alcohol import etc .. and competing with the body that sets these things (Alko)..
Kesko don't worry about retail..they deal with wine as other commodities in the wholesale sector ....
my SO have know many individual wine importers turned entrepreneurs for both ALKO and Kesko etc but most of them invariable return to a desk job in that industry working for Kesko or Alko!! Go Figure!!
Moreover, Your GF should know some basic things about the legalities of these thing is she is a lawyer...so why dont you consult her?

Then again, you are a student whose main aim is to study and not have those entrepreneurial spirits lounging around...as it could affect your studies..

So your best bet is to write for a magazine on wine from Sonoma county..and watch that movie about Wine: Sideways!!

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 9:25 pm

One more thing that you could do if you know about wines and mebbe know some wineyard owners in Ca is to apply for part time jobs or some kind of jobs in the wine importing business and examples of those companies being Kekso( Alcohol importing devision) , Alko, Altia (Bacardis etc ),S-Ryhma(Meiranova) ...and more than 20-30 companies importing wine from EU, AUS, etc..
ANother options is to see if you can be a Marketing or PR rep for those companies in Ca that want to export...
But your best bet is to study now..

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