When Mira Nyrhinen in 2019, he applied to Liiver for start-up support for a company focusing on someassari service, he could not imagine how quickly the company would grow in the following years. In a few years, Fano has grown into a company offering versatile communication and marketing services, with a goal of a million turnover during the fifth year of operation.
Acting as an entrepreneur has been Mira Nyrhinen's dream since childhood. When the idea of a company offering someassari services was born, Nyrhinen started a side business by experimenting and developing the service. At that time, there were hardly any similar companies.
Nyrhinen applied for company start-up support from Liiver. The support was used for renewing the tools and websites, searching for a business angel, trainings and a promotional video.
- The renewal of the equipment and the implementation of the website with the help of support made it possible for me to progress more quickly into full-time entrepreneurship. The training strengthened my professional skills and my competitiveness in the market, says Mira Nyrhinen.
Sparring from a business angel
With the start-up support, Nyrhinen also acquired sparring in the company's beginnings. In Nyrhinen's opinion, Innopop's Katja Rajala was a great choice as a business angel. The training started a little before the start of the corona virus and it was in all respects at the right time. In the training, e.g. the basics of business operations, from values to hiring an employee, Nyrhine's background and goals as an entrepreneur and manager, budgeting, the company's brand and its development.
They also reviewed the design and possibilities of new services, Nyrhine's own strengths and weaknesses, and also the importance of disconnecting from work.
- Of all the acquisitions made with the start-up grant, this turned out to be the most valuable to me. During the training, I discovered a lot of new aspects and strengths in myself, and I confirmed my idea that Fano will one day become a pioneer in social media marketing and communication employing several people.
The goal is to grow
The first years as an entrepreneur coincided with a special time, but business activities have not been limited by the corona period, on the contrary. After the first spring, the work only increased and the activity has grown every month. Nyrhinen became an independent, full-time entrepreneur in February 2020. The fact that the services have not actually had to be sold, but rather the customers have found Fano themselves, is another indication of a successful start.
- At the moment, in addition to me, there is one almost full-time person working in Fano and four part-time people through personal hire. In addition to this, I employ five small entrepreneurs who do content production, Google marketing, Facebook marketing, websites and graphic design for Fano's customers.
- Different guides and trainings are also development targets at Fano for the beginning of the year. We are currently working on a crisis communication guide for small entrepreneurs and various online trainings to increase sales. Personal branding is certainly also one of the services that we will develop in the future.
The majority of Fano's client work consists of social media content production and related training, content plans and social media marketing.
- In addition, we are already able to offer quite a wide range of all marketing services, from social media to websites, e-mails, search engine advertising, graphic expressions and advertisements. In the future, we hope to produce more video productions and podcasts as well.
As customers, Fano has both small and large brands locally and nationally. Over the next few years, the goal is to invest in developing skills and increasing awareness of the Fano brand.
- The goal is a turnover of one million during the fifth year of operation. There will be a bit of a rush, but I believe that it is completely possible to get there, says Mira Nyrhinen.