From ideas to progress: developing business ideas together in Tartu

On 12 August, the Succeed in Business project brought participants from Estonia, Latvia, and Finland together in Tartu for the Cycle 2 Progress Meeting. FAfter several months of workshops, online sessions, teamwork, and work on their business ideas, it was time to meet again, share progress, and see how the ideas had developed along the way.

This meeting was a little different from the previous workshops. Instead of focusing mainly on new topics and lectures, the participants and their business ideas were at the centre of the day. Teams presented their business ideas, talked about what they had done so far, and received feedback from experts and other participants.

The day started with a session led by Allan Hallik, Health Promotion Specialist at the Association of Municipalities of Tartu County. His topic, How to maintain your health in the world of business?, focused on an important part of entrepreneurship that can sometimes be overlooked. The session focused on stress, healthy working habits, and the importance of taking care of yourself while working towards ambitious goals. Allan combined the topic with discussion and an active exercise, giving participants a chance to move around and interact with each other as well.

After the morning session, the focus moved to the participants and their own business ideas. The teams presented the problem they wanted to solve, their solution and target customers, and talked about how their business could work in practice. They also shared what they had already done to develop or test their idea or MVP, what they had learned from feedback, and what they planned to do next.

The business ideas covered a wide range of fields, including food and beverages, cafés and hospitality, clothing and lifestyle products, health and wellbeing, technology, and different services. It was interesting to see how different the ideas were and how far the teams had come with them.

Some teams were still developing their ideas, while others had already created prototypes or samples, worked on branding and marketing, thought about pricing and costs, or tested their ideas and received feedback from potential customers. Several teams had also made changes to their original ideas based on what they had learned during the programme.

Each presentation was followed by feedback and discussion. The expert panel consisted of Mariliis Maremäe, Kristi Jõesaar, and Allan Hallik from the Association of Municipalities of Tartu County. Their different backgrounds allowed the teams to receive feedback from several perspectives – entrepreneurship and business development, communication, and wellbeing.

The audience was also encouraged to take part, ask questions, and share their thoughts. This gave the teams a chance not only to present what they had done, but also to get a fresh perspective on their idea from people outside their own team.

The final part of the day focused on the practical side of starting a company. Mariliis Maremäe had prepared an interactive activity on company registration in Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. Instead of a traditional lecture, participants worked through questions and practical cases, exploring topics such as different company types, registration, taxes, and some of the practical requirements of starting a business.

The Progress Meeting gave everyone a chance to see what the teams had been working on since they first started developing their ideas. It was also useful for the participants to hear about the progress of other teams, compare experiences, and get new ideas from each other.

Cycle 2 of Succeed in Business is now moving towards its final stage. Participants will have another opportunity to discuss their business ideas and continue improving their work during an online Q&A session at the end of August. Participants will then meet once more in September for the Closing Conference in Tampere.