JA Company Program is a program developed by the Junior Achievement (JA) Finland organization, in which students establish a practice company that resembles real business operations. The course is based on learning by doing—planning finances, testing product and service ideas, and studying sales and marketing in practice.
A business idea was born from a desire to give materials a new life
Trinh Minh Thu, also known as Donna, came up with her business idea out of a love for crafts. The high cost of craft supplies in Finland led her to search for materials at recycling centers. Along the way, she found recycled materials even in crafts left behind by residents of nursing homes, which gave the products a whole new meaning.
“It feels like I’m carrying on someone’s legacy—every thread has its own story,” Donna says of the manufacturing process.
Giving materials a new lease on life became the core of her business. According to Donna, every product is unique, and recycling materials adds to the products’ significance. Donna named her company Donna Doki Craft Room, and it was awarded Best Responsible Company at the Uskalla Yrittää regional event for secondary schools in Espoo.
“Giving things a new life is the foundation of my business,” Donna sums up.
Food brings different cultures together
Omnia students Ahmed Yasin and Abdullah Hussein found their business idea in their own backgrounds. Ahmed is from the United Arab Emirates and Abdullah from Yemen, where, according to them, food is “a matter of the heart.”
“We want to cook with passion and heart—that’s where the whole idea started,” Ahmed explains. Together, they founded a company called Yemeni TunneRuokaa. The company’s goal is to prepare food that preserves both flavor and quality.
At the Uskalla Yrittää event in Espoo, the company sold an oriental, savory bun filled with cheese and decorated with honey. The buns stood out from Finnish buns with their striking beehive-like shape.
“We wanted to bring cultures together by using an Eastern recipe but Finnish ingredients,” the young entrepreneurs explain. The products sparked interest, and all the buns made were sold during the event.
A safe way to try and fail
For students, the Year as an Entrepreneur program is, above all, about learning by doing. Ahmed from the Yemen TunneRuokaa team describes the lessons learned from concrete situations, such as teamwork, taking responsibility, and practicing sales and customer service.
Donna, for her part, praises the program for its practicality and supportive atmosphere: “The program offers students a realistic yet safe environment in which they can fail and ask for help.”
The Uskalla Yrittää -competition, in turn, gave both companies greater confidence in their own work as well as new learning experiences.
“Uskalla Yrittää builds young people’s self-confidence and courage, and helps them to connect with others,” Ahmed and Abdullah describe the event. They hope there would be more events like this in Finland to support young people.
Donna describes the competition and seeing other young people’s business ideas as “a leap from a small pond into a big river.” Meeting other entrepreneurs and customers motivates Donna to invest even more in her business.
Teachers’ support paves the way to working life
In their remarks, the students also highlight the importance of teachers in the JA Company Program. The Yemen TunneRuokaa entrepreneurs thank their teachers for their support and presence: according to them, this support has been truly significant for the young entrepreneurs’ business activities. Donna, for her part, thanks her teachers for their helpfulness and for creating a meaningful learning environment.
Teacher Marika Räf explains that many Omnia students have started their own businesses after completing the JA Company Program. She also emphasizes the program’s positive impact on career paths.
“A few of my students have landed jobs toward the end of their studies simply because they had experience with practice entrepreneurship,” Räf notes.
Teacher Jonna Haltia also considers the JA Company Program a success overall. She highlights the opportunities the program offers and the practical experience of working with real clients.
“The program often gets students excited about earning real money,” Haltia sums up.
A practice business can be the start of something bigger
Both Yemeni TunneRuokaa and Donna Doki Craft Room encourage other students to join the Year as an Entrepreneur program.
“When you dare to try, you learn a lot along the way about where you can develop and improve your operations,” Ahmed and Abdullah reflect.
Donna sums up the same idea: “Just try. You can always try, fail, and learn from the fail.” For Donna, entrepreneurship wasn’t just an experiment; it sparked the idea of continuing even after the program ended.
“Donna Doki Craft Roomis my first step toward a bigger business,” Donna states.
Abdullah and Ahmed also see the program as a potential springboard to the future: “We are definitely interested in starting a real business after the program,” they say in unison.
So the idea of starting their own business didn’t just remain an experiment—the students agree that the JA Company Program could be the start of something much bigger.
Text and pictures: Anni Salomaa
