My company was established in 1992 and during the 1990´s I was working and living in Japan (Sapporo) creating business ties between companies in Finland and Hokkaido. During this time I also imported products (log houses, lumber, giftware) from Finland and organized numerous trade & cultural events about Finland in Hokkaido. After moving back to Finland I changed into franchise business, bringing the Subway fast food chain to Finland. Together with my business partner we opened the first Subway store in Annankatu, Helsinki in July 2000, which was a huge success from the beginning. Since then we grew the chain to about 100 stores during 10 years.I sold my Subway business in 2010 to my successor.

I am representing in Finland the next generation intranet for all internal communication: a combined Whatsapp, Facebook and Dropbox + calendars and work schedules, all in one app, available 365/24/7 anywhere. For small and large companies, NGOs, clubs etc. for a nominal price and no setup costs. Control your own data with an app that looks like the company´s own app with logos, colors etc. Contact me for more info,

Imports of specially designed silver jewelry for on-line sales in Finland. Started from scratch, selecting designs, creating the brand name and logo, designing packages etc.

Setting up the infrastructure for a new chain in Finland, negotiating volume deals with partners, recruiting new franchisees.

I worked as an Export Manager in an Export Partner Project arranged by Finpro ry and FranCon Franchise Consulting. The objective of the project was to search for potential business partners in Sweden, interested in the franchise business models offered by four Finnish franchise chain restaurants.The project included market analysis and segmentation, refining the franchise business models for internationalization as well as practical groundwork in Sweden, identifying and contacting relevant target groups: potential franchisees, landlords, cooperation partners and various service providers.This was first a one-year project, at the end of which the aim was to establish at least one new store location for all participating companies. The project was extended to two years with funding from Tekes.As a result, Pancho Villa was able to find a location in Stockholm and opened their first restaurant in Sweden in December 2017.

As a consignment I was taking care of the publishing of Franchise News magazine twice a year: articles, interviews, advertorials, ads, photographs, strategic alliances etc. This project gave me a chance to be in contact with all franchise chains and their interest groups in Finland and stay in touch with what´s happening in the field of franchise in Finland.In unison with the printed version, I continuously updated the web pages www.franchisenews.fi, with an up-to-date news service.As a new function I was responsible for planning and arranging a totally new kind of event in Finland: Franchise News Day. It has now become a tradition in Finland, with yearly events in September since the first event in 2015. It is bringing together all major franchise chains, latest trends and news in franchising and companies offering services to franchise chains.

As a Brand Manager, my main duties were to bring a new level of professionalism into the chain. Primary tasks included documentation, coordination, control and development of operations as well as recruitment of new entrepreneurs.

As a consignment I was responsible for the recruitment of new franchisees to the women´s clothes retail chain Zizzi (owned by Ball Group, Denmark). This project included PR and marketing for recruitment, interviews and evaluations, contacts with various cooperation partners, finding locations when necessary etc.

I was in charge of renewing the franchise concept of the Spice Ice ice cream parlor chain in Finland. Although the chain is well established here with already 16 years of history, it was time to take the next step and refresh to whole concept, starting with the visual outlook of the stores and extending all the way into changing the customer service process to better suit the taste of our modern consumers.Together with the Brand Building team, wee also built a new approach to the marketing portfolio and the graphic elements to create a mouth-watering feeling of the products. These elements included also the chain logo, which was introduced in 2013.A very interesting project with many challenges, which taught me a lot on the way.

Japan Desk