AbstractsEngineering

Entrepreneurship is not a universally agreed-upon concept, which still remains vague and complex either in the field of business study or in other fields’ over the centuries. With the rapid development of technology and human civilization, entrepreneurs perceived as innovative initiators gradually step onto the mainstream stage in society; especially foreign entrepreneurs have thrived unexpectedly. The objective of the thesis was to uncover the essence and significance of entrepreneurship and to implement a well-organized research concerning foreign entrepreneurship in Kuopio region. The study was commissioned by City of Kuopio Business Development Services, a commercial department of local government administering business procedure and registration, whose aim in current case was to gain an insight into local entrepreneurial performance of foreigners and crave for feedback and suggestion in collaboration with the author. The thesis started with a thorough theoretical framework presenting an overview of entrepreneurship, various types of entrepreneur, motivations and obstacles for entrepreneurs, together with characteristics for being a successful entrepreneur. The research applied both the quantitative questionnaire sending to international students and qualitative interview with existing foreign entrepreneurs. The research findings revealed that foreign entrepreneurs generally are satisfied with current business services offered in Kuopio. Their entrepreneurial process went fluently thanks to the effective guidance provided by relevant institutions. Recommendations for prospective foreign entrepreneurs and local business services were described subsequently. In the end, a discussion concerning entire work process, challenges encountered and further improvement was summarized fairly.