Rural high-growth companies – the bold trendsetters of their trade 

New research suggests that an aptitude for actively seizing new possibilities is a uniting factor among high-growth companies based in rural areas.

Rural high-growth companies make choices that challenge, rather than adhering to, the established practices of their respective industry.

"Farms for example choose to steer their production in a direction contrary to the general trend, and a bakery may concentrate on the production of traditional loaves rather than the pre-cut single portion rye bread that dominates sales statistics", comments Ulla Hytti, Research Director of TSE Entre, where the survey was conducted. "Instead of lamenting a lack of workforce, they hire staff from all over the world."

Factors facilitating growth for rural enterprises include changes in consumer behaviour and customer companies' business practices, among others.

Project Researcher Elisa Akola adds: "After initial growth, companies didn't stick to one type of production or business model but kept re-inventing themselves, sometimes radically."

Making rural business growth visible

For rural companies, growth is not a strategic goal or value in itself. For farms in particular, growth is a basic prerequisite for profitability. According to Hytti, however, not all farmers follow the mainstream: "To them, agriculture is a business where decisions are not dictated by tradition."

The aim of this research project, which was financed by the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, was to gather new information on rural high-growth companies, their growth processes and the challenges they face.

"Business growth is not commonly associated with rural enterprises", the researchers comment. "There are hardly any domestic role or business models for growth in this sector, so these models are adopted from abroad. The discussion on business growth in the countryside ought to continue, and the companies deserve more visibility."