A Visio­na­ry in Forest Bio­eco­no­my: Taking the Leap into Ent­repre­neurs­hip

–Once you know what you’­re doing and unders­tand the busi­ness, you’ll be fine, belie­ves Mar­ko Uute­la, the foun­der of BCon Oy.

Mar­ko Uute­la began his stu­dies in the envi­ron­men­tal field, but an inte­rest in fore­stry spar­ked during a job chan­ge he expe­rienced in Wes­tern Ire­land in 2000. The­re, he disco­ve­red that the forest industry was his true cal­ling, and two years later, he enrol­led in fore­stry stu­dies at the then-Uni­ver­si­ty of Joen­suu. By 2007, he had comple­ted his master’s degree in agricul­tu­re and fore­stry.

After gra­dua­tion, Uute­la began wor­king at Raja­fo­rest Oy, whe­re he quickly gai­ned a compre­hen­si­ve unders­tan­ding of forest busi­ness ope­ra­tions and even­tual­ly beca­me the com­pa­ny’s CEO. He enjo­yed a pro­duc­ti­ve 12 years at Raja­fo­rest befo­re deci­ding it was time for a new chap­ter.

During this tran­si­tio­nal period, Uute­la began to con­templa­te whet­her he could com­mercia­lize his exper­ti­se.

Uute­la belie­ves that the futu­re of the industry is clo­se­ly tied to arti­ficial intel­li­gence and its many pos­si­bi­li­ties, from logis­tics to pro­duc­tion opti­miza­tion.

–I won­de­red if I could crea­te my own busi­ness, Uute­la recalls. 

Coinci­den­tal­ly, seve­ral acquain­tances approac­hed him for help with wood chips and fuels. It soon beca­me evi­dent that the­re was a demand for his fore­stry exper­ti­se, promp­ting him to take the leap into ent­repre­neurs­hip.

–I disco­ve­red a mar­ket for my skills, he says. Six months later, I launc­hed my com­pa­ny, jum­ping straight into the deep end.

Paid One’s Dues

Befo­re star­ting his com­pa­ny, Uute­la took part in a new ent­repre­neur group coac­hing pro­gram orga­nized by Busi­ness Joen­suu. This hel­ped him refi­ne his busi­ness idea and think more broad­ly about ent­repre­neurs­hip. He then par­tici­pa­ted in a busi­ness acce­le­ra­tor for a year, whe­re he focused on basic busi­ness principles and set­ting deve­lop­ment goals.

–A couple of impor­tant insights came from the acce­le­ra­tor that have brought me con­si­de­rable joy ever since, Uute­la reflects.

Alt­hough Uute­la had solid know­led­ge in forest bio­eco­no­my and ener­gy, con­sul­ting was a new and exci­ting chal­len­ge for him. In the ear­ly days of his ent­repre­neurs­hip, he approac­hed smal­ler poten­tial clients, such as forest mac­hi­ne cont­rac­tors and small power plants. He desc­ri­bes the­se ini­tial sta­ges as an “appren­tices­hip process,” during which he asses­sed cus­to­mers’ needs to deve­lop his com­pa­ny’s ser­vices.

–I reac­hed out to clients by pho­ne to discuss their needs. Through this, I began to unders­tand what the cus­to­mer base wan­ted and what kinds of ser­vices they requi­red, Uute­la explains.

Uute­la iden­ti­fies the scarci­ty of raw mate­rials and their res­pon­sible sourcing as the big­gest chal­len­ges facing the forest bio­eco­no­my. He belie­ves that the futu­re of the industry is clo­se­ly tied to arti­ficial intel­li­gence and its many pos­si­bi­li­ties, from logis­tics to pro­duc­tion opti­miza­tion. Uute­la also sees sig­ni­ficant oppor­tu­ni­ties in biocar­bon pro­duc­tion.

–How can we deve­lop effec­ti­ve met­hods for avia­tion fuels or mari­ne met­ha­nol? Are the­re pro­duc­tion solu­tions that are both robust and pro­fi­table? he pon­ders.

Cus­to­mer orien­ta­tion as a dri­ver

Uute­la has always been a strong advoca­te for a cus­to­mer-cent­ric approach, and this phi­lo­sop­hy has gui­ded him throug­hout his career. For him, it has been essen­tial that work is based on genui­ne inte­rac­tion with the cus­to­mer, whe­re their needs are unders­tood and addres­sed prompt­ly.

–The­re are no rea­dy-made solu­tions; eve­ryt­hing is unique, he says, adding that cus­to­mer focus is not only the foun­da­tion of a com­pa­ny’s success but also the dri­ving force behind his own work.

Uute­la has always been a strong advoca­te for a cus­to­mer-cent­ric approach, and this phi­lo­sop­hy has gui­ded him throug­hout his career.

Throug­hout his career, Uute­la has applied this mind­set as an ent­repre­neur as well. He emp­ha­sizes the impor­tance of flexi­bi­li­ty and res­pon­si­ve­ness as cus­to­mer needs evol­ve.

–We can’t cling comple­te­ly to the old ways, even as we adapt to new demands. The balance between the old and the new is how we move forward, Uute­la notes.

Coo­pe­ra­tion across bor­ders

Uute­la feels that per­so­nal rela­tions­hips are also the key to inter­na­tio­nal coo­pe­ra­tion. His inte­rest in and per­so­nal con­nec­tion with Japan has been special to him.

He has a long-stan­ding con­nec­tion with a Japa­ne­se pro­fes­sor who has brought his group to Fin­land seve­ral times. Joint discus­sions on bio­ener­gy and other topics have been not only inte­res­ting to him, but also valuable in per­so­nal and pro­fes­sio­nal terms.

–For me, this rela­tions­hip has been more than just busi­ness. I have made sure that we are in touch, but I have not acti­ve­ly set out to find new con­tacts in Japan.

In five years, we aim to have three to five emplo­yees, or we will have establis­hed new part­ners­hips, with more than half of our reve­nue coming from inter­na­tio­nal mar­kets.

–Howe­ver, the groundwork has been laid, and I hope it leads to grea­ter oppor­tu­ni­ties, Uute­la reflects.

For Uute­la, mana­ging a career and per­so­nal rela­tions­hips extends bey­ond mere num­bers and accomplish­ments; it invol­ves holis­tic thin­king and long-term com­mit­ment. He does not expect imme­dia­te inter­na­tio­nal breakth­roughs but belie­ves that this sus­tai­ned effort will yield results in the futu­re.

–I see this long and per­so­nal jour­ney as essen­tial. Some­ti­mes it leads to sig­ni­ficant com­mercial succes­ses, and even if it doesn’t, the expe­rience has been inva­luable, Uute­la sta­tes.

Networ­king takes you forward

Mar­ko Uute­la belie­ves that success is built on the right rela­tions­hips and networks. He sees networ­king not mere­ly as a com­mercial endea­vor, but also as the cul­ti­va­tion of genui­ne coo­pe­ra­tion and trust. He views his prac­tical exper­ti­se as a key com­pe­ti­ti­ve advan­ta­ge.

–We pos­sess in-depth know­led­ge, and our abi­li­ty to apply it prac­tical­ly sets us apart, he says.

Uute­la looks to the futu­re with opti­mism, expec­ting his team to grow in the coming years. He also belie­ves in the poten­tial for inter­na­tio­nal expan­sion.

–In five years, we aim to have three to five emplo­yees, or we will have establis­hed new part­ners­hips, with more than half of our reve­nue coming from inter­na­tio­nal mar­kets.

For Uute­la, being an ent­repre­neur means con­ti­nuo­us lear­ning and dedica­tion. He strongly belie­ves in the company’s growth pros­pects and feels high­ly moti­va­ted in this endea­vor. Wor­king from a home office allows him to be clo­se to his fami­ly.

He values the flexi­bi­li­ty to sche­du­le both work and lei­su­re as he sees fit, and having time mana­ge­ment in his own hands. Uute­la ack­now­led­ges that wor­king long hours elsew­he­re could pre­sent chal­len­ges.

Once I’ve comple­ted eve­ryt­hing neces­sa­ry, I can take a break. I plan to take a week’s vaca­tion during Christ­mas and the win­ter holi­days. Next sum­mer, I aim to take a pro­per sum­mer vaca­tion — unless work calls, Uute­la conclu­des.

This mate­rial was pro­duced as part of the acti­vi­ties of the City of Joen­suu Inno­va­tion Eco­sys­tem Agree­ment (ERDF), co-fun­ded by the Euro­pean Union and the city of Joen­suu.