My Business Story

Tmi Juha Knuuttila

Päivitetty 2.2.2026

1 Sociall.net 2001-2016 - Did I become an entrepreneur?

I founded my first company in 2001. The company's name was Sociall.net. My vision and business idea was the digitalization of the social and welfare sector, could I be part of it? Work and peak years filled the time, and the university of applied sciences and education were also digitized at a rapid pace. I was involved in doing and learning everything in the development work of the Master of Social Sciences (Bachelor of Social Sciences) education at Turku University of Applied Sciences: online teaching, project learning, flipped learning, developing an online degree, entrepreneurship studies and utilizing virtual reality. My digitalization expertise and passion began to develop.

I counted my 3rd training gig during the Sociall.net period (2001-2026), the idea of ​​entrepreneurship and acting as a trainer alongside a faculty produced mental problems of drawing the line. It would have created conflicts of interest in the context of a university of applied sciences that is constantly seeking more external money. Although it is understood that the working-life connection is important, for a teacher teaching entrepreneurship themes, the idea of ​​​​own entrepreneurship is not considered good. In this situation, I was not ready to start a real business. I closed the Sociall.net business name and company in 2016, because I had no business and it was not possible to be in the tax authority's prepayment register. In addition, I had been filling out practically empty tax returns for years in vain.

2 Tmi Juha Knuuttila was founded in 2021

Tmi Juha Knuuttila was registered in 2021. I was convinced that something of my own would still be created and I wanted to try my hand at work also from an entrepreneurial perspective. I didn't know quite what and how yet. I started with a low profile. I didn't register with the tax authority, not the prepayment register or as a VAT payer. As my career matured to this stage, I also began to recognize my own strengths, experience and expertise. I am not a researcher at all.Everything related to entrepreneurial activities and attitudes began to fascinate me more and more every year. This is what I had learned. Quick throwing myself into something new, a culture of experimentation, goal-oriented perseverance and goal-consciousness to find a way forward. Digitalization in learning and social care is the core of everything in my entrepreneurial self.

3 Entrepreneurship is getting ready to retire

I made my decision to retire in the fall of 2025. I will retire on September 1, 2026. This decision freed up my mind and administrative opportunities to do my own thing. However, I realized that my long career in the world of the university of applied sciences had been great. Great colleagues. Certainly the finest clients you can come across in working life. Polytechnics are also dynamic and forward-looking organizations, even though they are plagued by the problems of large corporations. During the last academic year, I have set out to strengthen my own networks. Wise men have said that when you need them most, it is already too late to build networks.

4 Real entrepreneurship begins in January 2026

In December 2025, I realized that I had missed the starting point in promoting virtual reality as a new learning environment. The SVR Campus project had not received funding in 2024. The VR fair I implemented with my own online degree students was "in mothballs" due to the lack of a virtual reality platform. I had also kept the SVR innovation information very low-profile due to the small teaching resources.

I took this on board and this is where my real entrepreneurship began in January. The SVR Campus Vision was launched. Its concrete manifestation is the virtual reality networking event, SVR-Expo 2026, to be held in May 2026. The event is the final event of the RDI project internship for online degree students in the Bachelor of Social Sciences (BA) and a fair on the Engage XR collaboration platform. Without my own company, organizing such an event in cooperation with an Irish company and collecting money from multiple sources would not have been possible.

5 Development of learning environments and entrepreneurship coaching

The development of digital learning environments, SVR Campus, is a company activity. I am also involved in the development of the profession of social worker in elderly services. The intention is also to organize entrepreneurship coaching and training specialized in entrepreneurship in the social and educational sectors as a company starting in autumn 2026.

Time will tell what the enthusiasm, health and motivation of a retiree will be enough for. In any case, the past December-January have been the most inspiring two months of my working career. Let's see what the sequel brings.