Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths

The initiators of RaskJobb (QuickJob) are second-year students at Kireparken upper secondary school in Moss, Norway. They spend four hours a week studying “Marketing and leadership”. That is when they are their own bosses in the youth enterprise.

Iben Lerang-Håland is the managing director.

“We decide everything ourselves. This is our project. It’s fun,” she says.

“It is a more practical subject than the other theory subjects we take. We can be creative and we work very independently,” says Hedda Sandem Kleiven. She is head of sustainability at RaskJobb. 

Labelled as lazy

They explain their idea: The company links youths who want work experience and money with older people who might need a little extra help with small tasks – fast and simple jobs. 

“Many youths struggle to find jobs because they have no work experience and because they are under 18. I have experienced this myself. Meanwhile, there are older people who might need help with small jobs, for instance clearing snow or shopping. By linking these two groups, both young and older people benefit,” says Hedda Sandem Kleiven. 

HR manager Emma Aas says the company is a response to those who label young people as lazy. 

“Our experience is that many have prejudices against people under 18. We want to show that many of us are eager to pitch in and want to work,” says Aas. 

They do, of course, know peers who are not that keen on working, but labelling everyone the same feels unfair to them.

“It is completely wrong to generalise an entire generation,” says Elise Klock Holmberg. 

Marketing their company is an important part of the job. They have made T-shirts and posters as well as a website and a presence in social media. Photo: RaskJobb

Hoping for more assignments

RaskJobb UB uses social media like Instagram and TikTok to communicate with young people and Facebook to reach the older generation. The young entrepreneurs have also made posters and put these up around their neighbourhoods.

So far the response from the “employers’ – those who need jobs done – has been somewhat muted. The hope is that assignments will stream in because several youths are ready to perform the jobs.

Have learned a lot about working life

Starting their own business has given them a lot of valuable experiences. They have seen that it takes up a lot of their time.

“We have to figure out stuff and do everything ourselves, for instance how to register the company at the Brønnøysund Register Centre and set up a bank account and the Vipps payment system. We have to get things to work,” says Hedda Sandem Kleiven. 

“Because if we don’t do it, nothing happens,” adds Elise Klock Holmberg.

They have learned a lot about self-management, problem-solving and cooperation. They say it has been fun but also challenging to present the company to others.

“We have had good feedback which has motivated us to carry on,” they say.

This spring will bring competitions, like a county championship and a gathering which includes a competition in Strömstad in Sweden.

When school ends, the company might also end. This depends on how things develop in the coming months. 

A bridge builder

Grete Ingeborg Nykkelmo is the CEO of Ungt Entreprenørskap Norge (UE – Young Enterprise).

“Ungt Entreprenørskap is important for the labour market and it is important for the young people,” says Nykkelmo. 

She describes UE as a bridge builder between school and working life. 

“We give young pupils and students the chance to spot opportunities and to experience what working life is today. For the labour market this is an opportunity to give young people a taste of what working life really is, what chances and demands working life represents and it is a chance for the labour market to recruit young people,” says Nykkelmo. 

Primary school entrepreneurs

UE has programmes for primary school-aged children to higher education in entrepreneurship, work training and personal finance.

2023 was a record year for activities. In total, nearly 60,000 pupils and students were using UE’s entrepreneurship programmes. On top of that, more than 43,000 pupils finished UE’s education programme in personal finance for secondary and upper secondary schools.

Grete Ingeborg Nykkelmo  believes that entrepreneurship gives young people more arenas to master. Photo: UE - Young Enterprise

Nykkelmo believes it is important that they offer activities throughout the entire educational journey, from primary school to higher education.

"This provides continuous learning, including entrepreneurial skills. With this we mean cooperation, creativity, problem-solving and the perseverance to endure setbacks and try again," she says.

-Dette gir kontinuerlig læring, også for entreprenøriell kompetanse. I dette legger vi samarbeid, kreativitet, problemløsing - og utholdenhet til å tåle motgang og prøve på nytt, sier hun.

The programme Ungdomsbedrift (youth business) in upper secondary school is state-financed. Beyond that, UE has many supporters, including in private enterprise, from politicians and the social partners.

“We see that many are willing UE and our programmes on,” says Nykkelmo. 

Arena for achievement outside of the classroom

In a time when an increasing number of young people fall outside of education and work, Nykkelmo believes UE plays an important role. The UE CEO has many good stories about youths who were tired of school and then experienced achievement through UE programmes. They then realised why theoretical knowledge is also important. 

UE is about giving youths more arenas of achievement, believes Nykkelmo.

“UE gives young people the chance to work with things they choose themselves which interest them. This gives them motivation and a sense of achievement in a different way than in an ordinary classroom setting. By working with the company they also realise to a greater degree why they need to learn things,” says Nykkelmo. 

Future entrepreneurs?

The Danish Fonden for Entreprenørskap (Fund for Entrepreneurship) last year published the report “Can you spot whether an upper secondary school pupil has participated in an entrepreneurship programme?” 

A three-year-long survey was conducted on behalf of UE's sister organisation Young Enterprise (JA) in Sweden. The aim was to investigate how pupils and teachers perceive entrepreneurship and what kind of influence this type of teaching has on pupils throughout their schooling.

The conclusion was that yes, the programme was a motivator for learning, the understanding that it is important to learn other subjects and that young entrepreneurship can motivate more entrepreneurship.

“Innovators are needed everywhere!” is Young Enterprise’s slogan in Norway. But will there be more of them just because they participated in one of the programmes as youths?

When researchers from the Eastern Norway Research Institute looked at this in 2018, they found that young entrepreneurs were more likely to become founders of startups.

“Female entrepreneurs who have taken the programme at school or while studying at university tell us that this is important. They describe the programme as a safe training ground which in turn has given them the confidence to take the leap and become an entrepreneur,” says Nykkelmo.

Here it is worth mentioning that Statistics Norway late last year published figures showing a record number of young entrepreneurs in Norway. Never before has there been more entrepreneurs aged 16 to 24. There were 14 per cent more in 2023 compared to the previous year, and a great increase even on the top entrepreneur year of 2021.

Nordics doing well

There is a tradition for competitions in young enterprise. In 2023, Norwegian youth and student companies took home several prizes from the European championships. 

“Norway does well and the Nordics do well. The activity and opportunities for young entrepreneurs as part of the school system are growing in the Nordics.

“We share several common programmes and interests and collaborate quite a bit. This comes naturally as we have more similar education and social systems compared to the rest of Europe,” says Nykkelmo.