Due to owners reaching retirement age, tens of thousands of companies are expected to either change ownership or close over the next several years.
Results of the survey found that 38 percent of business owners over the age of 55 are expected to sell their companies.
Of these sales, one in five said they would likely find a successor from within their own families, but 28 percent of them said they expected their business to stop altogether, a figure of around 20,000 companies.
According to Statistics Finland 20,000 is not an insignificant number, since the country has some 262,000 businesses in total.
Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences conducted the survey, which was queried 3,000 Finnish entrepreneurs over the age of 55.