Cut out and wear with pride |
Greece; you only have to say the word and it conjures up a myriad of images. Sun, sea, ancient civilisation, wonders of the world, economic crisis and moustaches. What doesn't spring to mind is entrepreneurship and business acumen.
Greeks have traditionally fallen into two categories as
far as work is concerned; public servant or self-employed. With
private-sector employee being very much a consolation prize. A job,
any job in the public sector has always been regarded the safe,
secure route, not overly taxing with tenure and a reliable pay-cheque.
Self-employment, on the other hand hovers around nearly 40% of the
workforce, more than twice the UK level and nearly four times the US.
Greeks have been running their own businesses for years. From fishing
boats to cigarette kiosks, from farming to shipping, Greeks have been
doing the business in business. In fact, in spite of the efforts of
the country's largest employer, the government, the people of this
greatly misunderstood nation have managed to turn a tidy profit and
send a fair bit of it to Germany; there are more Mercedes on Greek
roads than Fords.
Then, quicker than you can yell 'Opah!' it all started
to go horribly wrong. It seems the nations care-takers had not been
taking enough care with the balance sheets and it was time for the
nation to settle the account. Swathes of cuts in the public sector
along with scything fear-mongering from the press and media and the
economy was in free-fall.
The idle Greeks were blamed for all of Europe's woes
and everyone waited for Germany to stroll in and buy up the all the
sun-loungers, put the people to work digging up the countries
untapped natural mineral resources including oil and gold and
redirect the sunlight to Frankfurt.
a beautiful shipwreck - not yet! |
Well, there are a number who are ready to be counted. A
resistance movement of the young and educated (mostly abroad) and the
determined. Those who haven't given up yet and are not looking to the
far-right to kick the future into shape.
I recently found myself in a electrical super-store
(German origin) and greeted by lovely young lady (Greek origin) and
asked if I had seen the MLS mobile phone. I hadn't but was curious
“the first Greek Mobile!” she declared. Greek phone? And it was,
with a brace of handy 'talk & call' apps and sleek styling. It's
no game-changer but in this climate, it exists and that is more than
a good start.
An old student of mine, now a chemist, is utilising
Greece's huge botanical pharmacy to make a range of natural creams and remedies.
I was invited to the
Thessaloniki 'Open coffee' event at the town hall and to be honest
what I envisaged was a mayoral soirée. The
Greeks have so many ways to drink coffee I was curious to see what
developments had been made. To my minor disappointment Mr. Boutaris
was absent, probably saw my rsvp on FB, but what was there was far
more significant. Imagine a TEDx with people talking about clever
things they had done. Not theory or thought provoking but actually
made happen.
Like
two guys who had built their own city trike 'the Paastel'. Another
group who have set up a crowd source rental site Rentareto; imagine ebay with
rental. Another crowd-source catering site Cookisto; imagine ebay with pie and
cake.
Then
there's my favourite, Innovation Farm, a team of professional
business consultants, marketeers, imagineers and entrepreneurs who
are joining up the dots for others who have a good idea and need
investment, mentoring, promotion and just about anything else. I had
a chat with the John Galt-like leader and they have some pretty big
ideas brewing of their own. I am expecting big things from them.
![]() |
Teaching the Brit to dance |
The
point is that Greeks are still as entrepreneurial as ever, still as
obstinate as ever but they are getting smarter. Wisened by brick-wall
bureaucracy and tempered by euro-austerity the Greeks are coming
back. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that there is a long road
ahead but the Greeks are not to be written off so easily. The MLS may not be the iPhone 5 but in many ways it is so much more important, its innovation is in its existence.
They
have formed a resistance force and are ready to see off the invaders.
The moustaches are gone but Zorba still has a thing or two to dance
about.
Join the resistance become part of the solution.
Join the resistance become part of the solution.
No comments:
Post a Comment
“In a hyper-real postmodern world, fact and fiction have become confusingly indistinguishable” Hunter S. Thompson
Throw in your two-pennies worth