Small business

“The great opportunities offered by the American stock market to Greek entrepreneurs”

The Hellenic Development Bank (EAT) will activate the third edition of the Entrepreneurship Fund (TEPIX III), with a total budget of 500 million euros.

It aims to support entrepreneurship with loans and guarantees of a total amount of €2.2 billion through the leverage of funds from the banks as well.

"A leap forward is feasible and will benefit all of us. It is up to us, but requires determination and cooperation," said the chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), Dimitris Papalexopoulos, on Monday, in a statement before the presentation of the federation's survey on the entrepreneurship environment.

The program foresees 600 million dinars in non-repayable funds.

Greek exports may be setting historic records year after year, but exports largely remain the business of a few large Greek companies. If anything, the road to foreign markets for small and medium-sized enterprises is long and difficult.

Almost half} (46.6%) of all employees in Greece work at very small businesses with up to nine staff, compared to a rate of 29.4% in the EU. In contrast, large companies employ approximately 16.5% of workers in Greece, compared to almost 35.6% in the EU.

Businesses in Greece are having trouble not only hiring new employees, but also keeping their current workforce, demonstrating that worker retention is a complex challenge for companies, especially for micro-enterprises, which are the backbone of Greek entrepreneurship. 

The lack of previous experience, the competition and the skills (soft and hard ones) that companies look for are the biggest concerns of the new generation, which is trying to combine the passion for what they study with the needs as well as the high labor market requirements, the Entrepreneurship and Careers Panorama heard on Friday at the Athens Concert Hall.

The current economic climate poses obvious challenges for any business, and especially for new small businesses. The country entered a technical recession with two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP, and more than 80 percent of small business owners anticipate a recision. This is in the midst of 40-year high inflation rates that are impacting business.

The two countries are advancing entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth