Entrepreneurship in Greece “is punished”

Q: Tell us please a few words about ELSET: its foundation, its goals, its activities etc.

Q: ELSET is the Greek Labelers Association. It was founded a few years ago, but it must have been founded a lot earlier. However, one day we realized that the label factory has its own special features that requests for such an action. Its goal, apart from giving solutions to our problems, is also the teambuilding of our members, the briefing about the sector’s developments, the exchange of experiences and opinions, the contact with international organizations and in general every initiative that should make us better.

Q: What the goal of the recent event was?

A: Imperfections can be found even in the best organized works and they have to be resolved. As I answered to your previous question, we have to keep up with the developments constantly. So, we had to analyze some issues of our sector and to adjust our strategy on the current circumstances.

Q: Do you believe that important issues of the label industry, such as those related to Marketing, have been resolved?

A: Yes, I guess. The majority of the attendants, while leaving the event, discussed about the speeches and the slides. Also, people who didn’t attend the event but learned about its subject, asked for information. So yes, the whole Administrative Council believes that the event had positive effects.

Q: The businessmen of the label industry are in need of such events? Does ELSET plans to hold more such events for the future?

A: The biggest mistake anyone could do is that he has no more problems to resolve. ELSET also thinks that there are a lot of issues to resolve. So, there will be such events in the future.

A: During the event, it was referred that entrepreneurship in Greece is “punished” by the state and there’s no development of your sector. Do you agree with this aspect?

A: Of course, entrepreneurship in Greece is punished, because bureaucracy and narrow-minded perceptions are creating unnecessary obstacles. It means that development is growing with a much slower tempo than it should. So, apart from entrepreneurship, the state is punishing also itself. There would be a profit for all of us if it realizes it.

Q: What the level of companies related to the label is? Do they cover innovative applications and technologies?

A: In general, I think that yes. Greek labelers today are keeping up with the European colleagues of them on equal terms. Greek label industry lags behind neither in machinery nor in modern perspectives.   

Q: Living in a country which faces a financial crisis and a lot of social riots, what does a labeler needs in order to distinguish? Did your event give any motive on it?

A: Every professional, not only a labeler, has to search for diversity. The action that will help him distinguish is the one that will gain the customers’ interest. Analysis, insight, innovation and proper collaborators are some of the features that a businessman must have. Referring to the event, I truly think that it gave a motive on it. The speech of Professor Bourantas was focused exactly to what a businessman have to do in order to deviate from conventional standards and to act with modern perceptions.

Q: What a Greek businennman can see at the next “Drupa” event, in order to apply it on its business?

A: Drupa is one of the biggest Graphic Arts exhibitions. It is very interesting also for the label industry. However, the labelers are visiting Label Expo that takes place every two years at Brussels. But the labelers can see a lot of things on this exhibition, because we can’t believe that there’s nothing else to learn. We can’t believe that we reach to the end, because… that will be the end. Ideas never run dry. We can’t close our eyes and ignore the new ideas. So, every businessman that is monitoring and adjust to the international activities, has a lot of things to learn.

The interview was published in “Typographia” magazine (September 2017).