Mentoring Program Leads to Success

For more than a decade, families in Greece have faced intense economic pressure—still they remain committed to finding a path forward. Since 2015, working with Apostoli, the humanitarian arm of the Archdiocese of Athens, IOCC has helped small agricultural and manufacturing enterprises grow and expand their markets through a special mentoring program.

The program connects business owners with experienced executive mentors who volunteer through IOCC partner KEMEL. Mentors help their protégés create a business plan by providing guidance on factors like marketing, pricing, and production efficiencies. Entrepreneurs know that they must focus on the quality of their products, but mentoring can help them realize that sometimes they must make bold decisions too.

For example, one microenterprise that sells wooden toys was turning down orders because they didn’t have the equipment they needed to scale up and hesitated to try something new. After consulting with their mentor and receiving new equipment from IOCC, the owners decided to move to a bigger facility. With more efficient production, they are now forecasting increased sales.

Mentoring was also liberating for Vasilis, whose company processes lemon juice for cooking, baking, and salads. “For the first time,” he said, “I don’t feel alone in this, and I feel confident [I can] disengage myself from the production process and commit mainly to implementing my business plan and promoting my company.”

While the program also donates equipment to growing businesses, mentoring, as one new business owner stated, “was just as valuable as the donated equipment.” So far IOCC has helped more than 150 microenterprises, 50 of which have received mentoring to grow their businesses and thrive, even in a challenging economy.