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Victoria Mindova

It is common opinion that Greece is currently in one of its most difficult periods for the last thirty years. Truism is that solutions to all problems are found by the appropriate people. Unintentionally or not, GRReporter embarked in search of a new type of people who can give a new look and strength to Greece – the one we know and love. The search did not turn out to be hard at all! 

Dimitris Grindzos owns a landscaping company Garden Delight, which is the culmination of his dream to be his own boss. Dimitris is one of those people who refuel you with energy and optimism after every conversation with them. Ambitious, focused, but very funny and accessible, the young entrepreneur, represents a new generation of Greeks who have the power and ability to change the face of his country in this difficult period. He does not fit the cliché of a typical Greek lover with Rey Ban sunglasses and frappe in his hand at five in the afternoon. He works and lives with pathos, he loves extreme sports and every winter he spends at least one week in Bansko snowboarding. 

For years and wisdom 

I am 31! After going over thirty I feel very good. It seems as if I finally reach maturity inside, and people around take me more seriously. My opinion has more weight. I do not know whether this is due to my inner confidence or there is a psychological barrier associated with age, but there is definitely a difference in people's attitude towards me, both in work and in personal life. I believe it is natural development for a human to change his view of the world with the accumulation of years and experience. Some fundamental constants may never change, but the vicissitudes of life definitely change us to some extent. The inner maturity we are talking about carries the meaning of a revaluation of the surrounding world than any fateful getting wiser, after the age of thirty. This certainly applies to my professional growth. Currently, the way I plan and organize my work is very different from what I did in the beginning. 

I can swim without buoy! 

This month we celebrated our three year private business anniversary. I cannot even realize when that time flew by. Before opening my own business, for two years I was working as chief landscapist in a hotel in Athens. Along the way I was doing small private projects, but overall I was just an employee. I enjoyed my work and I was getting good money, but deep down inside I knew that I cannot be a subordinate all my life. I do not like the concept of having to ask when you can go on vacation, for example. I cannot deny that this job was giving me more security without differing much from what I am doing right now. Simply, I one day to work and I resigned. I had been thinking a lot about it and I finally had decided that the time had come. I wanted to be own boss. At that point I did not have any clients but I knew how to do my job very well. 

Luck goes with the brave ones 

Apparently I'm lucky because my first major contract was soon after I opened the company. A friend of a former classmate of mine was opening a coffee bar in the neighborhood of Filotei. She was looking for someone to design and build her outer garden, which occupies about 70% of the commercial area of the café. She was very pleased with what I did, but I must admit that whenever I go there I see different things that I could have done differently. This is why people say that knowledge comes with experience. Back then this was just a job, which brought me some money. This was my first contract and I could have made a mistake in the budget but I guess this is where luck came in. Of course now I know much more about business management and finance issues than in the beginning. In this line of thought I can say that the financial plan of the first order was very successful without me having the knowledge that comes with experience. Today I still maintain this café and every time we make small changes to freshen the atmosphere. Three years later I believe that with the knowledge I have now, I could have done a completely different project, without this meaning that the original plan was not good. 

Old generation