Running the business

Bookings, records, stock and payments — what tends to leak time in a small business, and what is worth automating.

Running the business
Moving counter forms and waivers onto the customer's phone
Registration forms and signed statements on paper slow the busiest hour and bury the records. What changes when customers fill them in on their own phone.
16 September 20265 min read
Running the business
Athlete health cards that expire mid-season: a problem for every Greek sports club
In Greece, an athlete cannot play an official match without a valid health card, renewed every year. For clubs and academies with hundreds of athletes, the expiry dates are the real paperwork.
11 September 20263 min read
Running the business
Trade orders by phone and Viber: when your customers are other businesses
Suppliers across Greece still take most trade orders by phone, message and photo. What that costs, why e-invoicing makes it more visible, and what an order portal changes.
3 September 20263 min read
Running the business
September enrolment at a tutoring school, without the paper pile
Every September, frontistiria and language schools re-enrol hundreds of pupils in two weeks: forms, contact details, class choices, fee plans. How to spread that fortnight across the summer.
28 August 20263 min read
Running the business
The digital work card reaches salons and clinics. The hard part is the rota
Health, beauty and personal care joined Greece's digital work card pilot in June, with penalties from 12 October. Clocking in is easy. Keeping the declared rota true to the day is not.
13 August 20263 min read
Running the business
Ski rental fleets are planned in August, not December
The decisions that shape a ski shop's winter — which skis to buy, which to retire, which sizes ran out — are made in summer. They are only as good as last season's records.
6 August 20263 min read
Running the business
One stock for the shop and the e-shop
A shop that also sells online often keeps two stock counts: the shelf and the website. They disagree by Tuesday. What it costs to sell something twice, and how a small retailer can keep one number.
28 July 20263 min read
Running the business
Patient records in a spreadsheet: the questions nobody asks until something goes wrong
Many small practices keep patient details in a shared file, an email thread and a phone. Health data is the most sensitive kind there is. Five plain questions to ask about where yours lives.
23 July 20263 min read
Running the business
Island clinics in August: patients who speak five languages and carry travel insurance
A private medical centre on a Greek island can see more patients in August than in the rest of the year, mostly tourists. Forms, languages and insurance paperwork set the pace.
17 July 20263 min read
Running the business
Greece's digital client register is heading for gyms, salons and doctors
Garages and car rentals already report every customer to the tax authority before the work starts. Gyms, salons, physios and doctors are named as next. What it means if you run on appointments.
14 July 20263 min read
Running the business
A monthly statement for property owners who live abroad
Many Greek properties belong to owners in Germany, Australia or Athens who never see them. What they want from their property manager is not more messages. It is one clear statement a month.
7 July 20263 min read
Running the business
Is the 12th of September free? Enquiries at wedding and christening venues
Venues and caterers answer the same first question hundreds of times a year: is our date free? How to turn it into a booked visit instead of a lost afternoon, mid wedding season.
22 June 20263 min read
Running the business
The withdrawal button: what changes for online shops from 19 June
From tomorrow, EU online shops must let customers withdraw from a purchase with a clearly labelled button. What it has to do, who is exempt, and what to check on your own shop tonight.
18 June 20263 min read
Running the business
Gym memberships that expire quietly, and the members who go with them
Most members do not cancel. They stop coming, their membership runs out, and nobody notices for months. How a small gym or studio can see it coming and do something about it.
4 June 20263 min read
Running the business
Shipping to the islands: the checkout question Greek online shops get wrong
A customer in Crete or on a small Cycladic island sees 'delivery in 1–2 days' and a flat shipping fee. The parcel takes five days and the courier adds a surcharge. How to tell the truth at checkout.
27 May 20263 min read
Running the business
Short-staffed for the season? Stop spending your people on paperwork
Greek tourism starts another season with thousands of jobs unfilled. You may not find more staff. You can stop the staff you have from retyping, chasing and searching.
21 May 20263 min read
Running the business
Before the guest arrives: the messages that save your reception an hour a day
Most questions a guest asks on arrival could have been answered a week earlier. What a small hotel, holiday let or activity business should send between booking and arrival, and in which languages.
15 May 20263 min read
Running the business
The empty chair: no-shows at salons and beauty studios
A two-hour colour appointment that does not turn up is an afternoon's income gone. How salons and beauty studios can cut no-shows fairly: reminders, clear rules, deposits where they count.
5 May 20263 min read
Running the business
A clinic's stock room is a money problem, not a storage problem
Consumables that expire on the shelf, orders placed twice, supplier invoices nobody matched to deliveries. Why stock in a private clinic belongs next to the procedures that use it.
30 April 20263 min read
Running the business
Who sent this customer? Paying hotels and agencies what they are owed
Activity operators live on referrals from hotel receptions and travel agencies. When commissions are tracked from memory, partners notice. How to keep it exact without it becoming a job.
21 April 20263 min read
Running the business
Cash on delivery in Greece is not going away. Design your shop around it
Greek shoppers still ask to pay the courier. For an online shop that means refused parcels, delayed cash and extra fees. How to offer it without letting it eat your margin.
14 April 20263 min read
Running the business
Two Easters, one booking calendar
Western Easter fell on 5 April this year and Greek Orthodox Easter falls on 12 April. For tourism businesses that means two weeks of demand, closures and questions.
8 April 20263 min read
Running the business
Maintenance requests that arrive at midnight, by message
For anyone managing rental properties, repairs arrive as photos in a chat and end as an invoice in an email. Why the cost of a property is never quite known, and how to tie the two together.
2 April 20263 min read
Running the business
Holiday rentals in Greece in 2026: the rules, and what your own site should show
Registration numbers, safety requirements, freezes in central Athens and Thessaloniki, and an EU-wide registration rule from May. What changed, and how it touches your website and records.
12 March 20263 min read
Running the business
Class booking for a gym, without the group chat
Small gyms and studios often run class places through a messaging group and a notebook. Why that breaks as the timetable grows, and what self-service booking changes for members and staff.
4 March 20263 min read
Running the business
From short-term to long-term rental: what changes in the work, not just the tax
Freezes in central Athens and Thessaloniki and a tax incentive are pushing some owners from holiday lets to long leases. The paperwork gets lighter. The follow-up does not disappear, it just moves.
2 March 20263 min read
Running the business
Getting an online shop ready for its busy season, before it starts
A shop that sells for christenings and weddings earns most of its year in a few months. What to fix in February so the site holds up from May, using a christening shop as the example.
23 February 20263 min read
Running the business
A treatment plan patients can say yes to
Many dental patients leave with a verbal estimate and a lot of worry, and never book the next appointment. How a written plan, sent the same day, changes what they decide.
17 February 20263 min read
Running the business
IRIS payments are mandatory in Greece. What that means at the counter and online
Since December 2025 businesses in Greece must accept IRIS instant payments from consumers. What changed, what it costs you in admin, and where your website fits in.
12 February 20263 min read
Running the business
The table for twelve that never came: reservations and no-shows at a taverna
A seaside taverna in August lives on its tables. A group that does not turn up on a Saturday night costs more than any other mistake. What to do about it without insulting regulars.
3 February 20263 min read
Running the business
The job you lose between the phone call and the quote
Electricians, builders and installers rarely lose work on price. They lose it in the days between the enquiry and the number. Where those days go, and how to get them back.
29 January 20263 min read
Running the business
Six months of the digital client register for car rentals and garages
Since July 2025, Greek car rentals, garages, car washes and car parks register every customer with the tax authority before the service starts. How to keep it to a single entry.
23 January 20263 min read
Running the business
When a practice's appointment book lives in one person's head
Small practices run on a diary, a spreadsheet and whoever answers the phone. What that costs when that person is off sick, and what a practice needs instead.
19 January 20263 min read
Running the business
What parents ask a tutoring school, and why the phone keeps ringing
Greek frontistiria and language schools spend their evenings answering the same parent questions: attendance, marks, fees, schedule changes. What changes when parents can see the answers themselves.
14 January 20263 min read
Running the business
The summer season is decided in January
For a seasonal business, the months when nobody is booking are the only months you can fix how bookings work. A short list of what to do before the first enquiry arrives.
8 January 20263 min read
Running the business
What a booking system actually saves
A dive centre in Mykonos cut no-shows from 23% to 3%. The interesting part is not the software — it is which part of the job it removed.
11 March 20252 min read

Running the business

Moving counter forms and waivers onto the customer's phone

Athlete health cards that expire mid-season: a problem for every Greek sports club

Trade orders by phone and Viber: when your customers are other businesses

September enrolment at a tutoring school, without the paper pile

The digital work card reaches salons and clinics. The hard part is the rota

Ski rental fleets are planned in August, not December

One stock for the shop and the e-shop

Patient records in a spreadsheet: the questions nobody asks until something goes wrong

Island clinics in August: patients who speak five languages and carry travel insurance

Greece's digital client register is heading for gyms, salons and doctors

A monthly statement for property owners who live abroad

Is the 12th of September free? Enquiries at wedding and christening venues

The withdrawal button: what changes for online shops from 19 June

Gym memberships that expire quietly, and the members who go with them

Shipping to the islands: the checkout question Greek online shops get wrong

Short-staffed for the season? Stop spending your people on paperwork

Before the guest arrives: the messages that save your reception an hour a day

The empty chair: no-shows at salons and beauty studios

A clinic's stock room is a money problem, not a storage problem

Who sent this customer? Paying hotels and agencies what they are owed

Cash on delivery in Greece is not going away. Design your shop around it

Two Easters, one booking calendar

Maintenance requests that arrive at midnight, by message

Holiday rentals in Greece in 2026: the rules, and what your own site should show

Class booking for a gym, without the group chat

From short-term to long-term rental: what changes in the work, not just the tax

Getting an online shop ready for its busy season, before it starts

A treatment plan patients can say yes to

IRIS payments are mandatory in Greece. What that means at the counter and online

The table for twelve that never came: reservations and no-shows at a taverna

The job you lose between the phone call and the quote

Six months of the digital client register for car rentals and garages

When a practice's appointment book lives in one person's head

What parents ask a tutoring school, and why the phone keeps ringing

The summer season is decided in January

What a booking system actually saves