How a Greek Business Owner Survives the Economic Meltdown

As Greece’s debt crisis drags on—negotiations with European lenders are nearing a new deadline set for Sunday—life goes on for ordinary citizens. For entrepreneurs across the country, the wrecked economy has been the mother of invention. How do you sustain a business in the face of capital controls that limit bank withdrawals to €60 ($66) per day? Does anyone go shopping in times of massive uncertainty and risk? The owner and designer of an Athens-based manufacturer of luxury leather handbags and accessories shares her story of small business survival in an economic meltdown.

Pavlina Papailiopoulou is looking for optimism wherever she can find it. Two days after she and her fellow Greeks went to the polls in a snap referendum, the 33-year-old fashion designer and business owner made a snap decision to put some of her handbags on sale. She announced the discounts on Facebook and attempted to put a smile on what has been a worrisome and emotional few weeks: