AVITAE December 2016

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August 2016

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A.V.I.T.A.E

AVITAE: Enterpreneurship Issue The AVITAE project travelled to Cyprus to learn how to deal with JA-companies and enterpreneurship, to study Cypriot traditions, culture and history and to meet each others once again. The trip was a success, and here are some fruits of our labour.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT CYPRUS

by Elena Demetriou – AVITAE Cyprus

JA Cyprus is a member of JA Worldwide, one of the largest global NGOs dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges of young people by educating and empowering them to transform their future and own their economic success. JA Worldwide was funded in 1919 and it currently has more than 100 member countries. The JA Worldwide network is powered by over 450 000 volunteers and mentors from all sectors of society, reaching more than 10 million young people around the world every year.

JA Cyprus is a relatively young non-for-profit organization, specializing in entrepreneurship education. Through a variety of educational programmes the youth of today (5-25 year olds) acquire entrepreneurial, financial literacy and employability skills.

Funded by businesses, institutions, foundations and individuals, JA Cyprus brings the public and private sectors together to provide young people in primary and secondary schools and early university with experiences that promote the skills, understanding and perspective that they will need to succeed

in a global economy.

Students, who participate to this kind of programme, gain real-world experience. First of all, they build entrepreneurial skills and competencies because students are split into teams that will produce an innovative product. Each team operates like a mini company, the members of the teams become members of the board of directors and each of them takes their own responsibility and task (e.g. Marketing Manager, Communication Manager, IT Manager , CEO etc). However in order to achieve this, the students have to work together, create strong business plans, develop business concepts from bottom to top, set goal and manage their time. Apart from developing enterprising skills and attitudes, students learn to take responsibility and be accountable to their shareholders.

Needless to say, during their time in the programme, students develop attitudes and skills necessary for personal success and employability, even understanding the innerworkings of business. They gain key understanding in selfemployment, business creati-

on, risk-taking and coping with adversity, all with the support of experienced business volunteers.

Apart from these entrepreneurial skills and attitudes gained during the programme, which are necessary for personal success, there are also other impacts that are offered and they are worth-mentioning. To begin with, the entrepreneurial rate among JA alumni is twice as high as the average population. Furthermore, JA participants are 25% less likely to be unemployed after graduation.

Moreover, 63% of JA alumni are confident managing their own money (compared to 37% of non-JA). This is due to the fact that JA participants during the programme have to decide the best way to spend their money and learn to deal with opportunity cost.

Last but not least, JA participants are three times more likely to hold senior or middle management positions because they have experience in dealing with risk-taking situation and they are more capable of handling difficult decisions and puzzling problems.

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Articles on Failed or MadeOver Companies Ford Motor Company

By Jakob Nguyen.

Young Henry Ford was fascinated by machines. He wanted to know how things worked and why they didn´t work.

He loved experiments. In 1896 his experiments culminated with the completion of his first self-propelled vehicle, the Quadricycle. It had four wire wheels, was steered with a tiller like a boat and had only two forward speeds with no reverse.

In 1898 he persuaded a group of businessmen to invest in his company that produced and sold horseless carriages.

But Ford knew nothing about running a business and his new company failed, as did a second. His cars were low quality and too pricey for average consumers.

Finally in 1903 he incorporated his third automotive venture, Ford Motor Company. He was able to attract outstanding people who believed in his vision. The new company´s first car, called the Model A, was followed by a variety of improved models.

The most important one was Model T. It was easy to operate and became a huge success.

Ford decided to move into a

huge new plant and there he introduced methods for largescale manufacture of cars and large-scale management of industrial workforce using ideas of Eli Whitney, who made one of the first engineered manufacture sequences by moving on assembly lines. This brought possibility to start produce good quality, low-priced cars.

But Ford workers objected to the repetitive work. Ford responded with his great innovation – he doubled wages.

Ford made another mistake.

He ignored the growing popularity of more expensive but more comfortable cars like the Chevrolet and would not listen to his son when he said it was time for a new model. After a couple of years of declining sales figures he finally began to design a new car. By 1927 all steps in the manufacturing process from refining raw materials to final assembly al the automobile took place at his plant. On time it would become the world´s largest factory, making not only cars but the steel, glass, tires and other components that went into the cars.

Ford was interested in every

aspect of life around him. He a source of profits, it was a way believed in technology as a for- to harness new ideas and furtce for improving people´s lives. her democratize life.

For him technology wasn´t just Ford Motor Company is now

an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The company sells

automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln.

August 2016

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Nokia - Connecting People

by Anna-Sofia Sarpola, Tomi Pyhälä, Hanna-Sofia Luoto, Vilma Kunnasmäki, Santeri Puhakka Nokia is a Finnish successful company. At first Nokia concentrated for example on sawmill industry, circular saws and boots. That was at the beginning of the 20th century. Later every sector did their own companies. And one company was a telecommunication sector company. From that began the Finnish success story. Nokia produced cables and improved telephone technology. Nokia became one of the leading telecommunications company. They were many steps ahead of other companies in the same market. On the side Nokia improved GSM-technology and telephones. From that secondary business formed the biggest business of Nokia. For example the first

SMS Message was sent from released Lumia -smartphoa Nokia telephone. Nokia nes, Nokia’s downhill also made other technologi- started. cal devices, such as TVs. Yet in the 2010s Nokia On the late 1900s and ear- had a significant portion of ly 2000s, the time before smartphone markets. Nosmartphones, Nokia was one kia made one of the first of the most popular and suc- smartphones. The N8 and cessful cell phone company. N9 phones reached a great They made good, simple and success. Soon Nokia began cheap cell phones and they producing Lumia-phones. were sold all over the world. That was the turning point Millward Brown’s studies of Nokia’s success, becaushow that in 2009, Nokia se the company chose the was the world’s thirteenth operating system Micromost valuable brand. soft Windows Phone, which One of Nokia’s best known wasn’t popular among users. phone, the Nokia 3310, has Other phones also became sold over 136 million units. available, which had a difThe 3310 phone is a super ferent operating systems. indestructible phone and it Android and iOs systems has only basic features and passed Nokia. Nokia’s users four games. When smart got tired of the operating phone era began and Nokia system, but also the lack of

applications on offer. As a company, Nokia got stuck in place and the competitors passed them by.

Microsoft bought Nokia’s Devices & Services transaction in april 2014 with 5,44 billion euros. This was a long process, because they discussed it for 7 months, before they got the deal to a point where both of them were happy. Two Nokia factories remained with Nokia, where they continue working, by selling mobile phones they make to Microsoft

as a subcontractor, a factory in India with about 7000 workers and a small factory in South-Korea. The mobile phone unit didn’t make money for Nokia back then, because the sales weren’t high enough. So this trade was a positive thing for Nokia.

Their products are mobile broadband, consultancy and managed services and multimedia technology. The company was created between the Siemens Communications division and Nokia’s Network Business Group. It was first Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) but in 2014 it Nokia Networks is Nokia’s renamed as Nokia Networks. business unit. It designs and manufactures hardware and In the future Nokia Netsoftware for use in telecom- works may be on display. munications networks. It Nokia Networks did a great was founded in 2007 and job with 4G access and they the company is headquar- have planned to start wortered in Espoo, Finland. king with 5G technology.

Old But New - Re-Inventing a National Favorite

By Anna Sofie Hvass, Silja Nidløse, Mie Knudsen & Simone Sejdenfaden - Denmark

Lakrids by Johan Bülow started on the Danish island called Bornholm, Mr. Bülow’s birthplace, and liquorice has been pouring out of the company ever since. With focus on the quality of his raw materials Bülow has taken liquorice to a new level. Because liquorice is not in itself a new invention. Liquorice has been in Denmark for ages and has been a national favourite for many years. But, what else besides quality materials did mr. Bülow utilize in order to receive such succes? Well,

he took the liquorice and reinvented the whole concept - Also known as pivoting in the business world.

Bülow does so by making an art out of branding - he created beautiful, interesting containers. He invented a special system where he gave each type of liquorice his company produced a special number or letter.

This appealed to the crowd.

But not only do he and his company pivot when it comes to branding. Pivoting is often done in the office of

Lakrids by Johan Bülow. Every season they create a new interesting flavor in order to keep the crowd’s interest.

The competition is fierce there are many Danish candy companies and they are very cheap compared to Lakrids

by Johan Bülow. Branding itself on quality, interesting packaging and a constant stream of new flavors is what keeps the company going. It is what makes the company different and fancy - despite the high prices.

modity that he can find and allegedly search far and wide for these. Exotic variants of liquorice and other key ingredients are handpicked from places such as the Middle East and they work as the cherry on the top making Lakrids by Johan Bülow something special. Several researches on the Danes’ consumer behaviors show a tendency to prefer quality over quantity. This means that companies such as Lakrids by Johan Bülow can continue to keep their stanBülow uses the best com- dards high and continue to

use premium commodities without fear of losing customers to the cheaper brands.

This small detail has most probably played a huge part in terms of Bülow’s popularity and success - the circumstances were definitely with him.

In our age, successfully reaching out to the public and catching their interest is one of many huge barriers a new company must face.

Unfortunately, this is often where many new aspirants must admit defeat. But some

will survive the battle for success and Lakrids by Johan Bülow is surely one of the lucky ones or perhaps one of the more talented ones.

His company has recently begun exporting to England and America among other countries expanding beyond the Danish border. The market is constantly changing - but so is Lakrids by Johan Bülow. And that is probably one of the most admirable things about this company.

Vassilakis Security By: Christos Kolios, Eirini Papadimitriou, Grigoris Tsiorise

We decided to narrate the story of a local business that managed to survive against all odds. It all started when Dimitris Vassilakis from Arta, Greece, who got his degree in electronic engineering from the University of Thessaloniki, wanted to start his own local business called “Vassilakis Security”, which specializes in alarm systems.

The need of a friend of his to install an alarm system in his house was the cause to start this pioneer enterprise in April 1992.

from friends and relatives in order to establish his company and to serve his only three costumers, who had come off. After three years of personal hard work (he had to work 24 hours per day on his own) he met his wife who became his partner in business too. The problems they had to face were too many, financial and practical ones. Customers were also hard to find as people didn’t trust them and didn’t believe in them because they were very young and inexperienced.

So, he began right from the (They were 26 and 21 years bottom by borrowing money old respectively). However,

they believed, and they still do, in themselves and due to their perseverance and confidence for accomplishing their goals, they managed after two years to get over their financial problems and they even hired their own personnel for the first time since the beginning of their company.

After all these years, they have become one of the biggest and most popular enterprises of their kind in Greece. They have around 5000 Greek costumers, including 2 of the biggest Greek banks, public services

and other major enterprises. Beside their main office, located in Arta, they have opened a second one in Thessaloniki. What’s more, they own the only center in Western Greece for receiving alarm signals and

monitoring their clients’ systems notifying them in case of suspicious movements.

They serve not only their own clients but also clients of other enterprises’ alarm systems.

Despite their current success, problems still exist, but they keep working hard because – as they told us – “keeping an enterprise like this alive needs hard work and the way to success is too long”.

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Coca Cola, a Story of Failures and Success

By Carla Andrea Rodríguez, Damaris Álvarez, Daniel LLombet y Yaiza Castro.

Everyone knows Coca Cola, but not everyone knows how they strived to reach success.

Coca Cola is one of the most known companies because of its products. A sparkling drink, similar to soda, was created by John S. Pemberton on May 8, 1886 in Atlanta. The pharmacist wanted to create a syrup against digestion problems which would also be energetic, and ended up creating the most famous and secret formula of the world. He offered this product in vessels, making a total of about 5 glasses per day.

Over time they started selling it as a drink and not a medicine. Although everyone thought it would fail, because in their first year the company only sold 400 bottles, a very low amount, people started to buy the product, which turned the company into a large one. However, years later, Pepsi, the rival company, launched the Next Generation campaign, conquering especially young audiences. Big pop stars like Michael Jackson or Spice Girls

appeared in this new campaign.

Coca-Cola made some research which concluded that Pepsi was successful because of its sweeter flavor.

So, after numerous surveys, developments and thousands of tests, they thought they had found the perfect flavor.

The company embarked on a massive advertising campaign to introduce the New Coke, Coca-Cola with a sweeter taste that would replace the traditional Coca Cola.

As the news of this replacement spread, the company started receiving thousands of letters asking for a return to the original formula, the former Coca Cola. In less than three months, the New Coke had to be withdrawn from the market to return to what, from then on, would become known as Coca-Cola Classic.

The New Coke had failed, but why?

In the 200,000 tastings volunteers were asked what flavor of all presented, they preferred. But they did

not ask their customers what they thought about the traditional Coca Cola, which value it had in their lives and how their lives had changed with it.

Thus, the company replaced it with one that nobody liked.

This change almost made the company go bankrupt. The lack of customer orientati-

on cost the Coca-Cola four million dollars but, in return, they found that customer knowledge, their life and their interests are fundamental to the success of a product or a commercial activity of any kind.

Year after year, Coca-Cola appears on the top of

Six Seconds of Fame

By Italian Student Team.

Unfortunately, nowadays the economic crisis causes companies to fail almost every day- both small businesses and multinational corporations. It’s clear that when we hear of the failure of an important company, we are shocked. However, we must also remember all the recently founded start-ups that die with the hopes of the young entrepreneurs who were deeply invested in them.

And businesses fail even in countries that have largely avoided the crisis. But what are the reasons that a company, well-known or less so, fails? The answer is far from simple: the team might work

poorly together or lack funds, there might not be a market for the product, the founders might lose sight of their goal or have legal issues… Clearly, failure doesn’t depend solely on financial problems: anyone can lose their way on the path to success.

Vine was a free application that allowed users to create six second videos, called “vines,” and share them on numerous social networks, like Twitter or Facebook. Vine was founded by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll in June 2012. The company was later bought by Twitter in October of the same year.

The microvideo-sharing app

will cease to exist in the next few months. This wasn’t the only announcement made by Twitter: the company communicated a cut of 9% in its workforce. Discouraging news that only feeds the negative forecasts that have been swirling for some time regarding the future of social media.

Let’s try to figure out what went wrong in Vine’s case and what its collapse will mean for its users. The application managed to claim a space for itself on the Internet and in the hearts of its audience thanks to the inherent limitations of the six second format. But even after achieving a certain level of success among its

most devoted users, it seems it never managed to progress to the next level. Twitter’s decision to shut down the app could be due to the recent competition created by Snapchat and Instagram Stories as well as the app’s inability to monetize. For now, the videos saved on the profiles of Vine users won’t be eliminated and will continue to be available as will the site and app itself. Twitter has already made clear that users will be warned with sufficient notice in order to download and save their own videos before the app is closed permanently.

the most recognized brands in the world and with added value.

No matter what a brand and its departments or any other business selling plan make with a product or service and its distribution.

The consumer will choose, mostly, according to their criteria and interests, and the success of the product, brand or dealer depends on this.

Behind the success of a product there are a lot of marketing strategies of all

kinds, but there is a fundamental: Customer Orientation.

Customer Orientation can be defined as the predisposition of a brand or company to anticipate and meet the needs of its customers.

There are numerous examples of large corporate failures behind a bad strategy of customer orientation, but if there were an official ranking of business failures, possibly Coca-Cola would be at the top of the ranking.

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Mini-Articles on Cyprus

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Nicosia, Ledras Street

by Maraja (Italy), Yaiza (Spain), Silja (Denmark), Evelina (Greece) After the war in 1974 Cyprus separated into two parts, the Cypriot and the Turkish area.

In between these areas there is a small space no one owns - the no man’s land.

The sad story of how one country got separated into two contries is of course a very sad story! In the end of Ledras street there are policemen, making sure no wrong person enter the no man’s land, and passing into the Turkish side. It is still possible to enter the area, and it makes it attractive for us as tourists,

because how many places in the world is owned by no one? Not many!

When we first stepped in Ledras street the view was really amazing. The street was full of shops and restaurants which were really crowded.

The buildings were not typically developed buildings, but they were old buildings made of stone. This is why it is called The old town of Nicosia. The stone-made buildings made the place even more impressive. It didn’t look like places we’ve seen befo-

re since it included both the tradition of Cyprus and the root of its architecture along with modern restaurants but without influencing any of the traditions of Cypriot architecture.

Places Where You Can Sense History

by Mie (Denmark), Ema (Slovakia) and Anna- Sofia (Finland) Kourion and Amathous are archeological sites located on the southwestern coast of Cyprus. The cities were very important city-kingdoms in ancient times, and they are both very well preserved. When you visit those places, you can almost imagine living there thousands of years ago.

Kourion with the GreekRoman theater is a most interesting place. It is exciting to think that people have stood on the same steps many years ago. Another wonderful thing in Kourion is the amazing view of the sea. There are also ruins of the baths, which were built

in complex of Eustolios. The baths have a lot of skillfully made mosaics, which are also very well preserved. It is clear that people’s standard of living was high. There you can also take beautiful pictures and you will remember that place and its history for a long time.

It is believed that the Amathous archaeological site was built in 1000 B.C. Many frameworks in Amathous are preserved until this day. The most attractive monuments you can find there are the Agora and the baths which are the earliest indications of human activity in the area.

Next important monument

is the Port. Its ruins are preserved today under the sea.

They used it to defend the city and it was where the sailors had the opportunity to pull the ships out of the water in order to better protect them from the wind.

It is easier to understand what people have already

been able to build in ancient times when you see it with your own eyes. It is more instructive and interesting to see these places yourself than reading about them in a book in class.

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Cypros Institute The Cyprus Institute is a non profit research and education institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation located in Nicosia.

There are currently three active Research Centers.

The STARC lab project aims at creating a unique infrastructure consisting of a mobile lab with facilities for digital data, acquisition, geophisics, data processing and archeometry, for research documentation, conservation and preservation of cultural heritage. The STARC project is developed by the Cyprus Institute and the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (headquarter Louvre). STARC is involved also in the coordination of STACHEM, in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Mediterranean-Middle East region is one of the world’s richest areas in terms of cultural heritage and archeological remnants and thus

offers a fertile ground for developing this line of research.

High-Performance Computing Facility (Cy-Tera): The mission of the Cy-Tera is to provide compute and data resources to the research community of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean region, and to establish itself as the national supercomputing facility of Cyprus. Cy-Tera is an innovative hybrid machine, which is the first supercomputer in Cyprus, and the biggest open access supercomputer in the Middle East, mostly used by researchers and students The Energy, Environment and Water Research Center (EEWRC) is focused on research into the energy efficiency and renewable energies(solar energy), environmental integrity, and the management of water resources in the region and in the EU.EEWRC is partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

By International Student Team.

(MIT). The Energy focuses research is developing in the field of Solar Thermal Energy technologies, the enviro-

mental field is mainly monitoring regional enviroment and climate changes using UAVs (unmanned aerial ve-

Cypriot Traditional Dances

By Marina Trives, Pannayotis Lambrianou, Santeri Puhakka, Irina Papadimitriou

We arrived at the school and we were welcomed at the entrance. Some chairs were set for us to sit and watch a show of Cypriot traditional dancing.

There were some musicians in the middle playing a small guitar and singing. Next to them, several boys and girls wearing traditional costumes. We specially admired the girls’ costumes. They looked so elegant in their red dresses, finely embroidered. They sang and danced too.

We realized that Cypriot dances are mainly of the type performed by

a confronted pair, two men or two women. For us it was remarkable that male and female danced separately.

Men’s dances were dynamic and vigorous, cheerful, even with a kind of improvisation to show their dancing skills and competitive spirit. Meanwhile, women’s dances were smooth, quiet and with a certain shyness.

They showed us different dances, like the Kartzilamas. In the end we were invited to try one of the dances. We joined in.

We all held hands and danced together in a circle. It was awesome! Feeling part

of these traditional celebrations! We danced to the music and shared a great time together.

Finally, we could also appreciate how modern lives of young people in Limassol are closely related to folk dances. Boys and girls learned them at school and they feel very proud of showing it to their hosts.

It was a different and exciting experience to see their traditional dresses and dances and it was really amazing how much energy they transmitted in their dancing and singing.

Attractive Old Town of Limassol

by Daniele Orsi, Anna Kossyvaki, Hanna-Sofia Luoto The old town of Limassol is characterized by its narrow streets radiating out from the old fishing harbour. In the middle of this, there is a Medieval Castle which was build by the Byzantine Empire in around 1000 A.D. It is famous because the first coronation and royal marriage out of England took place by this castle. Now there is

a museum in which you can see interesting tombstoner, coats of arms, reliefs and many other archeological finds.

The modern architecture of the Limassol Marina stands out next to the architecture of the old town The Limassol Marina is the

latest waterfront development creating waves in the Eastern Mediterranean. A Milestone project for Cyprus, and the first superyacht marina on the island, it has already established itself as one of the most attractive and unique projects across Europe.

hicles).The water resources water saving and rainwater field develops model related harvesting. to an interactive water savings application, household

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The Ruins of Amathus

By Simona Jungmajerová, Alice Treggi and Simone Sejdenfaden The ruins of Amathus are located directly across the road to the seemingly infinite ocean surrounding Cyprus. Pillars from the past still stand tall, despite their old age. Few plants are to find within the ruins as if to underline that the place is a sacred, historical treasure.

The ruins are a great place to visit if you seek a pure, calming atmosphere.

This ancient work of men is a fountain of magnificent myths and fascinating history. One myth states that this was where the Greek hero Theseus left the pregnant Ariadne to be cared for after the battle with Minotaur.

Various attractions can be found at the site – such as the ruins of the Temple of

Aphrodite and tombs dating back to the early Iron Age of Graeco-Phoenician.

Another notable discovery at the site was that of the world’s largest stone vase, which stands at a wobbling 1.85 m. It is a large limestone amphora weighting 14 tons and dates back to the 6th century BC. It is now located at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

This place emits history and myths and is a must-see when visit the ancient landmarks of Cyprus.

To top it off, after viewing the ruins, one must walk along the newly constructed ocean-trail running along the shore – this is after all the same sea as thousands of eons ago.

Lovers’ Place

By Tatia Eleni Bresnahan (Italy), Anna Sofie Hvass (Denmark, ) Tomi Pyhälä (Finland, Dani Llombet Pintor (Spain) The birthplace of Aphrodite (also known as Petra tou Romiou) is a must-see destination for anyone who travels to Cyprus. Legend has it that Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam there, the famous scene depicted in the classic Botticelli painting. And it's certainly easy to imagine the goddess of beauty and passion being born in such a spot: the color of the sea is a rich and vivid blue that fades seamlessly into the sky and rocky cliffs tower high above. Some say that, if you loop the surrounding rocks three times at sundown, you too might be blessed with such beauty. (Isn't that a love-

ly prospect!) The beach itself is covered in small stones, arranged into hearts of varying sizes by visiting lovers. While it is a tourist destination, the beach is not overly crowded, leaving you lots of space to cover. There are many things to do at Petra tou Romiou: wade into the crystal clear waters, climb the large rocks to get an even better view, watch the sun set over the sea and snap the perfect picture or scrawl a love note onto one of the pebbles.

But above all just sitting on the sand in a place with such romantic, mythological origins is an unforgettable experience-don't miss out

Cypriot Cuisine By Christos Kolios, Daniele Ferrigno, Vlado Mestan, Damaris Alvarez Cypriot cuisine is closely related to the Greek and Turkish cuisine. It has also been influenced by the Byzantine, French, Italian, Catalan, Ottoman and Middle Eastern cuisines. A typical Cypriot dinner will start with appetizers, dips, and salads, followed by main dishes that are mostly meat-based, and end with dessert and traditional strong coffee that’s brewed right on the island.

The typical dishes highlight the Mezze, a sort of appeti-

zer served before the meal.

These snacks consist of a variety of preparations: salads, tarama, fish roe pâté, hummus, tehina (chickpea cream flavored with sesame paste), etc. We decided to talk about some of our favorite dishes which we have tasted in Cyprus.

Halloumi cheese was originated in Cyprus. Halloumi is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk, and sometimes

also cow’s milk. The cheese is white, with a distinctive layered texture, similar to mozzarella and has a salty flavor. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled.

Another traditional Cypriot dish and maybe the most well known is Sheftalia. It is a type of sausage without skin, that uses, the membrane that surrounds the stomach of pig or lamb, to wrap the ingredients rather than sausage casing. The

name comes from the Turkish word şeftali, which means ”peach”, and presumably refers to the texture and consistency of the prepared food. The filling is made of ground pork or lamb shoulder or leg mixed with finely chopped onion and parsley, salt, and pepper and formed into small round balls. These balls are then placed on the spread caul (membrane) fat and squares of caul fat are cut around them and wrapped, making little sausages

which are put on two skewers. Sheftalias are then grilled, preferably on charcoal until golden brown.

However, the Cypriots have many delicious desserts too. Bourekia are a traditional dessert served in traditional events like Baptisms, name days etc. This dessert comes in various forms, for example with anari cheese and pastry creme which are the sweet bourekia and with mushroom, minced meat, or halloumi cheese which are

the savory ones. Bourekia with Anari cheese is a pastry filled with anari, cinnamon, rose water and sometimes vanilla. They are then deep fried and sprinkled with Icing sugar. Loukoumades are a dessert with roots in deep antiquity. Loukoumades are pastries made of deep fried dough soaked in syrup, chocolate sauce or honey, with cinnamon and sometimes sprinkled with sesame or grated walnuts (depending on the regional varieties).

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A FEW “BUSINESS WORLD SURVIVAL TIPS” FROM A PAIR OF JA “VETERANS”

By Aliki Antoniou & Evandros Theodosiou – AVITAE Cyprus “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them” Aristotle From the very beginning of our venture we realized that there were not going to be any theories, any examples and practice exercises waiting for us, no books to study and no classroom teaching, the way we were used to, the way we have been taught ever since we started Elementary School.

This was a new approach to learning all together.

We felt like we were thrown in at the deep end and it was completely up to us to “survi-

ve”.

Our “survival” depended on the development of certain attitudes and skills, as we realized quite early on our entrepreneurial journey …

SYNERGY “Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its component parts.”

Working together, depending on and trusting each other. We were a team, we focused on our goal, we divided duties and responsibilities and we were always ready to help each other.

COMMITMENT AND PERSISTENCE

“You never fail until you stop trying.” Albert Einstein Even the best of us make mistakes, let alone a bunch of teenagers entering the “grown-ups arena”. We did not let our weaknesses overtake us. Our ignorance turned into stubbornness. We worked hard, around the clock, in order to achieve the target we had set and we were supporting each other through the whole process.

VISION AND AMBITION “If you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.” Tony A. Gaskins Jr. If you are not ambitious and

you do not aim high, you may as well stick to your school books. Unless you truly believe in what you do, you embrace the experience and give it your best shot, you will not achieve its full potentials.

ORGANIZATION AND TIME MANAGEMENT “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” Alan Lakein Combining our role as Students, with a very hectic school programme, and our new role as Company Managers was not easy. We had to depend on a well organized and efficient

working schedule and a strict time plan. There was no time to waste. We have experienced a lot of pressure, we have exhausted ourselves, at times, but we have gained so much as well.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein What could make our life easier, something completely new or something that is already there but would improve tremendously with an innovative twist? Pay attention to what is there around you. Free your

thoughts, think outside the box! A crazy idea may actually lead to a brilliant one!

Branding, marketing and promoting a product and achieving its recognition require a lot of creativity, as well. Customers are demanding, they are not easily impressed. Therefore, you should be innovative in the approach you choose to get their attention.

Keep in mind that this is probably not going to be a “Walk in the Park”, it is more likely to feel like a “Roller Coaster Ride” … Just Make Sure you Enjoy the Ride!

Made by Roni Ohvo and Eemil Soronen from Finland