Until the age of 31, Konstantinos Raikos, founder and CEO of the KRS accounting services company, believed that working long hours in the office brought the goals he set for the group and their customers.
In 2017 he was diagnosed with cancer and for about ten months he was forced to work away from his office with limited time and energy.
It was in this period that Raikos thought of something that to many sounds ideal for their work environment and to others impossible.
"From the hospital bed I started thinking that I could run my company away from the office and with fewer hours," he said to Proto Thema.
"I was thinking and looking at applications and systems that would improve the quality of my work and that of my associates. So I set a big goal.
"My goal was to focus on the person, with the aim of participating in an entrepreneurial society that will develop its members.
"From October 2021 we started at 6 o'clock on Fridays and with the new year we apply it every day.
"The first two weeks or so was strange because not everyone could get used to the new times and felt pressure.
"I, who had learned to be in the office from 6 in the morning, took several days to accept that I could go to work at 10.
"We worked for two years but they did not believe that it would happen.
"I think that we can survive in an environment that will be considered a win-win for employers and employees.
"When I got cancer I also went through a lot of survival anxiety. But I had access to people who could support me.
"When we managed the 6 o'clock and the changes concerning the quality in our work environment, I thought of my colleague Anthoula Katsavouni who passed away at the age of just 40 years old, struck by cancer, and I dedicate this achievement to her."
At the age of 15, Konstantinos Raikos was forced to go to night high school and started working in various jobs to help his family financially.
At the age of 18, his father created 2.5 million euros in debt to banks and the public, which resulted from large loans to save his businesses.
Due to the loans, he mortgaged real estate in which the children of the family had small ownership.
As a result, the debts passed to Konstantinos and his brothers.
Despite the difficulties, he managed to finish night school and study.
In 2011 and at the age of 24 he founded KRS, which is the most influential company in the industry with innovations and a completely different approach to the importance of accounting in the development of entrepreneurship in Greece operating in the wider Financial sector.
In 2019 the company was awarded for the KRS Reporting application in the "Digital Transformation Application" category of the Mobile & Connected World Awards.
KRS now has over 2,500 customers in Greece and abroad, has branches in Crete and Cyprus, while today it employs 20 people who work in 6-hour shifts from 8 am to 8 pm.
A few days ago, Konstantinos Raikos was original again when he had a retirement party for employees who left the company.
He even uploaded a photo on the company's Facebook account with all the employees who were at the farewell party.
In the context of this mini celebration, thanks are expressed by everyone for the offer to the company of the one who is leaving, maybe something that all companies could adopt...
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