The Portuguese Miracle: Young Entrepreneurs Lead Country Out of Crisis

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/young-entrepreneurs-lead-portugal-out-of-crisis-a-1055954.html



When they became jobless during the crisis, Mónica Santos, 33, and João Reis, 38, of Lisbon, set out to create their own business: a food truck that sells crêpes and artisanal beverages. They are part of a young generation of entrepreneurs and small-business owners who helped drive Portugal out of the crisis. Only four years ago, the country had to turn to the EU for billions in loans after its debt spun out of control.

The Portuguese Miracle: Young Entrepreneurs Lead Country Out of Crisis
By Helene Zuber in Lisbon
October 02, 2015 – 10:18 PM

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The two Portuguese set up Mariá Limão, a small food truck that sells homemade lemonade and crêpes here in mid-July. Originally, Mónica Santos, 33, had previously been employed as a social worker, but she lost her job during the debt crisis. The same happened to her friend Reis, 38, who studied math and marketing at college. Neither wanted to leave the country the way so many others from their generation did. And they didn't want to give up, sit back and take things easy and move back in with their parents.

When they learned that Lisbon's city government was permitting people to set up businesses using Asian-style Tuk-Tuks, they borrowed €30,000 ($33,873) from their families and the bank and purchased a Piaggio Ape and the kitchen equipment they needed to run their business. Santos had always enjoyed cooking, and now she finds herself spending 10 hours a day on her feet, taking turns with Reis at the crêpe griddle and the juicer. They prepare the ingredients the evening before.

Santos and Reis have already recouped half of their investment. With things going so well, Reis is also considering setting up a second food truck on the beach in his hometown in the Algarve region, where he used to wait on tourists as a boy in his parents' own restaurant. He says he'd like to employ jobless friends there.

After all, they're not the only ones to have lost jobs. When the country had to turn to the European Union for a bailout in 2011, Portugal was forced to implement harsh austerity measures. Some 485,000 Portuguese, particularly young university graduates, left the country during the crisis to try and find opportunities abroad. They went to Germany, Brazil and even to the former African colony of Angola.