Jim Kouzoukas – Business Person of the Year.
Greek Australian Jim Kouzoukas of Jeff Mills Auto Electrics and Mechanical won big at the Bayside Local Business Awards in Sydney with taking home Business Person of the Year. The Greek-run Born to Bake Greek won the Business of the Year award.
The nominees and winners are selected by the Bayside and St George area locals and recognised in an awards night event
Kouzoukas, says it means a lot that the win comes from his customers.
“It’s huge. Being in an area that’s grown over the last 20 years, there’s a lot of competition and you have to lift your game,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“In business, customers always come first, so it’s massive. I had no words to describe how it felt.”
Some of these customers are Greeks, who Jim is quite popular amongst.
Jim’s family come from the island of Kos, and he loves seeing people from the diaspora come in.
“We get a lot of Greeks in the area, but it’s sad that a lot of them over the years have passed on because they’re older Greeks – either not driving anymore or passed on, but now you’re getting the generation of their children.”
Earlier this year he also won in the automotive category at the St George Local Business Awards, and won another award in 2018.
The shop, located in Banksia, has been around since the 1940s and has been under different owners, starting with Jeff Mills.
Kouzoukas got his start there as a first-year apprentice in 1989, working under then owner and fellow Greek Harry Barberakis.
After his apprenticeship and time was done, an opportunity had arisen. Harry decided to move on and asked Jim if he would like to buy the business.
It was risk for Kouzoukas, especially since he just had a major life changing event.
“I just got married as well, so I just spent a lot of money on that. I was nervous, unsure if I can succeed but I just bit the bullet and went for it.”
He bought it in 1995 and hasn’t looked back since, changing as the times do too, going from solely auto electrics to expanding further. He also went to TAFE and became a mechanic.
