Nikos Potamianos:
Why smart business means knowing when to let go
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Audio Title: Nikos Potamianos: Why smart business means knowing when to let go
Description: As businesses across the globe race to integrate artificial intelligence and navigate volatile economic conditions, one firm is advocating for a grounded, efficiency-driven strategy rooted in collaboration and common sense.
As businesses across the globe race to integrate artificial intelligence and navigate volatile economic conditions, one firm is advocating for a grounded, efficiency-driven strategy rooted in collaboration – and common sense.
Peter Nicholas (Nikos) Potamianos, Founder of ORBIS Strategic Solutions and Co-Founder and CEO of Worth International, has structured his companies to address the twin needs of creativity and consulting without blurring the lines for clients.
“Orbis is a division of Worth International, so it falls under the group Worth Information Group,” Nikos explains.
“What we did is we’ve actually split it with the consulting part of the business, so that Worth deals with a creative component. And Orbis deals with the consulting side of the project.”
The separation, he says, was critical. “We’ve done it so that the roles are more clear-cut, because what happens is a bit confusing to clients sometimes, when we say I can offer everything.”
Nikos Potamianos
Founder of ORBIS Strategic Solutions, Co-Founder and MD/CEO at WORTH INTERNATIONAL
A Holistic Yet Practical Offering
ORBIS offers a wide range of services aimed at helping businesses restructure, grow, and adapt. From M&A support to legal, tax, and accounting services, the firm provides a full-suite advisory with an emphasis on identifying inefficiencies and unlocking latent value.
“We offer a wide variety of services. We start from anything, from consulting to strategic advisory, and we assist clients with mergers and acquisitions, or with investments or disinvestments. We do company turnarounds, so for clients seeing that he’s struggling somewhere, some part of his business is struggling.”
One of the most common issues Nikos sees is internal subsidisation of failing business segments.
“A lot of what I’ve seen in my personal experience is that a lot of clients tend to subsidise alien parts of their business with a healthy, positive business, and then eventually over time the whole thing collapses.”
The solution, he says, is proactive separation. “So what we try to do is assist the client to acknowledge that there’s an alien component, split them, and we see what we do with the alien part and make sure that at least the healthy part continues.”
Turning Idle Assets into Value
Efficiency is a central theme in ORBIS’ work — particularly when it comes to underused assets that quietly bleed companies dry.
“What we usually find in companies is that they tend to buy assets, and they will use them for a period of time, and they don’t actually do efficient use of that asset. Now, an asset, whether it’s a building or a piece of machinery, sits idle. It basically is not an asset anymore. It becomes a liability.”
Nikos provided a striking example: “I have one client in this, and he was an importer of equipment, the second largest in his field. So, he was expanding, and he decided that he wanted to be in control of all the processes. So, he built a logistics centre, and he bought two big trucks to do these deliveries.”
But the location was a costly mistake.
“The problem was, as a concept, very good, and he’s got control of everything. The problem was that where he is located, where he put the logistics centre, is not in the commercial hub where he needed to be, where all his clients are.”
The inefficiencies multiplied.
“He’d import everything into the port of Piraeus, then he’d ship, he’d take it through customs, clear it, bring it down, make it travel about 220 kilometres to where he was located in the west coast of Greece, stack it into his logistics centre, and then when the client in Athens now ordered an instrument or a piece of machinery, he’d actually take it out of the warehouse, ship it back to Athens, put 220 kilometres.”
His recommendation: outsource logistics to a third-party provider near the clients. “That added transport costs… your pricing is cheap, which means that your profit margin is better, which means that your cash store is important.
The Cost of Doing Things "The Way They've Always Been Done"
For Nikos, outdated business habits are a silent killer — especially in today’s fast-paced digital economy.
“The economy is moving a thousand miles an hour, especially now with AI. So, the companies need to be in a position that can actually follow the trend. So, if I’m an old-time farmer and I’m stuck in my ways that I want to own my own harvester, over time, I’m going to become obsolete.”
Nikos argues for collaborative models, especially in traditional sectors like agriculture. “But if, for example, there’s a group of farmers who know what they do is they pool the machinery into a pool, and then they use it as they need it.”
On Community, Social Responsibility, and Shared Growth
Nikos advocates for a community-centric model of business growth, where partnerships replace silos.
“Companies need to be able to, or businesses need to be able to identify, like my business, which they can work with, for a common goal. And how do they become successful in your entire pipeline? Because if they all grow the pie, and they all share from the pie, the pie is going to grow bigger.”
But community isn’t just about business partners — it’s also about giving back.
“Companies need to be very, very involved in the social responsibility towards the local community. Because loyalty comes from having a very good relationship with each other.”
One example from Greece stands out: “A company set up a factory for processing pomegranates. They didn’t own land, but what it did was it pulled farmers in the surrounding area, plus all over Greece, who wanted to grow pomegranates.”
The result was a self-sustaining ecosystem.
“All the pomegranates were sold by the factory. The processing plant would process the pomegranates and sell. But the farmers didn’t have to get involved in the processing component. Their off-take was that they sell their foods to the factory.”
Technology Must Serve Strategy, Not the Other Way Around
As AI adoption accelerates, Nikos warns of misplaced enthusiasm.
“What I've found is that companies don't normally analyse the ingredients. So they jump in the bandwagon. They're not jumping on the AI bandwagon. And in the vast majority, everybody's using AI as the other glorified secretary. But that's not the inefficient use of technology.”
– Nikos Potamianos
He insists that every digital investment must start with a clear-eyed operational assessment.
“You need someone to come and analyse your needs as a company. The needs of the company… and you see what technology can bring to it, so it can make efficient use of your space.”
Without proper alignment, he says, businesses risk overspending with no return.
“So you still find yourself spending more on technology, but because you’re spending inefficiently on your asset technology, you basically find yourself running a loss.”
A Passion for Teaching and Developing Talent
At his core, Nikos is a builder of people as much as he is a builder of businesses.
“What I love doing is teaching people and giving them the opportunity to grow. So, for example, when I was in the order of training, all my staff, which I trained up as a manager, all my staff, and also to get top CFO positions in big companies.”
This people-first ethos is embedded at ORBIS. “What we try to do at ORBIS is to consolidate our experience… We’ve got a very wide network of companies, which we work with. There’s not one entity that can have everything. We work together with companies, with our system companies, with international companies.”
Preparing for the Future with Both Eyes Open
Despite growing fears of job loss due to AI, Nikos believes the shift will also highlight shortages in other vital areas.
“For the AI space, what I believe will be affected is a lot of white-collar jobs will be affected, which will mean that if a lot of white-collar jobs fall and then get replaced by what’s missing at the moment, which is blue-collar jobs.”
He sees this as a moment of rebalancing and opportunity. “There’s a serious lack of artisanal expertise. Again, electricians, mechanics, plumbers. There’s a serious lack in black-collar jobs.”
In response, ORBIS is focused on helping companies “manoeuvre themselves in such a position where they can use it and we cannot leave behind… so that new jobs will be formed, so we need to get more people trained.”
Teagan specialises in Copywriting, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing and Blogging. Teagan uncovers the deeper “why” behind every venture. She believes that every person and project has a unique story, and nothing excites her more than transforming these narratives into compelling content that demands to be shared with the world.
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