When people come to live in Israel, they do not just bring with them their version of zionist-religious ideology. They often turn up with a commercial concept for implementation. Something new or the transfer of an existing business – either way, the question remains: how to make it work in a foreign land, where they do not speak your language? Dreams and reality never seemed further apart.

A few days ago, I gave a talk to the AACI, a non-profit organisation that provides services to new immigrants to Israel from North America. The theme was how to set up a business in Israel.

The audience cut across a wide platform; new apps, classes for children, internet selling and more. In many ways, much of my talk could have applied to setting up in any country. You have to be prepared for many rough bumps along the way. Cash flow needs to be managed and over the long-term. Know your market. etc etc.

One issue that I stressed was the need for a business mentor, and I mentioned how I could have saved lots of money (on headache pills and more) if I had found somebody years ago. Let me give two recent examples of clients of mine.

Today’s case study first came to me when he was at a crossroads in his professional career. Could I tell him what to do? Actually – no!. However, I did ask what he ‘wanted’ to do, a seemingly innocuous question, which is rarely so easy to answer. Why? Because it forces us to be honest with ourselves and then take responsibility for the answer.

We spent some time going through the responses and beginning to work out what resources were required. Then he was presented with a potentially frightening moment – a dream opportunity came his way. Should he go for it?

So, stage two was all about evaluating the pros and cons. Textbooks call this a SWOT analysis. I look at it in much broader terms – ensuring that the client is aware of both his personal and commercialchallenges. My aim is to ensure that  they are not glibbed over and nothing is taken for granted.

Just recently, the client opened his enterprise. As I pointed out, now the hard work starts.