Business Archives - Page 27 of 67 - Michael Horesh Business Coach and Mentor

28 August 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Flash the word “Jerusalem” in front of somebody, and they automatically recall words like religion or Old City or conflict. Others might refer to tourism or civil servants.

The fact is that Jerusalem in 2015 is a modern city of around 800,000 and it is full of thriving commercial initiatives. It is not just that you have semi-government agencies like MATI and MAOF, providing subsidised mentoring and consultancy services. Nor do I refer to the wonderful teams like BioJerusalem encouraging the boom in the local biotech industry. Recycling plants, venture capital groups, social ventures, etc – Jerusalem is rapidly catching up Tel Aviv as a city which is reputed for its enterprise and innovation.

Here are just three micro examples of what I mean.

Jerusalem Business Networking Forum (JBNF) is a group that I have mentioned before. With regular monthly meetings and now a separate bio division, JBNF has spent a decade providing a mechanism for the business world of Jerusalem to meet up. Most of the events are in English, and JBNF welcomes the entire entrepreneurial com,munity – Jews, Arabs, ultraorthodox, young, old,…whomever.

It is impossible to calculate the net impact of JBNF on the economic basin of the Israeli capital. The organisers, all volunteers, reveal that as a result of the meetings dozens have secured employment, hundreds have bought and sold services, and millions have been transferred in investment partnerships. The list of achievements is impressive.

KOLI is an interesting and worthy private initiative, led by the Australian-Israel clinical psychologist, Dr. Rachel Bachner. For the first time in Jerusalem, the city is to have a one-stop shop for adults suffering from eating disorders. Open to people of all backgrounds, the experienced team provides workshops, seminars, therapies and more.

It is surprising that the city has had to wait so long for such a centre. Dr Bachner has noted that the annual cost to the economy in terms of lost work days, as well as additional medical expenses from such illnesses can be easily calculated in the tens of millions. And that does not allow for the emotional and physical suffering. Time for a change of policy.

Beer Baazar is my third offering. This is the initiative of two 30-something Israelis, whose restaurant provides customers with a choice of beers from the dozens of boutique breweries that have sprung up in the Holy Land over the past decade or so.

Could the concept work? They started out in Tel Aviv, and are now just about to open up the second branch at the back of the Machane Yehuda Vegetable market in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem in 2015 is beautiful and diverse city, full of tensions and yet thriving. You never stop discovering in this very special place.

Disclaimer: I am associated with JBNF and KOLI

27 August 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

UBS analysts are recommending Israel as a defensive play during the financial uncertainty…..(They) noted that the Israeli economy grew by close to 3% in 2014, the unemployment rate was under 6%, the budget deficit stood at 2.8%, and a current account surplus of 3.7%.

Sounds fairly encouraging, especially in a week when world stock markets stuttered in the face of the farcical Chinese economic crisis. (Farce – because this has been a disaster in the making for years).

However, there is another side to the economy, which is very worrying. Growth in Israel for the past two decades has been highly dependent on the entrepreneurial and innovative skills of the hightech sector. In contrast, the politicians and bureaucrats running the macro economy seem to be in a state of paralysis.

Item one: Growth for the second quarter of 2015 recorded of minute improvement of 0.3%. This factors in a 3.8% drop in investments in fixed assets and a 12.5% decline in exports of goods and services. As Israel’s own Finance Minister described matters, this is a weaker performance than in Greece and in Spain. Ouch!

Item two: A report on sales at large retail chains reveal a 2% drop in purchases for the early summer months. This fall off was particularly marked in the large supermarkets, where the figure reached 4.2%. Consumers are concerned.

Times are definitely not easy. I am sure that the rising power of international purchases via the internet only compounds the problem. When I talk to my business mentoring clients in the Jerusalem retail market, they are constantly being forced to come with new ideas to survive.

What worries me most is that Israel’s new government seems to be dallying around. The headline in Hebrew this week from the financial daily “Calcalist” referred to ‘100 days in office and all the ideas for reforms have gone to waste’. Even the Wall Street Journal commented that Israel’s wealth in gas has become a story of ‘political feuding, bureaucracy and delayed development.’ Sad, as the treasury simply misses some extra dosh.

At home, Israel’s Prime Minister is known for delaying new policies, especially when he may not be seen to be receiving the credit for them. That means financial and structural changes – the housing market, allowing freer imports of vegetables, changes to the defense budget, etc – these and more are likely to be put off. And who loses out? 8 million citizens of Israel.

Bottom line: Yes, Israel has some impressive macro stats to show off to the world. It is a wonderful place to live in. It is a shame that the politicos have agendas that do not allow the country to become an even better place for its citizens.

14 August 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

I am a business coach. One of my main tasks is to explain to people that they cannot consistently put into an average day more than 10 hours quality work.

And yet, even I do not listen to myself. Over the past few months, I have been running around madly, mentoring clients, mainly in the Jerusalem region. About a week ago, I found myself entering a session stressed, and then finding the client yet more ‘challenging’. I did not perform well. I was burnt out. So what to do in such a situation?

1) Go on holiday! Not just a break for a day, but a proper holiday. That means you are required to move away from your familiar surroundings for at least a week. If cars need engines returning and computer batteries need recharging, our bodies also require a full top up.

2) Get some sleep! Many of us push ourselves to manage on less sleep, me included. Poor sleeping habits are associated with a variety of health disorders. If nothing else, you think less clearly and concentrate less effectively at meetings. Holidays are a chance to slow down.

3) Do NOT pick up any of those self-help managerial books that you often see displayed en masse at airports and train stations. Yes, they are all useful, helpful in specific ways. And I admit that I have invested over the years. However, I would suggest that few have been written by those who have to run and to manage and to cope with the issues of commercial businesses.

The clue to this insight was when I found myself looking at the collection on offer in London this week. The premier offering was “What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School” by Mark McCormack. This book was written in the 1980s – pre email, pre smartphone, pre blogs. The key message of the book? Listen very carefully to what people are saying, learn, absorb, and then ‘just do it’.

And that is what a holiday will help you to internalise.

My best wishes to all my readers……….as I pen this from a centuries-old ploughmens’ cottage near Banff in northern Scotland.

8 August 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

It is summertime. The weather here in Jerusalem is baking, and just lends another excuse for some of my clients to procrastinate – well, they try to until they meet up with me.

Business coaching is fun, yet challenging. As a mentor, you meet up with all kinds of people in a fascinating variety of commercial practices. For all that, when it comes to putting things off – a.k.a. procrastination – there are three common subjects, which small business owners take on yet rarely seem able to pull off.

1) Budgets

How many times have I heard people say: “Yes, I will prepare a draft budget by next week”. And as 7 and then 14 days float by, you know that not too much as been added to a fairly empty excel spreadsheet. The reasons? Well, when you think about it, if you are not trained in finance, not that many people realise that budget preparation is a professional task. In addition, many confuse it with cash flow planning. (BTW, they are connected, but different).

However, as a business coach, what I know and my customers do not know is that budgets are designed to make business managers and owners think. They have to justify sales predictions, cost outcomes, salaries and more. That responsibility can be very frightening for people, a process they may want to delay handling.

2) Websites

“Yup, I’ll write the content for our new site”, volunteers our brave CEO. He barely has enough time to plan the budget and now he also wants to write a few lines of wisdom.

If you look at many websites that have been released in the past year, the amount of wording is sharply curtailed compared to previous designs. The average reader has neither the time nor the patience for the carefully crafted sales-pitch.

However, even these relatively few lines have typically been reviewed repeatedly before approval. The content has to contain key words, sharp messages, emotion and much more. 9 times out of 10, this is work for professional writers. And to admit that is not easy for a CEO, especially as it will also cost them money.

The irony is that the longer they leave it, the website is delayed. Thus sales are held back, and less money comes in. Dangerous cycle.

3) Manpower issues

Generally, most of us avoid confrontation. So when it comes down to talking sharply to, even firing, that problematic employee, we back away. We hope that things will improve, even without an initial caution.

So guess what happens? The worker carries on with the bad habits, and the problem becomes more entrenched. Back to the dangerous cycle, until disaster happens. Then we have a perfect excuse to strike….when it is too late!

As I wrote, it is summer time. In the past week or so, all of this has come up. My talented CEOs stall, fumbling away for excuses. And I am left trying to explain why their mumblings have the same meaning as an 8 year old pleading with his teacher that “I really did do my homework, but left it on the bus”.

What makes them change their habits? When I explain to them just how must their delaying tactics are costing them. They are literally throwing money down the sink.

6 August 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Israel’s latest budget is a maze of compromises, aimed at placating the crying of politicians in a weak coalition. It is a set of numbers that allows people to keep their jobs rather than promoting a revitalised economy.

Yet in parallel, there is a new dynamic at work in the country. Talking to my business coaching customers in the Jerusalem area, you can hear how sales are generally picking up. The slow down, which had probably started even before last year’s military action with Hamas, appears to be coming to an end.

This week saw four very encouraging pieces of news, all of which have implications on finances and economies way beyond the region.

1) Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has moved ahead by 17% since the beginning of the year, which makes it the 14th best performing index in the world. That made it an even better bet than in the exchanges in the USA, UK, Germany and most leading finance centres. This is even more impressive, considering the geographical closeness of Greece and the Euro trading zone. The understanding is that overseas traders are coming back.

2) Israel’s “high-tech frenzy” shows no sign of slagging. Roughly six billion dollars of foreign investment found its way to the Holy Land in the first half of 2015, and July showed no signs of letting up. Of particular note is the interest shown from the Chinese investors, as they have bought out Tnuva and others.

3) In parallel to the foreign investment, 2015 has seen yet more multinationals open up R&D facilities in Israel. Joining the likes of Facebook, Intel, Samsung and hundreds of others, we have seen Battery Ventures and Chinese groups plan new facilities. This week, eBay announced that it intends to recruit a further 50 software engineers in addition to the 230 ‘hightechies’ it currently employs near Tel Aviv.

4) Innovation – it just does not stop in Israel, however horrendously hot the weather has been this week or whatever verbal abuse the Iranians continue to hurl at the Zionist entity. In the words of one overseas commentator, “the pace of innovation is so swift that genuine breakthroughs are made all the time”. Examples lie everywhere. For the past few weeks, I have been working with a company that detects, monitors and purifies liquids in industrial processes through a unique patented technology.

Israel hits the headlines for many reasons, usually in the geopolitical arena. Strangely, the main financial papers like the FT or the Economist so rarely find a way to report its positive impact, especially when it comes to the money markets and technologies. Time for a rethink?

31 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Israeli high-tech just keeps breaking the barriers.

This week has seen the world fume again at Israel’s Prime Minister for his policies in the West Bank. In parallel and despite Obama’s entrenched position, the government in Jerusalem is determined to ensure that the nuclear deal with Iran is never ratified. And around all this geopolitical charade, Israel’s entrepreneurial and innovation community ploughs on ahead.

In terms of money, the biggest news belongs to Teva. It is laying out a cool US$40 billion for the generics’ drug unit of Allergan. However, the overseas multinationals are not far behind int heir attempt to catch the local fruits. For example, Merck is investing US$95 million in cCAM, set up 5 years ago by Professor Gal Merkel, who is still only in his mid 30s. The company develops drugs for cancer.

What else? Magic Leap has raised over US$600 million in its efforts to rival Google, and is about to open its key r&d platform in Israel. The giant chip manufacturer, ARM, has purchased Sansa Security, enabling the American giant to open its own r&d operation in the Holy Land. As Inc.Com put it, “some of the hottest startups in Israel are creating some of the fastest-growing companies on the planet.”

This week, I moderated the session of the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum, which was devoted to the biotech sector. Three companies pitched to investors. It was fascinating.

Precise Bio is edging its way to printing vital organs, such as livers and kidneys, which can then be transplanted into humans!
LBSIGHT has raised money to develop a technique to show where and how people pick up germs in a hospital environment.
Sleep ASAP is developing a ‘sleep DNA’, enabling it to create personalized solutions for those suffering form sleep deprivation.

I was left marveling at the skills, determination and passion of the different teams. Interestingly, they were asked to list the challenges and difficulties they had faced to date. And for all the varying responses, nobody is giving up tomorrow morning. The passion is in the blood.

The bloggers at 21c feel that the conglomerates have gone a spending spree in Israel in recent weeks. In its own words, there are many Israeli companies that simply turn the impossible into a reality. Making the desert bloom, protecting innocent citizens from missile attacks, the release of insulin pills and much more – this is why Israeli high-tech walks above and beyond the politically correct ramblings of the politicians.

26 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business

It is staggering how many of us throw around the word ‘budget’ with great abandon. Yet, when it comes to creating one, the vast majority of people simply enter ‘freeze mode’. They do not know what the word really means.

As a business coach and mentor, I probably see this pattern of behaviour a couple of times a month, usually with CEOs who are starting up a new venture. “Don’t worry. I know what I am doing.” And my questioning look of concern does not put them off.

Eventually, many of these know-alls come back sheepishly and ask “how can I do this correctly?”. What follows is a synopsis of what they are often told.

Tip No 1: Why does anyone need a budget?

Budgets give an indication of what is likely to happen to the business over a defined period of time. A well-designed model forces the planner to put fears to one side and to justify assumptions. It is poor assumptions that are the killers of good budgetary intentions.

Tip No 2: What is a budget?

A budget examines both the revenue potential and the expenditures of the operation in question for the period in question, taking into account all known information available. If you can go that extra mile to confirm a piece of data, do so.

Tip No 3: What detail is required?

If you are planning a commercial budget that takes you in to the realm of counting cents or pennies or even hundreds of your local currency, then you are probably trying to be too accurate. You should employ a measure of reasonability, generally slightly over estimating costs while revenues should be undervalued.

Tip No 4: Side sheets

Many people rely on a trusted and old-fashioned excel spreadsheet. That is fine. However, do not hesitate to use more that one spreadsheet. For example, I encourage clients to utilize additional sheets to create different income models.

Tip No 5: Can you give it a KISS?

The KISS attitude – keep it simple, stupid – is highly appropriate here. Your aim is to create a platform of numbers that can be quickly adapted and also help you to reach decisions. Trying to factor in irrelevant info, entering too many ‘what-if’ scenarios – ain’t gonna achieve that.

Tip No 6: Budget or cash flow?

Do not misunderstand your work. As mentioned at the outset, a budget is a set of financial numbers for a defined period of time. It does not reveal the cash flow of your organization! And that we can discuss next time.

The key take away from all of this is that budget planning need not be an impossible intellectual challenge. The basic parameters outlined above should enable you to describe in numbers the financial future of your company.

22 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society

This time last year, Israel was fighting a bloody conflict in Gaza with the people’s’ army of Hamas. Around 2,200 lost their lives, primarily on the Palestinian side. While Israel’s economy took a blow, those on the West Bank were left relatively untouched.

We have been reminded of these sad events in the past few days. As memorial services have been held in Israel, international journalists like Jon Snow from the UK flocked back to Gaza to report what has – or has not – been repaired. And a small flotilla tried to beat Israel’s naval surveillance of Gaza, although it was stopped before reaching its destination. (It was later reported that the only provisions for Gaza was a small box of medical supplies that would have been cheaper and simpler to send by express mail!).

So how can the Palestinians be helped? Compared to a decade ago, the number of roadblocks in the West Bank are minimal. While Israel has left Gaza, those who thought that life would be better, the “disengagement has backfired badly.”

And last week, we witnessed the most absurd report. Palestinian workers are going to the courts of the Palestinian Authority in order to secure the same fair treatment that they would have received under Israeli labour law.

Help from elsewhere? With some ironic timing, I was handed a pamphlet, prepared by UNSCO on behalf of UNCT in June 2013. Entitled “The United Nations in Palestine”, it details 25 – I repeat twenty five – UN based organisations that are involved in supporting Palestinians in an on-going manner. ILO/ OCHA / UNDSS / UNFPA / UNROD etc, etc. And remember, most of this is paid for by the generosity of Western tax payers.

Their combined budget for the Palestinian issue alone? I have no idea. However, as I have often cited, UNRWA’s annual finances alone stretch to over one billion dollars. As politicians and diplomats close their eyes, there are no independent audits to verify transparency and accountability of this monolith.

From the Israeli side, there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Speak to soldiers in COGAT and you will be informed that even if the economy is fragile, the residents of Gaza are not starving. In fact, Israel has ensured that the volume of goods entering Gaza has doubled in 2015. Who receives them and on what basis? Well, that is a different question. I suppose much can be said about the resources dripping down the various UN groupings.

On a highly pertinent side note, what also emerged this week is that there are around 18,000 civilians, mainly Palestinians from Syria, who are trapped in a pathetic refugee camp near Yarmouk. About 3,500 are children. International rescue efforts are simply not on the horizon. Yet the UN did release its report on the 2014 war, which heavily criticized Israel’s use of force in defending itself. There seems to be a disproportion here.

What is truly sad for me is that the main Palestinian crisis is one that has been cutting through the Middle East for decades and remains unresolved. There has never been a leadership that has placed nation-building above its hatred of Israel……and its parallel desire for the good life. And that is the key lesson we can take away, a year after that wasteful and tragic war in Gaza.

20 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

For over a decade, Israel’s economy has not just shown resilience in times of war or global credit meltdown. Since 2001, its GNP has almost doubled in value. Today, under the leadership of Benjamin’s Netanyahu’s latest government, those achievements are under a direct threat.

The issue is very simple. While the figure vary from report to report, Israel’s economy is suffering from a black hole to the tune of about 18 billion shekel, which equates to around US$4.7 billion. The fundamental causes of this dilemma are the ever increasing demands of the defense ministry – threats from Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and the cyber world – in conjunction with a political paralysis. The 2015 budget is still being debated.

For the moment, the government can still point to unemployment hovering at under 5.5%. The politicians explain that Israel long ago overtook the Greek economy. Microsoft et al are still investing in the country. Revenues from off-see gas are beginning to come in. All seems so wonderful, at least superficially. But it ain’t! Deep trouble lies ahead.

Let us go back a few months in time. With no small amount of irony, Netanyahu won the elections earlier this year by squeezing the vote of his potential coalition partners. That said, when the coalition was finally formed after around two months of negotiations, Netanyahu had caved in to and agreed to around 6 – 8.5 billions shekels of requests; 1.2 extra for yeshivot (religious seminaries), 2.6 extra for large families, 0.5 for the elderly, etc etc.

Today, the treasury is demanding – rather meekly – that all ministries cut their budgets by a flat 3%. Yet, even this would barely save 3 billion, and not necessarily in the immediate financial year.

What really annoys me is the ‘trifling matter’ of the 40 billion shekels of uncollected debts. You see, according to the 2014 financial statements, this is the mind-blowing sum of money that the government, via different parts of the civil service, has failed to bring from people, companies and organisations who owe big time. Over a quarter of the debt is unpaid taxes and a further 3 billion should have come from purchases of land.

Can you imagine the CFO of a commercial company ignoring or putting aside such sums? He would have been sacked. This issue is a disgrace. It reeks of poor management. It shows just how unable is the current set of ruling politicians, when it comes to good government.

All of Israel’s governments have been based on coalition agreements. Over seven decades, these have allowed Prime Ministers to enter office and have ensured that the country could move forward. While it would appear that this current coalition leaves Netanyahu surviving in the top job, it is not clear at what and to whose expense.

15 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

I just came across a very interesting post: “8 key ways to providing business consultancy services to new clients”. Once I had glanced at the title, I suddenly recalled two incidents that I had faced this week, as to how and why people choose business mentors. I believe they reveal some of the basic ‘dos and don’ts’ as to how to decide who will make a good business coach for your own set up.

In the first incident, I was approached by a former client in the Jerusalem area, who I had taken through the initial set up stages and on to opening sales. They had been fun to work with, and I like to think that there had been some mutual chemistry.

It turns out that they had been approached by another consultant. From a brief explanation, I understood that the deliverables would enable my former client to expand extensively their market and thus income would spurt onwards. The suggested fee would probably match around six months of total net revenue after tax, and that is assuming their liaison would be a success. What did I think?

As you could imagine, I found it difficult to encourage my ex client to take up the deal. And as they pointed out, the consultant had showed a lack of appreciation for the unique nature of their business. this glove did not fit.

The second event involves another client, who operates in a field that is beyond my academic capability. However, I have helped him create a commercial vision. He is reluctantly coming to realise that the ways of the past have to change.

Our last meeting was a challenge for me. Most of the tasks that I had set at our previous session – nothing too testing – had been put to one side. The reasons? Well, a six year school kid could come up with better excuses. So, I showed him the ‘just do it’ video from Shia LeBeouf. He watched. He acknowledged, but I was still greeted by a wall of silence.

I placed a large amount of money on the table. He agreed that for every day that went past without some action, he was effectively forgoing that income. But he would not budge, and there was more silence, combined with ‘the folded-arm aggressive glare’.

So, I glared back. My face was designed to say: “I am not the one in trouble. You need to act. And you cannot blame me or anyone else for your troubles.” I was unsure what would happen, and then suddenly…………..suddenly, to my surprise, he picked up the phone and made the call to supplier that he been putting off for weeks. Breakthrough time! Houston, we have lift off.

Let me point out – there is no special chemistry here. What I do detect is deep mutual respect. And that is what often underlies a successful long-term relationship between a mentor and their clients.

10 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Israel has 88 companies registered on NASDAQ, one of the highest ratings for an overseas country. Since the beginning of 2014, 20 companies were added to the list, raising a combined total of 626 million dollars. And 12 of these are associated with the worlds of bio and pharma.

Interesting, but the trend is destined to continue. Sol-Gel is looking to raise around US$50 million. Chiasma is seeking an US$80 million floatation. In fact, earlier this year, Globes newspaper published an article, where it confirmed how Israeli bio firms were shunning Tel Aviv for the money markets of America.

From my own experience, I can state that this is no temporary trend. My work as a business coach means that I am associated with three bio start ups in the Jerusalem area. Additionally, the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum (JBNF) is to hold an event at the end of July where three local companies will pitch to investors.

And this week, I attended a meet-up hosted by the umbrella group, Bio Jerusalem, where the key-note speaker was Dr. Michael West. California-based and the CEO of Bio Time, West also founded Geron Corp in 1990, one of the prime forerunners of the global biotech industry. After his presentation, West helped to introduce three leading Israeli cell companies.

It is easy to explain this clustering by analyzing ‘the facts on the ground’. For example, the core strengths of some of Israel’s universities, including the brilliant facilities at the Weizman Institute in Rehovot, focus on biotech.. One can point out the strengths of having a multi-cultured work force which enhances pluralistic thought. However, such factors help to explain things from ‘bottom-up’. I believe there is something else at play.

Israel is not short of r&d centres, run by the multinationals and conglomerates. Last week, I visited one such operation in Tel Aviv with one of my clients. They employ 300 software engineers and similar on a myriad of projects. 30 are dedicated to improving their smartphone. Such changes are mainly based on greater understandings of bodily functions as opposed to improved tech-wired gadgets. In other words, the demand for greater bio tech is now being driven from top-down, and specifically by big pharma itself.

The success of Israeli bio is due to continue into the distant future. It is already impacting heavily on the lives of tens of millions across continents. This drive harnesses the abilities of all social groupings. What is bringing matters together is the drive of international corporates to latch on to these new capabilities from the Holy Land and to commercialise them.

9 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Years ago, the joke in Israel was that the initials of the national airline, El Al, stood for ‘Every Landing Always Late’. While things have improved significantly since then, it was a phrase that encapsulated the country’s poor record in customer service.

On the down side, it would seem that in 2015, not a lot has changed. In the public sector, the number of official complaints seems to rise annually, as does the percentage of investigations which justify the original angst.

I want to vent out four specific examples that have happened to me in the past two years alone.

Pelephone: Skipping all the details, I felt strongly that I had been misled into signing up for a service I did not actually need, and for which I am still paying a monthly fee. I complained twice, but was told that I was talking nonsense. So, I went to the Ministry of Economics, that told me that I was one of many with a similar problem. I gave evidence. A multiple case will go to court in a few weeks.

El Al: Flying back from Bangkok recently was a horrendous experience. Faulty seat. Faulty seat in front. Could not eat my meal properly. Media controls did not work. etc. It took the airline a month to respond to my email. Eventually, I was told – after I phoned yet again – that I had been awarded a few miserly points. No letter of explanation or empathy. And the points are effectively worthless.

My oven: After 8 visits, the technician from the house insurance still could not fix my oven. We paid for an alternative service and claimed the money back. The insurance people refused to pay up. We took them to court. Can you believe it that their opening argument was that 8 visits was reasonable?!? We won some small damages.

My car: As per the agreement with my leasing company, they were due to pick up the car this Sunday, take it for the annual road test and return it. After much phoning and verbal aggravation, it turned out that somebody had written down the wrong day. The car has yet to be tested. I told them that this was costing me money, as I could not visit clients. The response? “Sir, what you must understand is……………”

I could go on. Maybe the problem lies in central government. The Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, thought he could hold on to four other ministries and still serve the public in the correct manner. This week, the High Court let him know that this was unacceptable. The arrogance of it all.

It is amazing how company after company just does not get the most basic of sales’ principles: “Leave your customers with a feel good factor and they will come back”. Last night, I did my weekly shop around at a branch of the Rami Levy chain of supermarkets. They may not have the best quality and they cut the extras. They have a minimal advertising budget. And they are consistently the cheapest! Simple, no?

5 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

When I meet with clients just setting up in business, they often ask me if they should reduce prices or if they should work on commission only. Well, it will only be for a short period of time – until better work comes in – is the worn out justification.

I am a business coach and mentor. Many of my customers are located in the greater Jerusalem area, where bargaining is a religion. Yes – pun intended. And it is a well-worn international commercial trick to drop prices in order to break into a market which is already dominated by others.

That said and often to the discomfort of those that listen to me, I tend to question the wisdom of such moves. For example….

Case Study One: My client is trying to promote a new service, which is of outstanding value. A price has been set, which is deliberately above the average market price. The initial response is good, but without being fantastic. He wanted to offer discounts.

Yes, this may bring in some waverers. One the other hand, it is an insult to those that have bought in already. So, they are not likely to become repeat customers. Further, on any future offering, potential customers will have learnt to hang out until prices drop, similarly to seasonal sales in fashion shops. In other words, the tradeoff in the long run may be negative.

While you have to judge each situation on its merits, I urge my clients to feel and explain and stick to their core values. This tends to be enough for their own clients to come in at the agreed price. And, if necessary, to clinch the sale, you can always offer a small financial incentive as a gracious (not begging) final gesture.

Case Study Two: I know so many people who work solely on the basis of commission. A classic example are those who try to bring investments into start-ups. This can involve months of intermittent labour, where no there is no guarantee of success.

Personally, I have been there and done that in a distant past. I taught clients how to create presentations, talk in public, create business models, and more. However, in the end, for a multiple of reasons, the result of the efforts was nothing.

The fact of the matter is that if you create a product or if you deliver a service, and especially if you are giving your ‘level best’, you are due financial remuneration. Never allow others to force you to forget this!

And into this discussion walked Taylor Swift, arguably the world’s leading female music performer of the moment. Swift would not bow to Apple’s demand to allow her music to be downloaded for free for three months. Not that she needed the money.

Her point was simple. Why should artists – over 90% of whom are simply struggling – be forced to donate their talents to boost the revenues and share price of Apple? Within 24 hours, Apple had backed down.

And that is the lesson for all people in business. If you are selling something of top value, all things being equal, you should be able to secure a reasonable price for yourself. And if things are not equal, find a way to change the playing-board in your favour.

3 July 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

According to official recordings of proceedings from Parliament in London on July 1st 2015:

DFID (overseas aid – MH) is providing £349 million in support of Palestinian development from 2011-15 and £72m for 2015/16. The UK was one of the biggest donors to the crisis last summer, providing more than £17 million in immediate humanitarian assistance for those caught up in the conflict. In October, the UK pledged a further £20 million in early recovery assistance at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo.

To those sums, you can add the US$95 million that the UK donated in 2014 alone to UNRWA and the financial help given to a plethora of NGOs active in the region. Also, there are the hundreds of millions of Euros that are handed by Brussels, either directly to the Palestinian Authority or to UNRWA. And the World Bank, partially funded by the UK, has contributed a further near-billion dollars since 1993. etc, etc.

In itself, nothing here is wrong. Israel can complain that this is too much or unbalanced. This is a political decision to allocate taxpayers’ money. Tough luck. All that is required is some transparency and accountability to clarify where the money ends up.

Apparently, the UK “continues to take extensive precautions to ensure that Hamas does not derive any financial benefit from our projects, including by providing £0.5m to support the Materials Monitoring Unit (MMU) which oversees and monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza …” (Hansard, 25th June.)

Four days later, a statement confirmed that the:

Palestinian Authority (PA) payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are made at the request of the Israeli Authorities to meet basic living conditions. No UK or EU money is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, or their families. UK funding to the PA is used to pay civil servant salaries only. The UK funds are channelled through a trust fund administered by the World Bank and only named civil servants from a pre-approved list are eligible. The entire process is independently audited, which ensures we know exactly where and how our money is being spent.

So, the UK government can claim that it lives up to the test of accountability and transparency. Taxpayers have been assured………….or have they?

What is key is that there are no available figures for how much of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) spending comes from taxes collected. However, as both the IMF and the World Bank have consistently found this revenue source to be negligible, then it can be assumed that most of the PA’s spending power derives from overseas contributions. That includes large sums from British taxpayers, some of which, by admission of a British minister, ends up in the hands of terrorists resident in Israeli prisons.

What about those large UNRWA contributions? Well, as I have pointed out before, UNRWA is arguably the largest international charity in the world. However, UNRWA is not controlled by the UN. Staggeringly, yet never publicised, it has no external accountable nor transparent reporting procedures. When you consider that its educational facilities became army camps for Hamas operatives during last year’s war with Israel, you have to question what truly happens to the hundreds of millions of donated by UK, European and American taxpayers.

While the mind is left to shudder at where these public monies end up and what they may be financing, I wanted to briefly examine some of the actual projects. Using the same sources as above, it has emerged this week that her majesty’s Ministry of Defence has seconded personnel to the EU for “security sector assistance to the Palestinian Authority”, whatever that may mean.

In parallel, the EU police mission for the Palestinian Territories has been extended until 30 June 2016 at a cost of €9.175 million. “Through its contribution to security and justice sectors reform, the mission supports efforts to increase the security of the Palestinian population and to reinforce the rule of law.”

The EU and member countries have yet to produce a report showing the improvement in the justice system rising out of this investment. In contrast, there is emerging evidence that the domestic security services in both the West Bank and in Gaza are prone to murderous and in humane tendencies.

While the British Parliament was awash with announcements of financial support for the Palestinians, a flotilla of ships sailed through the Mediterranean. It purported to carry aid for Gaza and was trying to block the Israeli blockade on the enclave. It was stopped by the Israeli navy, which discovered that the whole bundle of resources amounted to ‘two cardboard boxes“. As the Sussex Friends of Israel illustrated, the Palestinians could have received 70 times more help.

Sussex Friends Of Israel's photo.

And it is this flotilla that shows just why so much of the money will rarely end up in the pocket of the average person in Nablus or Rafah. The blogger, Elder of Ziyon, noted that the boats passed en route close to Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, where Palestinians are suffering and have been the target of killings. The plight of these people was ignored. Instead, the international press was treated to another sexy orgy of Israeli hate-feast.

And that is the lesson for the UK government. It must prove beyond reasonable doubt, in a transparent and accountable manner, that the hundreds of millions in contributions for the Palestinians do drip down to their intended target and are not diverted to the planting of the seeds of the next conflict.

30 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

In 2014, Foreign Direct Investment into Israel slumped by around 50%, to just over US$6 billon. Has Israel’s high-tech, start-up nation halo broken down?

Looking at five pieces of anecdotal evidence from the newspapers and beyond, the answer must be a resounding no.

1) Google: Last week, Fernando Delgado, the senior director of product manger at Yahoo turned up in Israel. His mission? Simple. As he was quoted in the Hebrew press: “Yahoo is looking at places from where it can learn and give them an advantage.” In other words, that is why Yahoo has a major r&d lab in Haifa and Delgado had come to check things out.

2) Amazon: The day before Delgado turned up, Amazon announced that it was opening an r&d centre in Israel for its Prime Air project, alternatively known as the drone delivery service. Eventually, around 100 engineers will be recruited. As Google CEO, Eric Schmidt stated on his recent visit to the Holy Land:

Israel is booming in terms of entrepreneurship because you have a culture that allows you to challenge authority and question everything. You don’t follow the rules.

3) J&J or Merck: On a hill top in the Galilee lies a 6-person medical start up called cCam. Already in Phase One to test the development of novel cancer immunotherapies, the company is rumoured to have caught the eye of both J&J and Merck. One report estimates that the Israeli side is looking for a US$20 million investment from one of the pharma giants.

4) Emerson Electric: Spectronix is no start up. With 170 workers and a corporate structure established in the 1970s, the company delivers specialised fire-fighting services with civilian and military applications. Emerson Electric has seized the moment and bought the Israeli unit for a bargain US$79 million.

5) H2 Energy Now: The problems with storing energy effectively has been one of the main drawbacks impacting on replacement techs of fossil-based fuels. H2 Energy Now has just such a solution. I have been working with this small team, based on the edge of the Negev desert, for some years. In the past month, the company has received a significant fillip. The CEO, Sonya Davidson has been asked to attend arguably on of the most prestigious tech shows in the world – the Alpine High-tech Venture Forum, sponsored by the EU. In addition, they were one of the main presenters to Kyocera, the Japanese conglomerate, at a select invite in Tel Aviv this week.

And what next? Just today, I was discussing two potential investment proposals in the bio and internet areas, both involving money from overseas. The smart investor has definitely not withdrawn from the Holy Land, and the world is set to benefit further.

26 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Wearing the hat of a business coach, I see many start-ups in the Jerusalem region. And do not misunderstand me, these activities cover a range from high-tech to service providers to retail and beyond.

As a mentor, I am often asked in innovation and entrepreneurship can be taught or if it is simply ‘built-in’ from the moment we are born. The answer is too long for a brief blog. However, I want to share an exciting and exhilarating experience I had last night in Tel Aviv. I had been asked to network with a group of early-20 year old group of Israelis.

On the face of it, there is nothing special with that. They came from a wide socio-economic background; city types and those who had grown up in small desert towns. The uniting factor was that they had all graduated in the past 24 months from an active unit in the army, yet they had barely found serious employment or embarked on a university course.

Over an hour or so, I spoke at length to about 10 people. In their own way, they all wanted to know: “How do I start a business? What skill-set do I need?”

I was fascinated by the amazing array of ideas I was presented with, this coming from a set of people with negligible commercial experience.

One individual, on visiting Tel Aviv, had observed that a specific central neighbourhood did not have a tobacconist. With an investment equivalent to about US$5,000, he opened up two weeks ago. He is in desperate need of somebody to explain the importance of controlling cash flow, but having fun for now.

Another ex-trooper has wondered why a lovely countryside bike route near his home is not serviced by a specialist store. I encouraged him to look at similar outlets in other parts of country in order to learn how they operate and survive.

Others were looking at the building industry, event planning and more. However my ‘favourite’ story of the evening came from somebody who just appeared to be listening to others chatted with me. Then he pulled me aside. “I have this idea, but it is complicated to explain,” he imparted with a curious smile.

“You see; I want to start a fast food delivery business in Tel Aviv, but to a very specific sector……..(Pregnant pause)…..After people have taken drugs, they need to eat quickly. I want them to have my phone number and my service will deliver from a set menu. I will ensure that my prices are cheap, or at least competitive”.

Well readers, as you can imagine, this is not my scene. Now was this a moment to preach. His face let me know that he felt he had trumped me. Market size, I wanted to know. Not a problem, I was reassured, as another knowing look was thrust back at me. But I was not to be defeated.

I responded: “Your business model needs to be revamped. If these people are desperate for a food fix, they will probably pay a premium rate.” He laughed and acknowledged my triumphant defiance.

But you gotta ask: How do these young Israeli adults come up with such a varied, creative and innovative set of ideas?

22 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

It is around 18 months ago, when a friend, Eliot Zimelman, asked me to join a boutique networking group, whose members run a businesses from home. We have since tackled many issues, which are common to all of us, and frequently we have pondered if there is any true advantage to the home environment or whether we should pay out for ‘proper’ office space.

Unofficially, Eliot raised the subject again today, when he sent around a link to a blog post entitled: “7 traits you need, if you want to work from home”. The author, Jason Demers, referred to: –

Self-motivation
Good communication skills
Resourcefulness
Tech-savvyness
Ability to self-evaluate
Independence
Confidence

Arguably, the last point is most important. In your home, there is no set of work colleagues around to provide extra encouragement. You need to be able to power ahead by yourself. That takes a lot of internal drive, which in turn demands confidence.

However, I believe that Demers has missed a trick. My evidence comes from many of my own clients, whose home is their office. In my sessions as a business mentor, they often lay out to me that they are busy, yet never seem to fulfill their work schedule.

Yes, some of this can be blamed on procrastinating, frequently putting household chores first. However, I maintain that there is an additional factor, the 8th trait.

When many of us set up shop in our lounge or kitchen, we fail to internalise that the hours between 9.00am and 5.00pm precious, even holy. They are defined as commercial time. In other words, this is when you are supposed to create new, valued work. In actual fact, many of us at this stage become lost with the minutiae of worthless tasks, which could so often be done another time.

Interestingly, I came across this phenomena the other day. When I pressured my client, he proudly declared how busy he was busy yet income was tailing away. So I asked him for a specific list of tasks he had undertaken recently. I was greeted by an embarrassed glance.

If you set out to work from home and you cannot maintain a ‘commercial regime’, you are likely to see a very low sign in your income column. You have to be able to move out from the four walls and to engage consistently with your customers.

21 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

Side by side in last week’s Hebrew financial press were separate yet related two articles. One reported how four new Israeli VC funds had just closed out with US$340 million in hand. The other questioned why Palestinian high-tech just cannot seem to get going.

Now the proponents of each side will blurt out fairly obvious explanations for such differences. The Palestinians are just interested in investing in the destruction of Israel. Alternatively, Israel has no interest in helping a thriving Palestinian society succeed. And so the rhetoric continues.

However, in attempting to move beyond the mutual slanging of both teams, maybe there is a far more pertinent issue, one that relates to the subject of innovation. Let me examine this further.

Back in 1986, Israel’s economy effectively closed down, as it failed to cope with incessant hyper-inflation. In parallel, the war in Lebanon was grinding to a murderous stalemate and the first Intifada was about to commence. Since then, the country has earned the reputation of ‘Start Up Nation“. Only today, we have read how the Australian fund, Square Peg, intends to invest US$150m in the Holy Land. Over a hundred multinationals have r&d centres in Israel, and the list appears to grow monthly. All positive stuff.

In parallel, the reports on the Palestinian high-tech sector seem to clutch at straws. A few women striving to make a breakthrough? The new city of Rawabi described as a high-tech hometown, when it is not. Vague reports of crowd funding launching high-tech schemes in Gaza. For all the hype, it does not seem to add to much.

USAID, Cisco, Intel and others are known for trying to support the Palestinian economy with practical schemes. Coca Cola has building a new US$20m plant in Gaza, which will employ around 300 people. And the World Bank’s latest US55m grant will push its total to US$970 million since 1993!

The Palestinian economy is not in a good position, bankrupt. Blame politicians, who have preferred corruption and the fight against Israel as opposed to investing in society. Or blame Israel for not helping, but only sending in troops unnecessarily. But there again, as I mentioned before, back in the 1980s, Israel also endured a period of poor economic performance intertwined with bloodshed.

However, Israelis then took a different viewpoint. As a nation, they did not stand around and complain, but were prepared to make changes. The politicians simply froze the economy – prices, wages, money supply – in order to give it a chance to recover. The attitude of ‘we deserve help / the government will bail us out’ was gradually replaced.

Instead, Israeli entrepreneurs were encouraged with an exciting and evolving programme of grants and aid. People were allowed to think beyond the accepted and to operate outside the scope that the violence of the Middle East tends to demand. Emphasis was placed on innovation and industrial revolution rather than military service.

And I have to ask: Why does the Palestinian leaderships in Gaza and in the West Bank not adopt a similar approach? What have they got to lose?

19 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

‘12 apps you need on your phone’: That is the title of yet another summary of Israel’s app industry. The fact is that these articles abound on the internet. And it can be mind-blowing to consider just how a desert-country like Israel has come to be such a prominent global player in this market.

The first ever Israel Mobile Summit has taken place in Tel Aviv. The need for such an event is apparently obvious to those in the sector.

…..most of the multinationals in the mobile industry, from Samsung to Apple to Huwaei, have R&D labs in Israel. At this year’s MWC in Barcelona, more than ten percent of the 1,900-plus companies presenting were Israeli or had major R&D labs here.

To appreciate just how successful this sector, grab hold of these three newsbytes from the past month or so.

Israel’s most popular app is not Waze, Dragonplay or Viber, even though they sold out for hundreds of millions. Somewhat surprisingly, ” TabTale, developer of mobile games for kids, is the leading independent app distributor in Israel – both in terms of revenue, and downloads…With 40 million active users each month, TabTale enjoys the status of being one of Israel’s leading game companies. “
In a different arena, I was drawn towards Red Button, an app developed to help children cope with cyber bullies. When you consider this growing danger of cyber violence and that this is a solution that will help a child counter attack without ‘leaving the field of battle’, that is very clever thinking by the developers.
And you cannot failed to be impressed by MySizeID. Still in development stage, it is looking to raise money on NASDAQ. A simple concept, the app allows people to buy over the internet, using the phone to take your vital measurements.

So what next? Well, Hyundai has announced that it wants Israeli app tech to be a key factor in its next generation of ‘connected cars’. That will secure Israel a role to play in the lives even in those countries that detest the government in Jerusalem.

18 June 2015

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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

One of the strangest aspects about my work as a business coach and mentor is how my customers never cease to complain about their own clients. They are always too ‘something-or-another’

Many of my clients are based in the Jerusalem region. I have often wondered if this moaning is part of the Jerusalem syndrome, an unfathomed hypnotic effect, or merely some kind of ‘sun stroke fall out’. However, the truth is that we often bitch and whimper about the wrong people.

Instead of taking out our stress on others, we should actually be asking what we ourselves could have done better. And I offer two explanations as to what I mean.

First, too many of us allow our clients to manage us, rather than the other way around. The result is that we end up fielding demands that we had never anticipated and additional expectations that we cannot fulfill. Whatever the client – their value, the scope of work, their background – they remain the client and should abide by your rules.

You can be friendly towards each other, but they are not your friends. There are boundaries to be maintained. In other words, it is time to understand the meaning and thus the limits of the phrase “the customer is always right”.

Second, and potentially far more importantly, we have to ask ourselves: Why do we focus so many resources on the customers we have, rather then the ones we want? For example, I have met up with three clients over the past two weeks, who have invested considerable efforts responding to their customers, only to realise the projects are simple not profitable.

I am particularly impressed by this thought from J.P. Eggers in the Harvard Business Review:

To be successful, companies need to innovate for the consumers they want, not the ones they have.

And that is the point. We must never cease from searching for new revenue sources, especially those types of clients who fit in with our vision and match out ideal business model.

Pages

3 business miracles from Jerusalem

Israel’s economy – hopefully a good bet

3 practical rules when you are burnt out

3 areas where small business owners tend to procrastinate

Israel’s economy: 4 items the FT and Economist won’t tell you

Israeli high-tech does it again

6 Practical tips for building your first budget

The Palestinian crisis people do not want to see

Israeli politicians – lousy economists

How to choose a business mentor: Useful guidelines

What is it that Israel has about biotech?

Customer service in Israel…..or not!

To offer a discount? To work on commission? A ‘swift’ response

UK’s wasted aid to the Palestinians. Better in a cardboard box?

5 takeaways on Israeli high-tech: June 2015

Innovation: An alternative Israeli case study

Working from home – that special 8th trait

Palestinian and Israeli high-tech: Spot the difference

What is so special about Israel mobile-app sector?

How we make the wrong complaint about our clients

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