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When the ‘Sound of Music’ meets Covid-19 in Jerusalem

15 August 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Israel, Jerusalem

Israel’s hospitals are beginning to turn away (yet again) patients for general wards, as they are forced to cope with the severe spike in corona numbers. And quelle surprise – the overwhelming number of those in care have yet to be vaccinated!

Assuming that most of these people deliberately chose not to vaccinate, they had effectively declared that they know better, they are prepared to risk their lives (and those of health careers and those of others around them), and so what if this costs extra resources. Any wonder that the Prime Minister has warned from Jerusalem of some tough days ahead. In fact, the situation is of such concern that he urged people to vaccinate even during the Sabbath, which was a potentially politically damaging statement.

Why do Israelis flout the rules? I don’t know if they do it more than anywhere else, but this story is indicative. My wife and I recently travelled to the UK. On both flights, I would estimate that around 75% of the passengers were fully masked. Yes, the crew did their best.

On the outward journey, a young gentlemen, about 20 years old, sat on the other side of my wife. He only wore his mask, when she insisted. As an argument unfolded, he stated that he had been doing some research of his own and had come to the conclusion that the masks did not help. Despite his efforts to prove his expertise, my wife did not back down in her demands. He then responded: ” I have never been spoken to in this way.”

Make what you want of this anecdotal incident.

However, while reading just now about the continued refusal of about a million people to inoculate, I suddenly heard a song from the Sound of Music flash through my head. “What do we do about Maria‘. Yes, Maria, made famous by the wonderful Julie Andrews, who means so well, but gets things wrong for so many. How do you educate her so that she can go on to educate others?

It seems that after 18 months, governments (globally) have yet to learn. a policy for Covid is not just about finding a cure and distributing the doses. It is about gaining people’s trust and communicating with them. Until then, I fear that Israel’s hospitals will remain full with emergencies and thus others will not be treated.

Top 10 Post-Covid Tech Trends – from a crowded Israeli perspective

13 July 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Today, I had the good fortune to attend a thoroughly interesting webinar. It focused on trends in Israeli hightech, assuming that the worst of covid is behind us.

The webinar was hosted by the Our Crowd team from Jerusalem. They have dominated much of the start-up sector in the country over the past decade.

Let’s be honest. I assume that 99% of the people interviewed and companies featured are part of the Our Crowd set up. So be it. However, the 40 minute whizz through “what’s new on the landscape” was deeply fascinating.

Forbes have posted a written summary and it gives an excellent flavour. I was particularly interest in item 2, labelled ‘Science is for dinner’.

You can watch the whole event on the link here It is recommended watching even if you not an investor or geek. It shows what is about to happen in our lives – visits to the doctor, the food we will consume, the rapid processing of data and much more.

When the Oracle comes to Jerusalem

11 July 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Last week, Oracle, one the the world’s premier software giants, announced that it is opening a brand new centre in Jerusalem.

That is great news for Jerusalem. Sounds very promising for the head team of Oracle. And is a complete slap in the few for those employees, who have been encouraging the company to boycott Israel completely. They will now join other heavyweights such as Intel, AVX and Sigma-Aldrich in this special city.

In the Global StartUp Ecosystem Index for 2021, Israel ranked an impressive third. Jerusalem, primarily known for being a city of government offices and tourist services, is currently ranked 54th globally, gradually rising through the ranks.

Somehow, the city is learning to dodge a melting pot of religious, social and geopolitical issues. Even Jerusalem’s hospitals are now considered world class. Yesterday over lunch, I was discussing with some friends the shortage in the capital of qualified software engineers and similar skilled professions.

The index refers to core strengths in data and security. The bio-pharma-digital health category is not far behind. Exciting times ahead for this wonderful place.

Behind the fighting – little known surprises of the Israeli and Palestinian economies

20 May 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinian Society

Israel and Hamas are fighting another 10 day or so duel.

It is evident that militarily, Hamas has been crushed. The money pleaded out of the international community to counter the poverty in Gaza was directed to fund miles of underground military tunnels and also 14,000 rockets directed at civilians. Their potency has been heavily damaged.

Politically, Hamas has strengthened itself amongst the Israeli Arab community and in the West Bank, at the direct expense of the antiquated oligarchy of the Palestinian Authority (PA). And these could be the more dominant factors emerging from this latest agony.

As a sidebar, it is worth mentioning that both the PA and Hamas leaders are now vastly wealthy individuals. However, while the former strive for an independent state, the latter in Gaza look to set up a Caliphate, stretching into Syria and beyond.

Meanwhile, from southern Gaza to northern Israel, people are trying to earn some money.

We know that the Israeli economy is at a crossroads. Despite the hopes of Netanyahu’s led Ministry of Finance, the impact of the lockdown in the first quarter of 2021 was very more disasterous than anticipated. GDP dropped 6.5% at an annualised rate. Yet in the same period, Israeli start-ups raised a staggering US$5.4 billion.

What will happen as a result of the fighting? I suspect that the answer is nothing too serious. Why?

The Palestinian economy is smaller by definition. There are sections that were doing very well until the corona epidemic.

  • The number of nights spent by tourists doubled to two million during the decade to the end of 2019.
  • Unemployment in the Ramallah area is about 10%, (compared to about 40% in Gaza).
  • There are growing numbers of people that have studied at university and are entering hightech. Some have found a way into Israeli companies. Others are creating a local eco-system.

What could put an end to this cautious yet steady growth, particularly in the West Bank?

Critics of Israel be warned, because the answer does not hide in the policies of whatever government is to be formed in Jerusalem. Israelis have a direct interest in this progress. Not just because it cements peace, but he process opens up new markets – services, goods, and trained workers.

So, go back to what I wrote earlier. Up to now, Hamas has not been allowed to set a foot into the West Bank. In May 2021, as Mohammed Abbas slides into his mid 80s and as the Israeli Prime Minister invests all his spare time in saving his political legacy, Hamas has found a new legitimacy for itself in the West Bank.

Those are the background factors which allowed this tragic fighting to flare up again. And that is why the hope for additional Palestinian prosperity is under threat.

A no-frills explanation of what is going in Israel just now – re Gaza, and beyond

13 May 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinians

So, Israel and Gaza are at it again. To an outsider, it seems simply tragic. But it is more than just an aerial bombardment. So let me try to dummy-down the complexities, as an Israeli who did not vote for the PM in any of the recent elections.

In terms of the conduct of the war – yes, it is a war – I approve of everything I have seen so far from the government. Why? Putting aside the ‘who started it game’, no country has the right to hurl thousands of rockets indiscriminately, at anyone else. Israel must defend itself.

Disagree? Consider you have a child at school. Rightly or otherwise, that child always takes the spot of another kid in the playground, which causes distress. Would you agree to allow that child beat up yours? Unlikely.

That said, there is no doubt in my mind that the events leading up to the latest fighting were totally misunderstood by the PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his cronies in the Likud party. (Likud is the dominant faction in a very fractious temporary government).

To start with, it turns out that the Hamas social media network has been calling for riots for months to take place on Jerusalem Day. The policing of the hot points of the Holy City was shown to be naïve at crucial moments. Rushing into mosques to arrest trouble makers showed old lessons had been forgotten. And the management of the Sheik Jarrah eviction was a shambles.

All of the above are the responsibility of the PM or a close ally. They gave Hamas the excuses they needed. Israel was caught off-guard.

However, let us keep some perspective, the rockets from Gaza are laced with anti-Semitism and terror. They frighten, destroy, maim and even kill. But, they will not destroy the country. Just today, an Israeli e-commerce company has completed a NASDAQ valuation of over US$3.0 billion.

What disgusts me is what happened over the past two nights. In cities known for where Jew and non-Jew literally live side-by-side, vigilantes of both religions took control of the streets. There are stories of of repulsive violence and vandalism from both corners of the ring.

Social media was full of warnings. Police presence was inadequate. Political leadership was noticeable through its deafening silence. I was shocked dismayed and embarrassed.

Yes, of the few exceptions to this was a spontaneous interview with the highly respected Reuven Rivlin, the outgoing President of Israel. About 90 minutes later, the PM also issued a brief statement.

Maybe I missed his wise words, but I have yet to hear from the Minister of Police, Mr Amir Ohana. Known for his close ties to the Prime Minister, he has to accept that under his watch, and I repeat, his police force lost control of the streets in at least four cities!

And that comes immediately after the tragedy 2 weeks ago, when 45 people were crushed to death in a religious ceremony in the north of the country. It would seem that only at the highest of levels did the police approve the security arrangements for the event. To date, no public inquiry has been set up. A disgrace!

The difference between the issue of the rockets and the riots is that the former is a threat to life and property, but it is scenario with boundaries (for now). The latter is vast in depth and represents a direct threat to the core values of a country, based on democracy and mutual respect.

Who gave the PM the right to put this at risk?

For a decade, Netanyahu has kept power by mocking minority groups and dividing society. For the past two years, he has fought his legal battles, maintaining that he run the country at the same time. He has asked for a mandate from the public four times in 24 months, and thankfully has not received it.

For the sake of the future of this country and its values, the man must go, now!

Celebrating 73 years of Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship

13 April 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

This week, Israel will be celebrating its 73rd Independence Day. 9,3 million citizens and growing.

Many will argue that the country survived its opening decades through a series of miracles. There is a strong case for stating that the concept of the ‘start-up nation‘ was born through military necessity, the core need to survive against the odds. And exactly how Israel is countering the Iranian threat today surely goes far beyond the scope of a James Bond film.

But after 73 years, Israeli innovation is driven by more than just military applications. Bottom line: In the first quarter of 2021 – with much of the country, USA and Europe in lockdown – Israeli tech startups raised a staggering record $5.37 billion in 172 deals. As my wife pointed observed, that sum is less than the value of America’s annual military support for Jerusalem.

May be an image of text that says "5,374 2,002 2,107 2,213 2,651 2,181 2,567 2,839 1,394 1,206 1,042 1,541 1,540 1,758 1,488 6/6 878 8/9 6b6 εοτ'τ τ8ν'τ 690' 1o0 99 88 120 113 133 113 651 953 980 108 105 121 113 127 111 2015Q Q1 Q2 2015Q 2015Q Q3 2015Q Q4 Q1 2016 2016Q2 2016Q3 2016Q4 2017Q1 20170 2017 Q3 2017Q Q4 Q1 2018 Q2 2018Q 2018Q3 2018Q4 2019Q1 2019Q3 2019Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 2020 2020 2020 2020 2021 Total $m # of Deals 140 132 154 149 Source:/VC-Meitar The Israell Tech Review Q1/2021"

The details make for stunning reading. However, this is not a freak trend.

The same day as this news was released, we also learned that:

2021 will hopefully be a year of significant growth for the Israeli economy, partially on the back of a rebound from covid and partially due to the start-up sector. Here’s looking to an even bigger and better 74th birthday party!

Israel Start-Up Nation: Have 4 elections made a difference?

24 March 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Yesterday, Israel went to the polls for the 4th time in 24 months. It seems that the PM, Netanyahu, may be able to form an almost-stable coalition. Putting the politics aside for a moment, where does this new situation leave the ‘start-up side’ of the economy?

Let’s start with 2 bizarrely contrasting perspectives. This time last year, Israel was boasting that it had nine Unicorns in its hightech economy. Today? See my latest post on LinkedIn, which shows how the number has soared to over 70.

Just yesterday, Israeli cloud security company Orca Security announced that it had completed a $210 million Series C financing round on a US$1.2 billion valuation. The company was only founded in 2019, ironically at about the same time as the start of the country’s political crisis.

This leads me conveniently to the second viewpoint. For all this time, the government has never been able to provide the country with a national budget. To spell it out: As success as led to more success for Israel’s start-up nation economy, there has been no central direction from the numerous Ministers of Finance.

It has become quite obvious for several months that it has been the hightech sector that saved the Israeli economy from imploding during the height of the corona crisis. Orca Security is not alone. For example, Israeli adtech platform ironSource will list via SPAC at $11.1b valuation.

There is a dearth of suitable talent to fill the continuing numbers of positions opening up.  According to Startupblink’s 2020 Startup Ecosystem Ranking, Israel is placed third place in terms of its startup ecosystem (following behind the UK and the USA).

So, who needs a budget and governmental direction?

There are core parts of the Israeli economy and society that need support, ignored for years or devastated by the fall out from corona. For all those names listed here and who have made it big-time, there are thousands of start-ups, both starved of resources and with little hope of reaching influencers or required investment levels. The government appears to have lost its ability in this arena.

Over the past 12 months, talent has oozed out of the top civil service posts in the Treasury in Jerusalem. And the immediate task of an (assumedly) new Netanyahu government will be to save him from the courts, and also to provide his coalition allies with as much money as needed to keep them silent.

The Orcas of Israel will not be bothered by such a course. The problem lies for those who struggle but deserve to have a chance as well. These start-ups are the future of the country’s economy.

Israel’s new economy – thanks to corona

7 February 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Reading through the weekend newspaper in Israel made for depressing reading initially. It looks like the new Kenesset (Parliament) will have as many factions as ever, with few showing signs of the leadership desired by their voters. The death toll from corona has passed the 5,000 mark. Businesses are folding all over the place, including 1,000 coffee / restaurant outlets.

Amongst all the gloom – yes, we are thinking of recancelling our subscription – came two separate notes of optimism, both clearly sparked by the corona crisis.

Let’s start with the neighbours. A few weeks ago, we were taking our Sabbath constitutional, when we noticed a small plot of greenery. There was a newish sign, explaining that it was a ‘community garden’, set up over the past few months. It was sponsored by the local council.

According to an item in the paper, similar initiatives are sprouting up (pun intended) all over Israel. It is estimated that there about 400 such projects, many coming to fruition since February 2020.

I was particularly attracted to the story of the garden in Mea Shearim, an over-crowded, ultra-orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusalem. It is mainly cared for by local women. As ever, it thrives on the back of volunteers, donations and a few shekels thrown at it by local authorities.

Wonderful stuff! It reminds of stories when during the Second World War, such things blossomed in the Britian.

And if you are more of the stay at home type, well you can join a growing crowd of people investing in the stock exchange from their laptop. It is estimated that in 2020, 141,000 new accounts were opened by individual Israeli investors, a 44% jump on the previous year.

What are the reasons for this spark? Well, nothing in particular, it would appear. An item in the newspaper refers to:

  • Boredom, fed up just doing the same things on the computer.
  • The availability of spare cash not being spent on holidays
  • Annoyance that the banks / investment houses take healthy profits.
  • New apps to help the intrepid entrepreneur
  • the feeling that life is too short not to take a chance

Maybe these suggestions explain why stock markets around the globe are still moving forward, when ‘experts’ have been expecting a crash for the past year.

What the two items illustrate is that society is reacting to corona. Israelis are not waiting around for a hapless government to show them how. Corona is changing us and our economy in more ways than we realise.

The impact of covid on Israel’s economy

4 February 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Covid has been with us for about a year. This time last year, I was leading an overseas guest around Israel’s primary investor conference, hosting sessions with Fintech and health care services.

Since then? Well maybe not too bad, at least relatively. According to the US-Israel Legal Review 2020 just released:

While in North America high tech investment is down 10% compared with 2019 and while in Europe we have seen a 20% reduction, in Israel there seems to be a 40% increase compared to the first half of 2019.

Moving into 2021, that pattern seems set to continue. New unicorns are emerging almost weekly. Specifically, look at the progress of Intel. “Revenue in 2020 was $8 billion, up 14% from $6.6 billion in 2019. This figure represents 2% of Israel’s GDP and 10.27% of Intel’s overall annual revenue of $77.9 billion in 2020.”

Unfortunately, the lack of direction for the past three years from the government in Jerusalem is no longer able to conceal worrying trends. As outlined in the newspaper “Ha’aretz“:

  • GDP per capita isn’t picking up
  • Deficit will weigh on the government
  • High unemployment won’t disappear
  • Small and medium-sized businesses have taken a big hit
  • Permanent uncertainty remains

Nothing positive is likely to happen until after the general election on March 23rd. Given the fact that this is followed almost immediately by the week-long Passover festival and then assumedly by the customary coalition squabbling for a couple months, serious financial planning cannot commence until the mid summer at best.

Thus, even if a new policy were to be implemented shortly afterwards, Israel cannot expect any new strategic measures to have an impact on the corona worn economy before the early next winter at best!

We talk about the tragedy of corona. We know that other serious illnesses are not being treated because corona drags on health resources. We note the rise of violence and social distress in communities.

None of these are excuses for the disgraceful performance over years of Israel’s government, when it comes to the economy. What covid has shown is that the triumphs mentioned above have occurred despite rather than because of those who think they are in power.

What we need to learn from Israel’s management of corona – not what you think!

24 January 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Israel has received international praise for its rushed inoculation programme against the covid-19 virus. We can read about it in the press, on the BBC, etc. Politicians in Parliaments across the world have asked the governments to follow the example of Jerusalem.

And yet……

After 4,300 people have died from corona and around 1.100 are still in critical condition, including a worrying and rising number of children, you have to question if the decision makers in Israel are finally getting it right. To give the horrific numbers some proportion, roughly 3,500 Israeli civilians have been killed in terror attacks since the founding of the state in 1948.

Israel is almost an island. New Zealand had less than 50 deaths. In Australia, the state border between New South Wales and Victoria was closed for weeks.

  • So why did the Israeli government allow in thousands of seminary students at the beginning of the crisis, if not just to please the Prime Minister’s coalition allies?
  • Why have fines still not been sharply increased, if not just to please Netanyahu’s coalition allies?
  • Why was the first lockdown relaxed so quickly if only just …. ?
  • And why has international travel been allowed to take place if………… well, maybe in this case to please Netanyahu’s overseas friends in Washington and in the Gulf.

We read in today’s newspapers that the Prime Minister is now determined to shut down air travel, except for emergencies and trade. He is worried about the mutations. Where has he been to date? And we learn that the ultraorthodox community of Vishnitz is determined to keep open its schools. Why does he not cut off their public funding?

The election is never far away from this subject. My thoughts on the government’s ‘newspeak‘ that the economy will soon open up in full were posted last week. A day later, a TV exposure revealed the farce behind the failure of the Finance Minister to pass the state budget, for the third year running. And on Thursday, details were released of the growing state of poverty in the country.

Yes, the stock market and hightech is keeping the country’s economy afloat. Yes, the government hand outs to the unemployed are important for thousands of families.

But where is that leadership, which every country needs and deserves in a time of crisis? Where is that firm and persuasive, yet compassionate voice that speaks to everyone, regardless of their location on the political map?

If you were to manage your team, your organisation, your country, is this what you would be doing?

POSTSCRIPT:

  1. It would appear that the Vishnitz schooling system remain closed, formally, but there were a bunch of other loopholes very visible to be seen by various reporters.
  2. With some irony, New Zealand today reported its first corona case in months.

“The full opening of the (Israeli) economy will probably be in March.” Aha!

18 January 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

It appears that “Israel’s economy was one of the least damaged during the Covid-19 pandemic, compared with other OECD countries”. Encouraging. And the three leading international credit rating agencies have all affirmed Israel’s current status, which is good news for a government trying to borrow extra money.

But then we are told from an on-line news agency, known to be close to the government in Jerusalem and citing a senior Israeli official that: “the full opening of the economy will probably be in March”.

Just who are they trying to fool, and why?

First of all, Israel is an economy, which is dependent on trade. The USA and the UK are barely starting their inoculation programmes. Australia is unlikely to open its borders fully before the end of 2021. So, thousands of people in the travel and tourism industry as well as those people who need to get overseas for work are still going to face restrictions. Ooops.

But you may argue, Israel has a successful inoculation campaign, fully claimed by the Prime Minister. True, but at the moment many European countries and the WHO are playing down the importance of the ‘green card’ and who can travel with it. Another oops.

Then there is this niggling problem called corona. Despite the inoculations, the death is at 4,000 and rising. Because of a 9.1% infection rate – a stat the PM will not be seen quoting – the hospitals are full. Staff are at breaking point. Years of starving the system of new beds and trained teams are now beginning to show.

Though successful in its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, the country has been unable to fight the spread of pathogen among the population, thanks to mishandled policies, politically motivated decisions and unkept promises

Nadav Eyal.

I could not have put it better myself. The commentator emphasises how the government has failed to install social discipline in two large communities, which (ironically?) are those who have valued for their voting power.

For an economy to get back to a “full opening”:

  • Scores of boarded up shops will miraculously have to finance new stock and reopen.
  • At least 4,000 families will have to shake off the loss of loved ones and just return to work as normal.
  • The need for medical procedures, postponed during corona, will no longer be deemed necessary.
  • The increased social suffering behind closed doors – violence, drugs, etc – will no longer impact on people’s lives.
  • Unemployment – around 4% before corona and 15% today – will simply flitter away.

Just who is this ‘senior Israeli’ trying to fool, I asked. Who cares? There is an election due in two months. Every extra vote may count in a close contest. So the end – the fake news – must justify the means, no?

Ezra P. Gorodesky – the soul of Jerusalem

14 January 2021
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Israel, Jerusalem

Most people reading this will not have heard of Ezra P. Gorodesky. If you look him up on the Israel Museum website in Jerusalem, he is described as a painter, born in 1928.

Ezra P. Gorodesky passed away this week and thousands of people suddenly felt very sad and empty. So what was so special about this gentleman that i feel compelled to write about him?

He was Philadelphia born, who arrived in Israel in 1960 and then decided to give up his American citizenship. He was an avid collector. In his conversations with me, he was particularly proud of his manuscripts and teapots. But his story is deeper than that.

Ezra could always be found walking around the centre of Jerusalem. You had the feeling that all the shop owners and coffee vendors knew him. Whenever I ventured into town, I would often factor into my day an ‘extra five minutes for Ezra’. Somehow, he would always find you.

You would see him emerging out of the crowd. In later years, his walking stick was his trademark. He always had a smile. Never a bad word. Never a coarse word – although he was full of double-entendres with a endearing wink.

He was the bedrock of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was always first there on Shabbat mornings, setting up the place. It was only when he was way past 80 that he would agree to any kind of assistance.

It was here that I met him for the first time in 1983. A few years later, when I married, his first conversation to my wife was as if she was a long-time friend. He always had bundles of time for our children – in fact , for every member of the community whatever age or background. You saw him and you felt good.

My daughter has this wonderful story about Ezra. She had a summer-holiday job, working in a coffee shop, close to the Old City of Jerusalem. In he walked. She was thrilled. They gave each other a big greeting.

The owner was stunned. How did she know him? Her reply is so appropriate, even today. “Everyone knows Ezra”. And we will continue to cherish his supreme values. Thanks Ezra for everything.

Israel’s economy plops into 2021

30 December 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Israel’s economy will start 2021 with no budget for over two years, a third lockdown (with as many holes as a piece of Swiss cheese) ,and an election looming on March 23rd. That means no full approved central planning will emerge until the early summer at best.

So which politician cares that an extra 100,000 will be added to the unemployment listings because of the lockdown? Which salaried decision maker will feel the impact of a further US$1.5 billion oozing out of the economy?

It is worth quoting serial investor Michael Eisenberg:

Netanyahu did not proactively undermine Israel’s national resilience, he just didn’t do anything about it. Considered one of the most intelligent leaders in the world, Netanyahu failed to take advantage of the immense opportunity to attract future human and financial capital to the country……..The fossilized economic thinking of Bibi’s ministers and advisors is firmly rooted in the 20th century……

Yesterday, I had the good fortune to be part of a forum, led by MATI Jerusalem. There were about 30 business mentors and coaches and a further 6 staff members on the discussion. MATI has been promoting business generation in the Jerusalem area since the late 1980s.

The core take away from the session was definitely one of optimism.

So why can 2021 be a year of opportunity for small businesses in Israel, especially when the government will be providing precious little direction and leadership initially?

And maybe that ‘rudderless’ factor is also part of the answer. Business owners are learning to rely on themselves. After all, the loan schemes and employment benefits have been riddled with anomalies. What is left is self initiative and resilience.

Here is a cute anecdote to illustrate my point. At least for this week, restaurants in Israel are only allowed to sell via a delivery service. Take-aways are prohibited. One cafe owner explained in front of TV cameras that he has informed all his regular clientele to approach his premise, call him from 100 meters away with their order, and he will “deliver” to them.

As Eisenberg wrote, Israel’s current economic decision makers are stuck in the past. Let us hope and pray that 2021 will bring in a series of new recruits.

How to get your business extra profitable revenue, this week.

17 December 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

To receive your free 20-minute consultation with Michael (in English or Hebrew), call on 052 344 8453, or send an email to michaelhoresh@iib.ws

Not sure about reaching out to me? Have a look at this blog, a case study of a client who was in your position.

Free podcast with Jonathan Gabay
That moment when you decide to change things around

For all the advice on offer: What is that one key lesson small business owners need to learn from corona?

Until Corona emerged, many of us had predictable or standard modes of working. We did not allow for major hiccups. Then along came February 2020 with the bat virus from a third-grade lab in Far East Asia. Boom! Everything turned upside down, and we had nothing to cling on to.

One of the most successful incubators for hightech companies in Israel is a military unit called 8200. Their core starting point for analysing anything is to take all known assumptions and to disconnect from them. That is how you create a disruptive tech that investors must have.

Corona is not a ‘must have’ factor, when it comes to health. But in business and trade, it is. For millions of enterprise owners across the globe, they have been forced to think again about their core business model. They have had to get up and lead, as if from scratch. And now it is your turn.

Let’s look at the story of Debbie (named changed), a client of mine in the field of personal welfare in Jerusalem. Mid 30s, she took on a loan to back her new enterprise in late 2019, and it quickly showed signs of progress. A few months later, lockdown killed the trade almost overnight. The debts began to mount alarmingly.

I was called in to help.

Debbie’s first reaction was one of skepticism, to put it mildly. After all, I had to admit that I did not know much about her line of work. However, I convinced her to go through a couple of sessions with me. I had identified something from our first few minutes of chatting that Debbie had not appreciated.

Until then, Debbie’s thoughts had focused on rescuing the “what”, the final product. However, I concentrated on “how” she approached selling. Debbie had told me that she has a track record in sales, setting higher targets from year to year. And by early 2020, she had become a true genius in e-commerce.

I encouraged Debbie to coordinate her energies around her core talents. Rapidly, out went the product. It was replaced by an offer of a package of advisory services. More importantly, she developed alternative revenue streams to pay off the loan. Debbie has become the ‘must have’ for others!

This story is not unique. I was listening to the CEO of a large plastics factory, describing how his order book had dried up. He had refused to lay off loyal, highly-qualified staff for as long as possible. Just as the first lockdown ended in Israel, he received a solitary order to make a couple of panels to protect workers at a check out till. Bingo! Suddenly, production went back into high gear, as he twigged that this was about to become a mass market.

The lesson is that if you run a business, never be complacent. Lead and lead again, with resilience and also clarity of vision. Leadership is not just about being the person that your team can identify with. It is about you – finding the skillset to identify what can be done differently in order to haul in the profits.

It is that skill of leadership that I install in my clientele. And I believe that it is one of the main reasons that none of my customers have shut up shop during 2020.

To find out more about my business mentoring and coaching services, contact me on 0523 448453 or via michaelhoresh@iib.ws

Other blogs can be found on my website, via this link

3 critical steps for you to reboot your business to beat corona

17 December 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

To receive your free 20-minute consultation with Michael (in English or Hebrew), call on 052 344 8453, or send an email to michaelhoresh@iib.ws

While you are here, look over this blog that I prepared for my customers.

Addressing StartMeUpHK – Pitch event for startups

Corona has been with us for nearly a year. As a business coach and mentor, not one of my clients has shut down during that time. And I have even on-boarded several during 2020, who have registered new enterprises.

Is there a magic formula to their success?

If we look back to the end of the winter earlier this year, economies around the world went into panic mode. In Israel, the core government action was to try to make loans available. In other words, the politicians came up with a plan to beat debt ……. by encouraging small business owners to take on more debt!

As one cash-strapped CEO observed to me, you should only take on a loan if you know how (and when) you are going to pay it off. The time of corona has taught us once again just how little certainly there is in commerce.

To state the obvious, there had to be another way from the direction of Jerusalem central government. During 2020, many of my clients adopted three basic principles. As a package, these measures have allowed their operations first to survive and then to go on to develop new sales’ channels.

So what can your team learn from these experiences?

  • KEEP SELLING

Sounds obvious, no? Recall the woeful sight of the owner of a shoe shop in Tel Aviv just throwing his stock on the pavement and telling people to take. They would not even leave 20 shekels for an item. If you are contemplating giving stock away for free, there has to be an alternative.

I point to tour guides, who from the get-go embraced the suggestion that they offer virtual tours. I recall the book shop that brought forward plans to set up a website. I am working with a boutique fashion operation that established a VIP service. They meet with customers on a one-by-one basis and thus maintain social distancing.

You have a business. You have something to sell. Go find a medium so that your customers will run back to you.

  • KEEP ADVERTISING

Again, this may sound dumb. Actually, I am staggered how few business owners appreciate that this is the time, when your customers want to hear from you. They need to know that ‘you have got their back’, now more than ever. They may not buy on the spot, but your are building up kudos points for later on. For example, the quick-thinking gymnasiums have been creating online classes for their members. I have a number of clients in the medical / wellness business, who spent time phoning or emailing their own clients base.

One of the most encouraging stories I heard came from El Al, a company which is arguably positioned in the heart of the industry most impacted by corona. And they have a pretty dodgy reputation at the best of times. The airline was bought out during the summer. One of the initial decisions of the new owners was to guarantee repayment of prepaid tickets for flights that had been cancelled. I value that commitment.

  • STAY FOCUSED

Your business is founded on core skills and the ability to deliver. Those strengths do not disappear just because of a bat-related virus.

It is not just high-tech companies on international stock exchanges that have been doing well. Building contractors and design companies cannot stop selling. Wealth management practices have been flooded with clients. Where is your mojo?

Have a look at Bizzaabo. They design technologies for international conferences. They could have panicked back in February, when their market evaporated. Instead, they pivoted, creating “a platform that would have 10 functions that were until then in the hands of 10 different suppliers’. They have since raised US$138 million.

You are in business to sell. I coach executives to test and improve their business model, consistently. Corona has only sharpened that message – for all of us.

I have provided mentoring, coaching and consulting services for 15 years to a range of industries. To learn more about how I can transform your business, call on 0523 448453, or via michaelhoresh@iib.ws  

Other blogs can be found on my website, via this link  

Move beyond the corona blues now. Make your business the success it deserves.

17 December 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

To receive your free 20-minute consultation with Michael (in English or Hebrew), call on 052 344 8453, or send an email to michaelhoresh@iib.ws

Thank you for clicking through. I always try to provide additional support for my clients. For example, have a look at the blog below.

Chasing mountains in Italy

2020 has been bitterly cold and cruel to many business owners like yourself – in fact, doubly so.

We know that stats reveal that small business owners have been hurt harder than most. On the one hand, markets have shrunk, if not disintegrated. And then you look around. You see stock exchanges booming or renovation companies enjoying success. Unemployment pay encourages people to stay at home. It just does not seem fair.

Permit me to show off for a moment.

  • Most of my clients have learnt how they can boost sales, because of or despite corona.
  • Several clients have opened new operations since the early summer.
  • I have developed overseas markets on three continents in 2020.

The difference? How can you have a piece of this change? Start by abandoning the ‘corona mentality’!

Corona encourages us to think small. We go into survival mode. We stop looking for where the big money is. I assume that without wanting to sound greedy, you are in business to obtain your fair share of that jackpot.

The challenge is to realise that you too are good enough hold a mountain in your own hands.

Take two examples of clients from the past week alone in the Jerusalem area. Joey has for months threatened to launch a Facebook campaign, based on a free consultation. Meantime, he rested his laurels on miserly amounts of passive income. The moment he rejected this attitude, his posts began to go viral. His calendar has filled up and the bank account is starting to tick over again happily.

Alternatively, Susan had actually developed a full marketing campaign on a whim for a Fortune 500 company, but never had bothered to send it off for consideration. It remained filed away, until I convinced her to release it. She is now planning similar coups.

Thinking big commercially does not make you an immodest person, and it can improve your lifestyle. That is what my business mentoring programme is all about – clients rediscovering their thirst for success and my helping them turn on the proverbial tap.

To learn more about how I have taken businesses through corona, emerging with higher sales, call on 0523 448453, or via michaelhoresh@iib.ws  

Other blogs can be found on my website, via this link  

How can a business coach and mentor help you? Stop being so arrogant!

24 October 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

Here’s a scenario that most of us can relate to – either from our own experiences or with our kids.

The child is revising for a crucial exam. Thy do not have the patience for another 30 minutes and just walk off (run away?) from the job. You are furious. Worse is that you cannot find the words to encourage them back.

Belatedly, I found a trick that appealed to children, reaching out to them through their sporting heroes. No matter how brilliant the player, these stars have coaches, who keep them training several days a week. They go over the same materials, despite the intrinsic skill and knowledge of the athlete.

If that is what the hero must do, the hero would expect no less from the kid. But now dear reader, swop the word athlete for business owner.

How many times have I come across a struggling CEO, who refuses to believe that I, a qualified business coach and mentor, can make that difference? After all, they are the ones that know. They are experienced. And I do not know their company’s history.

David Cluttterbuck, author of the classic “Everyone needs a mentor” has a beautiful story. One day, the golf trainers did not turn up to teach their students. Hasty replacements were found in some tennis pros. The trainers returned the following day and discovered to their bemusement that the swing of their clients had improved beyond recognition!

I was reminded of that when last week, I was honoured to receive a long letter of praise from a Jerusalem-based client. My wife suggested that I share the following excerpt:

My business was in a terrible state after the first lockdown, in fact it wasn’t really working even before the corona crisis started. I had tried on my own, unsuccessfully. Michael taught me business basics, how to …. and out of the box thinking for future growth. The last point is especially important in this challenging times. I look now much more confident into the future. I have a clearer vision of where I want to be and a path to get there.

You may be looking to generate new sales or tighten financial controls or develop strategy or more – but no law told you that you have to struggle on your own. That is rarely clever nor usually cost effective.

The very fact that you may even be considering a business coach and mentor is very often an indication that you could use one, starting right now. Help yourself out and stop trying to deny it!

Starting a business? What problem are you setting out to solve?

8 October 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Earlier this week, serial entrepreneur, Richard Branson, asked global thought leader, Simon Sinek:

“If you were starting a business right now, what problem would you be setting out to solve, and why?”

Sinek’s response is not an obviously commercial one. He asks people to question how we relate to each other. Leaders today lack empathy. We need to be more human.

So, here I am, a well-known business coach and mentor in my circles in Israel. How can I give this message some meaning to my clients around Jerusalem and beyond?

As I was pondering away, I came across an item from “The Economist” magazine re the importance of humour in the workplace. Can it up productivity? It can certainly bring in additional clientele, when used creatively, as this petrol station in the USA found out.

What Sinek, the Economist and the petrol station team are telling us can be summed up as a lesson in 101 marketing: Find a way to communicate, directly and with clarity, to your target audience.

  • Don’t create websites, which are full of catch phrases but distort or hide your core message.
  • Revamp seemingly clever pricing policies that offer so many options, and thus your target audience cannot reach a decision.
  • Remember who you are talking to and what is “their” objective. Whatever you have to sell, it is about them, not you!

Understand this critical dynamic, and you are starting to become that ‘human’ Sinek had referred to! Potential customers will listen to you. Sales will be engaged. You will have hit the commercial soft spot that Sinek alluded to.

Fasting, a global virus, and a war that changed history: A challenging lesson for us all.

29 September 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a fast day for traditional Jews around the world. Leading up to the event, the leaders of the two main parties in Israel’s government offered apologies of sorts for the way that they have handled the Covid-19 crisis in recent months.

We are taught to accept apologies. Or as one friend quipped, maybe the best test of sincerity is to have these people act as trials for the new vaccines. If they survive, all well and good. If not,…..

I do not hide my displeasure of the performance of the Prime Minister, Netanyahu. He has ensured that the two ministries most concerned with the crisis – Health and Finance – have been retained by his Likud Party. Both have underperformed. to be unnecessarily polite.

It occurred too me during the fast, as one’s mind wonders on an empty stomach, there is a big difference between the Likud ministers and their partners (enemies?) in government from the Kahol Lavan party. Generally, the former are lawyers or politicos who have grown up with being in power for most of the past two decades. The latter are ‘doers’, who have proven credentials of getting things done in society – via the army, social causes, local government, etc.

And when you mention the phrase Yom Kippur in Israel, many automatically recall the war that broke out on that day in 1973. Eventually, Israel was to win on the battlefields but to lose the game of diplomacy. Internally, the country’s political system was turned inside out, forever.

When the war commenced, Dr. Ephraim Hamiel left his prayers in Jerusalem, rushed to his unit and spent the next month attending to the requiremnts of the dead. He still remembers accompanying dozens of bodies back from the war, as they bounced in the command cars, dusty boots bobbing about.

He described in a recent interview how he felt 12 months later, back in Synagogue, praying again during the fast. One of the emotional liturgies asks ‘who will live and who will not; who will have water and who will be met with fire’. It made him think. It forced me to wake up, as I searched for extra purpose in my prayers.

I discussed this later with my wife. These are troubled times, to say the least. Covid-19, a PM in Israel that stays in power despite three indictments, wobbling global stock markets, a trade war between China and America (whose outcome may be dependent on a bitter Presidential election). Did I forget something?

Where and how we can still have a meaningful impact is in our own lives. For many of us, we can still keep ourselves busy (and healthy). In my work, as a business coach and mentor, I have encouraged all my clients to think differently and to move quickly. Crazy politicians can’t touch you for that. They probably can’t even understand this approach.

Which is why you have to wonder. Will Covid-19 will play the same role for the Likud and its status of ‘no change’ as the Yom Kippur war did for its predecessors?

Israel’s arid economy, and a drizzle of hope.

22 September 2020
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The only question is, why didn’t we do this earlier?

UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq al Marri

A few days on from the dramatic pace accords in Washington, and parts of the Israeli government are still trying to reap the benefits of the agreements with UAE and Bahrain, with maybe others to follow. After all, there is precious little else to celebrate.

The list of woes is long, but they start from the fact that the domestic Covid-19 stats look awful and get worse daily. The infection rate is on the rise. 24 hours after the new lockdown (which is not a lockdown) measures were announced, nearly 42,000 unfortunates joined the ranks of the unemployed. Rows of shops in town centres lie disused. Government financial support is full of words, but few understand how to implement the announcements.

There is a theory that the hightech sector will act as a knight in shining armour and save the economy. Yes, money is still being raised. As I walk past the Intel fab in Jerusalem, I can see every day a major piece of building. And also in the Holy City, the JVP Media Quarter was relaunched as ‘Margalit Startup City’, intended that it will grow into a worldwide innovation quarter for startups, multinationals, and investors.

However, I place my hopes on the Gulf States wanting to send their petrodollars to the Holy Land.

My point is as follows. Although it will not be immediate, this is new trade and money. The effects will soon slip into the Israeli economy and assumedly down to the ‘ man on the street’. Something for the central planners to hope for as their own ideas run out of steam in the most pathetic of manners.

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