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Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem Blog

In addition to my work as a business coach, one of my interests is blogging about life in Israel. This is a country full of contrasts – over eight million citizens living in an area the size of Wales. You can see snow and the lowest place on the globe in the same day. Although surrounded by geopolitical extremes, Israel has achieved a decade of high economic growth. My work brings me in contact with an array of new companies, exciting technologies and dynamic characters. Sitting back with a relaxing cup of strong tea (with milk), you realise just how much there is to appreciate in the Holyland. Large or small operations, private sector or non profit, my clients provide experiences from which others can learn and benefit.

Israel’s economy – that ‘Thunderbirds’ edge again

25 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Thunderbirds was a wonderful action puppet TV series in the 1960s. Although the Tracy family lived on a secluded and sleepy desert island, at a moment’s notice they would launch amazing vehicles that out of nowhere would zoom off to save the world.

Back to the boring reality of 2014 and the Israeli economy had been expected to plod along for the next year or two, barely reaching 3% growth. In comparison to the triumphs of the past decade and the growing population, 3% is no big deal. Amidst all this blandness and partially obscured by the latest histrionics of a deal with the Palestinians, it seems that the Israeli economy has taken off.

As the Ha’aretz newspaper recalled this week, the “Israeli economy is on a surprising upswing”. And this is no short-term spurt. Roger Cohen, writing in the New York Times, described this growth as “sustainable”.

Is this surprising? Over the past month, top economists have described Israel’s fiscal set up as “resilient“, viewing the country as a whole in the “high income” bracket. Complimentary, even I would not be so effusive. The spread of wealth still leaves much to be desired.

The fact of the matter is that the labour market has not imploded as had been predicted some months back. New trading routes have been discovered, as Asia in 2013 became a more important export market than the USA! And of course, Israel coffers are benefitting from the tax revenues of the new off-shore gas industry.

As pleasing as these news items are, where the government of Jerusalem really needs to strike a home run is in the field of structural reforms. The ports need to be privatized. Rail lines are waited for anxiously. The housing market is still too rigid. And so the list goes on.

Meanwhile, just as the Tracy team quietly go about their work, it would seem that the financial mandarins in the Holy Land can also be satisfied their accomplishments.

 

‘Could have done better’ – from classroom to workplace

24 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

I would place a bet that 99% of us remember that dreaded phrase from schooldays: “Could have done better”.

At different times of my education, I was haunted by it, annoyed by it but eventually learned to laugh at it. As my eldest son would say to me: “Of course, I could, but why? I was enjoying doing other things”. Recently, I have begun to think about his response, which would probably upset most parents.

We need to do better at school because………..well, in order to obtain better marks and thus head off to a better university and thus be richer later on in life. Yes, there is something to that. However, there are also enough misfits in the statement to fill half a book.

Why else should students do better? To please their parents, who are funding the education? Possibly. To boast better ‘all-round’ abilities? Maybe.

I think there is something else. And I believe the true answer can only be discovered once an individual has started to develop a full career, often enveloped by a family. Life, specifically the workplace, throws up many challenges. Some are academic or intellectual, demanding that we apply skills learnt in the classroom. However, more important tasks force us to go beyond our usual efforts, physically and mentally.

Ii is in these very special circumstances that we are forced to give ‘our very best’. This Hollywood clip exudes what I mean in a glitzy manner. But in real life?

Almost every time that I come up against a new client, the conversation invariably comes down to “how can they make more sales?”. So, I set them a very simple assignment.

First, I ask what they intend to do, to which I usually receive a predictable set of responses. Then I ask them to imagine that they had one month to double revenues or face forced closure by the banks. What then? It is amazing how the client really wakes up.

To apply this approach practically: This month, a struggling Jerusalem client of mine raised sales over a holiday period by 50%. He had been forced, belatedly, to learn how to do better.

It is a shame that generations of teachers all over the world only barked cute phrases at their pupils, without showing them the hows and whys.

Digital advertising – the mix from the Holy Land

20 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

It started with  internet tech, Moved into biotech, cleantech, and nanotech. Now it is the age of digital advertising. Whatever the latest blip in this third industrial revolution, Israeli brawn and chutzpah is there to be found.

For example, we know that “Israel-based digital platform specialist ironSource has announced that in the two months since its launch in February of this year Stickeez, which uses the company’s mobileCore native ad format, has boosted developer ad revenues by 20 percent.

And back at the beginning of the winter, Bob Dylan’s updated video of ‘ Like A Rolling Stone’ was a viral hit. It was “produced by (Israeli) media start-up Interlude, includes a novel interactive channel-tuning button, each channel mimicking a different cable channel or news program.”

Even though Matomy’s IPO launch in London for  US$100m has been cancelled, the trends are there to be seen. Digital advertising, as powered through smartphones is the ‘in-thing’ and Israeli tech is right amongst the mix.

An interesting article in the Hebrew paper, “the Calcalist” (The Economist) listed 10 start-ups, each targeting a niche in this market. Typically, they have been operating for around 24 months, employing 15 or so people. I invite you to check out the websites of Dynamic Yield, youAPPi, Ongage, AppsFlyer and others.

One that has caught my eye is Carambola, named after a fruit in the shape of a star fish. Their ads operate like advanced versions of layovers and in-video popup ads that appear on YouTube videos. I was also interested in Roojoom, which are taking presentations way beyond the regular Microsoft format. And of course, there is Widdit that was established ‘as long ago as’ 2007 and whose products can be found amongst 60 million users globally.

As the day of the paid-for app is drawing to an end, advertising is becoming a key feature in the smartphone market. Ensuring people look at and then click on the ads is already an important part of world commerce. Holy Land tech is helping to convert that miracle into a reality.

From rags (literally) to riches – case study to launch on London’s AIM market

18 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Suits maker Bagir Group Ltd. raised $33 million at a company value of $66 million, after money, in its IPO on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM)

What is so special about this announcement of a small-time Israeli textile company, which uses cheap overseas labour (including Egyptian)? After all, the AIM market is coming back into fashion, and dozens of Israeli firms had raised money there prior to 2008.

Take two steps back. First, originally, Bagir was part of Polgat, which represented the old economy of Israel as per the 1980s. We are talking about large factories in established industrial sectors that were protected by tariffs.

Polgat regrouped over the decades. Bagir was spun off. But less than a decade ago, it lost its key contract with Marks & Spencer in the UK. That was a big commercial ‘ouch’.

Leap forward to 2014 and check out Bagir’s website. “One in six men in the UK own a suit made by Bagir”. That is a statement of phenomenal success. Clients include major chains like John Lewis and Austin Reed. Sales are also being developed in new territories, such as Australia.

There are many reasons for the turnaround, starting with quality management. I would like to focus on the company’s ability to pinpoint a historical weakness in their market and find an effective solution. The ‘secret weapon‘ is an ability to produce suits that can be readily washed and still look new. Now that is very important to the consumer, who has just invested several pricey dimes in a couple of pieces of ‘rags’.

Israel is noted for entrepreneurship, specifically in the high-tech sector. This is just another way of using that brawn while then applying it to traditional industries.

 

One cool trick to boost retail sales

16 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

Almost invariably, my clients ask me how they can boost sales, especially while they are suffering a squeeze on their cash flow.

There are many techniques and tactics. For example, I have noticed that too many people are prepared to forgo an advertising campaign, even when ( or just because?) they are strapped for cash. Equally, I urge shop owners and manufacturers not to hold on to dead stock, just in case………….well,just in case that a whole load of people want to buy the lot at the original high price. Yes, seriously, that is what they seem to hold out for.

Daniel Kaheneman, Nobel Prize Laureate and author of the best seller “Thinking, Fast and Slow“, offers a fascinating alternative insight. On page 126, he describes how all of us – suppliers, sellers, consumers – become ‘anchored” by an initial suggested price offering.

He recalls a special offer for canned soups, selling at a 10% discount. In parallel, an additional sign was placed near the goods. On some days, the customer was told that they could buy as much as they liked. On others, sales were limited to 12 cans per person.

The result? When the second sign was operative (which ‘restricted’ customers), sales reached an average of 7 per purchaser.  That was double the average for the other days!

I have a plan to take this concept one step further with one of my clients in Jerusalem. I will suggest that they will display prominently a leading product, reducing it by 10% to say 100 shekels. Next to it, they should place some old stock, heavily discounted at 33 shekels per unit, limited to 3 items per customer. It will be interesting to see the reaction.

Nothing to lose. Everything to gain in higher potential turnover, without increasing inventory.

The house of the hill – in Brussels and in Ramallah

16 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society, Palestinians

Why has Europe begun to question its role in the Palestinian financial system?

A recent diplomatic conference highlighted the problems of the Palestinian economy; strikes, corruption, high unemployment, and more. The event was hosted in Prague and since  1991, the European Union – through its taxpayers – has been arguably the principal monetary supporter of the Palestinian territories, directly and through organization such as UNRWA.

The flow of these billions is set to continue, at least to the end of the decade. Yet throughout this period, there have always been three key ‘misfits’, enveloping these subsidies.

  1. Why has the Palestinian cause earned such large fiscal attention, when others in Africa and elsewhere have missed out? It is a decade ago since Nigel Roberts, former ranking World Bank representative in the region surmised global financial support for Palestinians as “the highest per capita aid transfer in the history of foreign aid anywhere”.
  2. Why has the Arab League, for all its wealth, never matched the contributions of the Europeans?
  3. Why is Palestinian poverty highlighted and blamed solely on the Israelis, when a World Bank report noted that the Palestinian economy grew under Israeli control by 5.5% annually up to 1999? That is a phenomenal performance, absolutely and relatively.

Something does not add up.

Back in 2003, the European Union investigated claims of fraudulent use of its resources by the Palestinians. The report under Christopher Patten was never released. (Interestingly, Patten went on to run the BBC and was famed for burying reports there). In parallel, The Funding for Peace Coalition was active for many years on these same issues. As the website poses: Where has all this money disappeared to?

These are contribution paid for by farmers in Greece, small businesses in Germany or even the owner of a pub in Putney, London What has been achieved through their generosity? Specifically, as Alarabiya News questioned regarding Suha Arafat, how did the wife of the former Palestinian Chairman amass such wealth? Should people be concerned? I believe so and for three separate reasons:

First, it is an issue of good governance. A taxpayer expects his representative to take responsibility. He has a fundamental right to know where his money ends up and that it is for a reasonable purpose. It is difficult to find any other subject, where such sums – billions – were and still are transferred with relatively little transparency and accountability.

Second, as reported above, there are a lot of poor Palestinians. No argument. They deserve better. It is staggering to consider that the financial transfers from the European Union have not made a more lasting and significant positive contribution on the Palestinian economy. It is even more amazing when you compare this failure to the World Bank analysis, noted above, about how the economy had previously leapt forward when Israel had full control of the territories.

Third, there is considerable evidence, which suggests that not only have funds been diverted for the benefit of an autocracy, both in Hamas and in the Palestinian Authority. Monies have ended up in the hands of terrorists. As admitted in the House of Commons in London, by a minister at the Foreign Office, Mr Hugh Robertson, “UK officials raised the issue of payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails with the Palestinian Authority (PA) most recently in March 2014. The International Development Committee also received information on this issue from the Minister of Finance during their visit in March.” In the same vein and possibly even more bewildering was the question raised in the European Parliament by Michal Kaminski.

It is a well-known fact that the Palestinian Authority proudly owns up to illegally spending over 6% of its budget — donated by, among others, the EU, where funding terrorism is against the law — on salaries for terrorists in Israeli prisons and pensions for the families of suicide bombers. The Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Minister, Issa Qarake, has admitted on television that the salaries are directly proportional to the terrorists’ sentences and the number of Jews they have killed……What is the Commission’s strategy to stop EU funds being used to pay salaries to terrorists in Israeli prisons?

And the response:

The EU is aware that the Palestinian Authority has a system of allowances in place for Palestinian prisoners, their families and ex-detainees. This scheme is not and has never been financed by the EU.

Maybe………..BUT how did the PA have enough money in the first place to distribute such payments?

For the record, there is also growing disapproval of some of the actions of UNRWA, to which Europe pays hundreds of millions of Euros annually. Not only does this billion dollar organisation have no external auditing procedures. It prints and distributes textbooks in its schools that appear to promote violent incitement against Israelis.

So where to now? The current round of peace talks is precariously balanced. The Palestinians are fuming about the non-release of terrorists by Israelis. In turn, Jerusalem feels that President Abbas has deliberately instigated the crisis, just like at the beginning of the Intifada in 2000. In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu is forcing the Ramallah government to pay up on extensive debts, which sounds ironic in light of the above discussion.

There is some hope. On the ground, individual Palestinian entrepreneurs are trying to work with Israelis. And Israel is actively seeking to open up commerce for its Arab population. It is also very welcome to see the read of the approach of Michael Theurer, chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he observed how in December 2013,”the European Court of Auditors revealed major dysfunctions in the management of EU financial support to the Palestinian Authority, and called for a serious overhaul of the funding mechanism.” He continued:

The report from the European Court of Auditors is a wake-up call on the need for stricter supervision of how EU funding to the Palestinian Authority is spent……A useful next step would be the imposition of clear benchmarks and conditions that the Palestinian Authority would have to meet in order to receive additional EU funds. These should include improving the state of human rights in the West Bank, cracking down on corruption and cutting off subsidies to convicted Palestinian terrorists.

Until then? The sad fact is that as long as Palestinian and European decision makers remain safely ensconced on their hilltops in Ramallah and in Brussels, Palestinian and Israeli civilians alike will continue to suffer, as will the bank accounts of European taxpayers.

Two surefire ways for firms to secure new clients

10 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

Most of us – business owners, sales teams, employees in small firms – we are all concerned about the state of the company’s bank account. We are constantly looking for the next customer, even to the point of distraction.

When I sit down with my Israeli clients and ask them where the next sale will come from, I am frequently greeted with a blank look. As the business mentor, I push, and am still greeted with an empty expression. And this is what bugs me.

So, I turn to them and employ tactic number one: Imagine the bank is about to close your account, but has given you one month’s notice. What can you do in 30 days to turn things round? In other words, your business has been placed on a ‘sink or swim scenario’ – what are you going to do, NOW?

It is amazing how many people then respond, by saying: “Well, I could do X that I had been thinking about for ages”. And once the proverbial floodgates have primed open, this statement is usually followed by a wave of other suggestions.

Let me be clear. Rarely do all of the strategies hit their mark. Yet invariably, a month later I have a smiling client in front of me.

Meanwhile, I have already employed tactic number two: I ask my client to take out their mobile phone and to start to go through their address book in order to see who they can call. Sometimes, this request is greeted with skepticism.

Yet invariably, the client finds old customers of theirs who require a quick chat and / or new potential targets. To ram home my point, I ask my own client to make the first few calls there and then. Surprise! Sales meetings are set up on the spot.

Bottom line: It is bewildering how often the next sale is so close to us, but we are not prepared to recognise it or to look for it.

2 practical time managment techniques for 2014

8 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

In the past week, at least four of my customers in Jerusalem have turned round to me and complained: “I work very hard yet remain behind the ball game in completing my tasks”.

And how do they know that? Well, the ‘to do’ list piles up ever higher, as – more crucially – the bank reserves run down, because they are not able to complete deliverables on schedule.

Well, this is not a new subject. Moses wondered how he would get 600,000 Israelites out of Egypt on time. Today, there is plenty of on-line advice. Just take these two articles, posted this week: –

Good reads. As a business coach, I am looking to offer my clients a practical methodology. So I have come up with two methods.

First: Do not lie to yourself, because you cannot cheat the clock. There are only 24 hours in a day. In an average day, you cannot work more than about 10 hours. Beyond that, there may be one-off longer days, but they are not repeated constantly and certainly not with quality output.

And here is the clever part, be you a rising star in your organization, manager, or senior exec; all of us have to divide up our day between three or four different categories of work: admin, r&d, marketing and production. (And do not forget lunch breaks, which our bodily car engines need). Yes, each section applies to us and thus needs dedicated time.

So, if you take on a task, which seriously minimalises your time investment in one or more of the other groups, you are going to end up …just where you do now want to be. Why? Because you tried to invent hours that do not exist.

Second: Turn your phone off, twice a day, for one hour at a time, at least. If somebody calls you, when you are trying to concentrate on a task, that interruption – even if you just look to see who it is – puts you back in thought time and your ability to complete a task. I cannot think of one person in the world who needs to be on call 24/7, 365 days a year…… and that includes you and me.

So pls, work out what you intend to do with your next ten work hours, of which 20% of which does not involve your mobile phone. Have a productive work day!

Just how open is the Israeli economy?

7 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Israel’s economy is performing “realtively well” according to the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Mrs Karnit Flug. She noted how: “We should we remember that we’ve had a lot of experience with geopolitical shocks, and the Israeli economy has shown resilience to these shocks.” Encouraging.

Israel’s critics tend to refer to Israel as an Apartheid state. A politically-correct term, which often has more to do with crude denigration rather than fact, this position has faced three stern tests over the past few days.

Let’s start with Turkey, whose Prime Minister only today was accused by a co-student of reading Mein Kampf when at school. Ankara has spent much of the past decade reinforcing Muslim values, while doing its utmost to humiliate Israel, including President Shimon Peres. And yet:

the Turkish Statistics Institute documented an expansion of the Turkey-Israel trade balance, despite the brutal anti-Israel ideology of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The institute reports a 56 percent export increase, to Israel, during the first five months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, while imports from Israel increased by 22% during the same period. The Israel-Turkey trade balance was $3.4 billion in 2008, rising to $4 billion in 2012.

The next point refers back to Israel’s success as a start-up nation. According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, “Israel’s cluster of high-tech companies, investors and incubators is enjoying a boom which has not been witnessed since the global tech bubble burst more than a decade ago.”

And Israel’s mandarins are channeling even more resources towards the peripheral sectors. I have already reported on the emerging success of high tech in the minority communities. This week, the Israeli’ government’s Office of the Chief Scientist will sponsor a conference on behalf of hundreds of entrepreneurs and technology executives from Israel’s Arab, Bedouin and Circassian Communities. I suppose this ties in neatly with the fact that a few days ago, a non-Jewish participant won the country’s reality TV show of ‘Master Chef’.

Third, few outside Israel are likely to have heard of a wonderful event held last week in the holy Old City of Jerusalem. A music festival, which reached out to all four Quarters and was located around the holy sites of all the major religions, it featured 11 stations where the folk music of Jerusalem could be heard. Jews, Muslim, Armenian, Ethiopian and others played and danced in front of an equally mixed set of audiences, boosted by Israel’s growing tourist population. The shops, bazaars and eateries of the Old City lapped up the extra commerce.

A closed, apartheid economy? The evidence on the ground seems to point in the very opposite direction.

If you are a CEO, then it is time to act as one

28 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

 

A blog this week on the Harvard Business Review referred to how CEOs need to “own a crisis”. Using the recent scandal at GM as a case study, the writer noted how the CEO, Mary Barra, took full responsibility for an issue even though it had evolved before her time.

It could be argued that Satya Nadella’s performance as Microsoft’s new boss is in a similar vein. Many have argued this week that when he launched the Office version for Apple’s IPad, he was effectively admitting that Microsoft’s strategy for the past two years had been…wrong.

Interestingly, as a business mentor or coach, I see this phenomenon of accountability all the time. For example, I visited one company in Jerusalem last week, where a senior manager was refusing to become worked up about the threats of a large national supplier. After all, that supplier had behaved incorrectly and had not honoured their word.

Guess what? One week later and that same supplier has shown that they are not too interested in verbal discussions. They see the picture very differently and have taken the matter to court, which will keep everyone busy for a couple of years. My client has been caught out, lacking a strategy.

Much the same can be said of stock control. I constantly meet owners of retail businesses, who complain of cash flow problems. Almost invariably, an initial review will reveal high stock levels. And again, almost invariably, this is explained through unexpected changes in the market, which caused a downturn in sales.

Amazingly, the CEOs rarely admit that they had made a mistake. However, even new stock does not sell itself. In the past few months, I have seen middle aged men incorrectly purchasing merchandise for a shop that sells clothing to young women. I have seen gift shops piled high with too many irrelevant products such as books. In each case, the owner finds it difficult to say ‘mea culpa’ and make the necessary changes in policy.

The role of a CEO is to lead. When the chips are down, that does not allow you to blame others. The situation should force you to stand up and to be counted by clients, suppliers and colleagues alike.

You are a biz owner and you want to be the leader. Help!

22 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

The internet is full of articles about how to be a great leader. One of my favourites is Walter Isaacson’s critique of Steve Jobs. And many of these essays will point out the important differences between leadership and management. In effect, this is one of the key challenges I face as a business coach. CEOs, whether they be at concept level or at a much later stage of commercial development are asking me: “How can I lead my company out of this mess and into better times?” From my perspective, I am usually find myself looking at a fairly anxious-looking new client, whose face is demanding some words of wisdom and hard impact. And this is when I reveal my surprise. I start with the client themselves, taking them back to basics. First, some elementary body language. In the past month alone, I met three individuals in Israel who had sat opposite me either with their arms folded or in a slouched position or both. As I pointed out to them, that posture is not the one I would expect from somebody who is engaged with what is going on around them. In fact, I do not know of too many senior execs that I respect who hold themselves in such a manner. Message? Change or been seen as somebody less than you are. However, the second point is much more challenging…and this applies to at least two of the three people referred to above. When I went into their office, it was a mess. New papers intermixed with old correspondence. Invoices strewn everywhere. Pens and pencils, usually non-operative, scattered on the main desk. etc. Not an enthralling sight for visitors, be they suppliers or customers, to have to contend with. As I try to encourage my clients to understand: If you want to be seen as a leader, the first thing you must do is to create your own professional environment. Your office should echo what you are demanding, and this will often have a knock on effect on how others judge you. For the record, when my clients find the time (and courage) to have a junk out, they benefit financially. It is amazing how many discover missing contact numbers of potential clients or expenses where the VAT has not been claimed. Leadership skills can be learnt. Some people find this easier than others. However, in order to become a leader, you need to show others around you that you can command respect. That starts with implementing a few old-fashioned basic principles that are often taught back in first grade.

Breaking the hightech mould – 3 amazing stories

21 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Another week zips past and yet more overseas money is invested in Israeli start ups. China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba ploughed US280 million into Tango. Cyvera, a data protection company that has only been around for three years, is about to be acquired for US$200 million by Palo Alto Networks. And so the list goes on.

Also this week, I was invited to a networking event for Angel investors in Jerusalem. There were several start ups in the crowd, and some were given 15 minute presentation spots.

The key point is that what I was observing was the next set of Tangos and Cyveras. Here are the three that caught my eye:

CellBuddy recently won the coveted prize at the Barcelona 2014 Mobile fest for the most innovative company in the start up category. Led by Ofir Paz, a successful serial entrepreneur, Cell Buddy will empower mobile users to choose their own operator, whenever and wherever they are. When the company releases its first product during the summer of 2014, market calling prices are set to tumble.

Not by chance, Ofir pointed out that only 12 months previously, Israel’s Waze had been nominated as the best mobile app at Barcelona. By the summer, it had been purchased by Google for over 0ne billion dollars.

Doogma also benefits from the expertise of an experienced high-tech team. As the website says, the company offers an interactive approach for companies to sell their products on line. And a video demo shows just how practical the service is.

The company launched its first version in late 2013 and has already seen a healthy level of initial sales. Its global market is vast, an application that can used in the clothing market, furniture, jewelry and more.

Inpris offers hundreds of millions of visually impaired people the opportunity to use screen-based hardware just like everyone else. The technology does not rely on further ad-ons. Effectively, the company has found a way to adjust the equipment to the needs of the individual, which has secured for them several pilot projects. Steve Jobs would have been delighted with this approach.

In Israel, everyone know the phrase “Danger! Border ahead. Do not continue”. With some irony, Israel has acquired a healthy reputation in the field of hightech, And one reason for that is how entrepreneurs ignore the limits of the existing rules. Here’s to Barcelona 2015?

One cool detail about the Israeli economy

17 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

The current Israeli government has just entered its second year of work. Twelve months ago, there was no budget, a concern for a runaway expenditure and no chosen replacement for the governor of the central bank.

And today? The question remains if the economy is sliding into a recession? With growth rates seemingly at a little more than 3%, that is a full percentage point below the average triumphs of the past decade. What next?

Karnit Flug, the new BOI governor, offered a way forward in a recent interview. Basically, Israel’s economy is very sound. And her words were given further importance this week, when the latest set of trade figures were announced, revealing a sharp narrowing of the country’s trade deficit.

Let’s be clear, Israel’s economy is still restricted by some old-fashioned structural issues. The ports are dominated by unions. The same can be said about the monopolistic Electricity Company. The prices of many basic commodities remain high due to protective practices of interest groups. Small businesses are handicapped by red tape.

For all that, Israel has not had a recession for over a decade. If you ignore the ‘imposed dip’ in the first half of 2009 – a consequence of the global credit crunch – Israel’s financial planners have ensured that the country has achieved annual growth rates of over 4% for years. Few members of the OECD can boast such an achievement.

As for 2014, the government is looking to shift expenditure away from the defense monolith. The new off-shore energy industry is starting to produce significant revenues for the treasury. Inflation is within target levels. There are some initial signs that the housing bubble may be coming to an end.

If all those factors culminate in ‘only’ 3 – 3.5% growth, that is not a recession, but a relative slowdown in expansion. The Israeli economy appears well-placed to meet the next series of challenges that could be thrown at it.

Why Europe is encouraging financial investment partnerships from Israel

16 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinians

For over two decades, Israel has been parading itself as the start up centre of the Middle East, encouraging overseas players to invest in technology, stocks and infrastructure in the Holy Land. For example, “foreign  investments in companies traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange more than  tripled from 2012 to 2013″ to US$1.5 billion.

Yet it was the visit to Israel last week of the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, which alerted observers to a more balanced flow of financial trade, especially with Europe.

Yes, Cameron won over many friends with his clever speech to Israel’s Parliament, the Kenesset. He also pledged a series of aid measures for the Palestinians. This included yet more UK taxpayers’ money to be channeled through UNRWA, a billion dollar a year project with no external audit.

What was new was the 70 million of investment into the UK pledged by Israeli private enterprise. The investment, which will create hundreds of UK jobs, including:

A £50 million commitment by Israel’s Noy Infrastructure and Energy Investment Fund to the UK’s renewable energy sector.

A £12 million investment by Israeli pharma company Teva in clinical development in the UK.

A £10 million investment by Israel-based AposTherapy in the UK in the next three years, creating hundreds of UK jobs.

As the two countries noted: “These announcements are testament to how the UK and Israel work successfully together. UK exports have grown steadily and we are now the third largest exporter to Israel and there are now over 250 Israeli companies operating in the UK.”

These are not isolated moves by Israeli companies. It was reported last month that “Israel’s institutional investors have sharply increased their holdings in overseas markets, which now represent 22% of assets under management at the end of last year, up from just 15% three years ago….. Among other foreign investments favored by Israeli institutionals were ETNs tracking European stocks and shares in emerging markets.”

So where has this paradigm shift come from? The fact is that while Israel’s economy has its problems, it is considered strong and solid. Through a stable banking system, it rode the global credit meltdown more successfully than most. It is developing an offshore energy industry. Add to that the financial benefits of Israel’s propensity to come up with great start ups, and you end up with a lot of new capital looking for a base overseas.

And that is why Europe is increasingly looking to tap into Israel’s emerging abilities in the money markets. Hundreds of millions stand to benefit from this new source of wealth in the Middle East.

My biz coach told me to ‘dig deep’, but what does that really mean?

15 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business

Having taken off a few days from work, I know that I have to face a couple of clients next week, where my message will be to ‘dig deep’.

The words are meant to motivate and to drive encouragement. There again, it is used so often that the phrase loses some of its impact. After all, we have become used to Hollywood films, where a sports coach comes along, demanding more from a team that should know better. And then the revatilised players miraculously win the cup, the league and every girlfriend in sight. Tres cliché.

A more genuine approach, possibly my favourite, is the true story of Roy Hayim, a family friend. Roy suffered from food poisoning, after eating a meal on a flight. He was minutes away from death, as his muscles ceased to function. He was to spend months communicating by moving his eyelids. In the book “The Will To Live”, Roy and Caroline describe how they had to fight physical and emotional pain of the highest order, effectively while separated from each other. On reflection, one wonders how they found the inspiration to come through, hour in and hour out.

Slightly less dramatic, but equally interesting, are the thoughts of comedienne, Rachel Dracht.  She found fame on Saturday Night Live and looked set for a great career, which then somehow slipped between her fingers. And the relationships she found seemed to involve addicts, no-hopers and no-goes for her parents. Life sucked, yet similarly she found a way to use her values, which she did not realize had been installed in her by family and schooling. Finally, in her early 40s, she was to meet a partner, to mother a beautiful child and to revive her career.

While thinking about my clients, my son posted a cute video on his facebook. It is easy to be won over by this little kid and his use of the phrase ‘rock and roll’. However, even this little creature at such a tender age has got the message. If you want something really badly, you are going to have to act in a manner way above the standard and the average. The comfortable boundaries, which you had previously accepted, will have to be stripped away.

And then, at that amazing point in time, you will suddenly realize what it means to ‘dig deep’.

Don’t want to work with a client? Something else to consider

1 March 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Many a business blog focuses on how to recruit new clients and then to re tainthem. But what happens if that paying client turns out to be the biggest pain in a sensitive part of your anatomy? What do you do next?

We are all aware of such stories, from our own experiences or from friends. You just do not want to make the next appointment with ‘that person’. The reasons can vary – they waffle, they smell, they are rude, they do not listen, they do not respond, they talk about irrelevant issues, they complain, they…… and the list is seemingly endless.

You just want to finish the contract, immediately. But what can you do? If you are self-employed, you may harm your reputation. If you are part of a company, you may lose face with your boss.

Now, these thoughts have been whirling in my head for a while, since I took on one of my new clients in Jerusalem last month. Obviously, I do not want to go into detail here, suffice to say that I am not happy.

And just as I was formulating a ‘plan of attack’, I saw something today in my Synagogue that affirmed my line of thought. As the prayers proceeded, four guest congregants appeared; young males, all bitterly physically or mentally restricted. Unaware of the rules of decorum, they would call out or cry out in the middle, unexpectedly. They disturbed the unofficial status quo of normality.

The regulars did not flinch, at least not openly. I suppose we were all patting ourselves on the back, thinking how noble we had been to ‘put up with this’. And this made me think about the parents of these people. How do they cope, day-in and day-out? They cannot afford to give up. They do not have an option.

Now, the parents’ responsibility is far higher morally than my relationship with any client. Yet, I am sure these parents are far better off as individuals for having found a way to rise to these amazing challenges.

And that is my point. At least for now, I intend to carry with ‘that person’. It is my responsibility as a mentor to dig deep and to find a way to help him onwards towards success. Thus, hopefully, I too will benefit, which will impact on other clients downstream.

3 items you may not have known about the WhatsApp deal

25 February 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

It is barely a week, since Zuckerberg casually announced that he had purchased WhatsApp and its 50 employees for US$19 billion. It makes for a great rags-to-riches story.

What has caught my eye over the past few days are some of the side issues, which reveal why 19 billion is the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

First, it emerges that Google was also after WhatsApp. There are reports that it had offered a ‘mere’ US$10 billion. Some have indicated that Mr G had even tried to outbid FaceBook.

Second, it is now apparent that WhatsApp is going to move into the free voice call market. It intends to challenge the rising dominance of the Israeli company Viber. That is likely to ensure an enormous surge in revenue.

Third, and following on the Israeli theme, I was intrigued to see how the deal could impact on the local market. This week, as over 100 Israeli companies head off to the world’s largest telecom event in Barcelona, the question being asked is can a start up from the Holy Land become the next WhatsApp?

The Mail Ru Group may appear to be Russian-based, but it is supported by an enormous amount of Israeli know-how. Back in 2010, it became the owner of former ICQ, one of the pioneers of chat technology. And it has just announced yet another investment in Israel, this time throwing US$2 million at Magisto, an automated mobile video editing app.

Magisto was only set up in 2009. Its technology “automatically generates videos based on raw footage user shot with the cell phone camera.  According to the company report, they now registering two million new users per month and has 20 million registered users.” That number is growing exponentially. I suspect that Magisto will be worth more than a few billion very rapidly.

“Win-Win” – what does that actually mean for my business?

17 February 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The impact of global branding has forced a lot of seemingly meaningless phrases into the everyday language of business. A classic example is how the word “challenges” has replaced the word “problems”. CEOs put out annual newsletters to employers, whose descriptive outline over pages can be summed up as “we had a lousy year, no pay rises next month and I am trying to hide it”.

One such glib output is “win-win”. Ever looked it up? You can get lost going into websites about a film, a political forum, a Hebrew ads column and more.

What prompted me to think about this was a blog posting by Naomi Elbinger, as she referred to another successful event at the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum (JBNF). Naomi played a 90 minute game of FreshBiz, invented by some Israelis that is promoted as “Changing the way you play business and life”.

Naomi wanted to win, ended up in a stalemate, having realized too late that the only way for her make-believe business to grow was by helping others along the way. Yes, win–win.

Take two other scenarios that I have encountered with differing Jerusalem businesses. One is having their professional website evaluated by an expert. Bottom line, the content is fine, but the message is all about what the site owner can provide. It does not talk about the needs of their own potential customers.

In other words, the feeling is too one-sided. And that may explain why not enough customers are drawn to signing up via the site for new orders.

In a separate discussion, I learned of two teams from the same company department that were given separate tasks in a training programme. Each was briefed independently, without knowing what was the mission of the other group. Actually, they were both given banal challenges – to insist on receiving a cake with their coffee at 11.00am on Fridays, and to have an extra 5 minute lunch break.

However, because an element of secrecy (and thus distrust) had been introduced, both teams upped their demands in order to ‘compromise’ at the level of original target; extra cakes or 10 minutes. The result was chaos, shouting, even lying; all this amongst colleagues. And what should have been the solution?

Just talk to each other and see how you can help, mutually. Lay out your issues openly. 99% of people genuinely wish to support others, without an expectation of remuneration. In turn, just look how you may benefit,….or should I say win?

Time to sanction the Israel economy

14 February 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Palestinian Society

When I looked up the word “sanctions”, I had to agree that it is time to sanction the Israeli economy. Two of the definitions imply bringing penalties in order to force a country to comply with a specific issue.

The Palestinian-based BDS movement campaigns for “calls for action against projects and initiatives which amount to recognition of or cooperation with Israel’s regime of apartheid…” This includes banks divesting from Israel, rock stars like Elvis Costello cancelling performances, and US basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancelling a scheduled public visit to Israel.

An outspoken supporter of BDS is the international charity Oxfam, which refuses to help Israeli children. Hollywood star Scarlett Johannson has campaigned actively on behalf of Oxfam. When she recently promoted at the Superbowl the Israeli firm, SodaStream, which is partially located in the West Bank, Oxfam was furious.

However, as social commentator Melanie Philips pointed out:

Ms Johansson stunned everyone by sacking Oxfam, on the grounds that she was a supporter of “economic co-operation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine”. Which, by implication, Oxfam was not.

As Phillips indicated, Johannson had in effect initiated her own sanctions. However, and more importantly, she had invoked the other definition of sanctions: “authoritative permission or approval”.

What Johansson was saying is that Israel’s economy deserves a huge ‘thumbs up’ from the rest of the world. Here are some examples why:

1) Even the Director of Policy for Oxfam had to admit on the BBC that Palestinians at the SodaStream factory are treated fairly.

2) Israel has taken major steps in recent years to ensure that minorities are a full part of the country’s successful high-tech bandwagon.

3) Israel does not keep its capabilities to itself, but shares them with the stricken and crippled. Classic case studies include the ongoing support in the Philippines and the treatment of Syrian refuges.

4) Without Israeli technology, millions around the world would be worse off – physically, financially, and socially.

BDS’s use of the word ‘sanction’ is at best hypocritical, as rappers have pointed out. When it involves academics insisting that Israeli research should be ignored, it invokes images of Kristallnacht in 1938.

Significantly, BDS is a secret movement. There are few records of senior staff, financial structure, donors, records of board members, etc. While demanding transparency and accountability from Israel, it refuses to play by the same rules.

The only person that we really know is running it is Omar Barghouti, who flouted his own standards and studied at Tel Aviv University. He does not accept Israel’s right to exist.

Last week, a court in Gaza sentenced a man to death; execution. Although condemned by the EU, the BDS team was silent on this gross abuse of human rights. Therefore, as is their cause, they sanctioned it.

3 case studies to show why you might need a business coach

12 February 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

I have had the good fortune to sit down with several new clients just recently. Some of them were skeptical as to why they should meet with a business coach, and that attitude still reflected on their faces in the opening sessions.

Their commercial environments varied considerably, including retail outlets, service providers, manufacturers and more. Only two obvious factors connects them all – they are located in / near Jerusalem and they are ‘stuck’. So, are they making the right decision in meeting with me, a mentor?

Let me introduce you to three case studies that may also reflect on your own businesses.

Client No’ 1 is very presentable and very able. They are able to answer a question before you have asked it. Theoretically, with their knowledge, they should be able to proceed by themselves. They listed their problems, as they saw them. What did I suggest?

Bad news. It is not the job of a coach to suggest anything. More often than not, a coach will not be an expert in the particular field of the client. It is up to the coach to encourage the client to use their talents in order to obtain the solution. In this case, we are talking about a client, who needs to be pushed out of their comfort zone.

Client No’ 2 is again no fool. Similarly, they expect me to roll up with a list of solutions. The difference is that they are not prepared to give the time to itemize the issues which need to be resolved. Their character has not allowed for this solid approach in the past, which has led to the current paralysis. Here, as I mentor, I will be looking to introduce a new style of management and strategy-setting.

Client No’ 3 has a young business that they are looking to take in to new and stronger direction. What structure should they set up? Again, they were calling on my advice.

And this is the point. I see that my task as a business coach or mentor is to encourage people to change and thus to allow their organization to prosper. I show people how this can be done, even if I am not familiar with a specific industry or technology. Usually, the process kicks off by verifying that they have a solid vision.

The question a potential client has to ask themselves is do they need to change their ways and are they prepared to do so?

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