Jackie's First Post!

This past Thursday (December 27th) Omri and I went to a seminar entitled, "Spotlight on Business." It was a seminar about starting a business in Jerusalem. When I received the flyer in my e-mail, I was immediately drawn to the fact that the founder of Aroma Espresso Bar, my favorite cafe chain in Israel, was going to be one of the speakers. Unfortunately, he was not there, but three other impressive entrepreneurs from Jerusalem were there to share their insights on starting their businesses. 

The first one to speak was the founder and owner of the Abraham Hostel. He shared with the audience what it was like to start this business- the ups and downs. For the first five years he, his wife, and his three children lived off of his wife's salary since he did not bring anything home. He gave his advice about starting small; if you need investors, go to family or friends, but do not go to the banks since they take too much money (I guess he had a bad experience with borrowing money from the bank). 

The next speaker was Eli Basher from the Basher cheese store in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem. (Our Mom’s personal favorite).  In the first year he lost 1,500,000 shekels because he had to throw away so many cheeses. But he did not give up!  Well not his dream.  Just his wife’s house...  Which he sold in order to buy more cheeses. Slowly but surely business picked up. When asked how business picked up he replied by saying, “when you step into my shop you will taste 4-5 different cheeses even when you do not want to.” He attributes his success to providing samples. Today, Basher has three other branches and has opened a wine and cheese restaurant. And just in case you are wondering (because I was), he has bought his wife an even better house! 

The final speaker was Rami Levy, from the Rami Levy grocery store chain.  He started his business after he finished the army in 1976.  His mom asked him to get vegetables for her at the store, and he realized that the prices were significantly higher than those at the shuk (the market), which was rather far away and inconvenient to get to.  So, he started his business in his father's warehouse; buying vegetables from the shuk and selling them for the same price in order to build up his clientele. Once he had a steady clientele he went to the vegetable suppliers that the sellers at the shuk bought from, and was able to buy in bulk to begin earning profit. Today Rami Levy prides himself on his cheap prices and customer service. He has branches in over 20 cities and employs over 4,000 individuals. 

As one of the founders of Soom Foods it was comforting to hear the success stories of these three entrepreneurs. All three stressed that it is not an easy road and that there will be MANY bumps ahead. But all three also stressed that if you believe in your product and what it stands for then there is no other option but success.

Soom Foods is always looking to learn from other entrepreneurs.  What did I take away?

1. Start Small.  -check. 
2. Lots of Samples     -will do.
3. Fair prices and exemplary customer service     -we promise. 

We believe.