Climb Every Mountain

In the past I have tried to avoid complaining about the state of Israel. I have complained (a lot) about certain populations and incidents, but not the overall situation. The reason for this  is, for the most part, I love living here. I do miss my family, friends, Amazon and sushi (not necessarily in that order). It is really a blessing that we get to travel back often to take care of all of that.

Although I have not shared this before, I am starting a business here in Israel with my daughter. We have bought the rights for Lice Clinics of America, a franchise chain of lice clinics.

I thought this was a great idea. Statistically, 15% of kids aged 8-18 have lice at any given time.

A lot of lice.

They need to die.

Anyway, we acquired the rights a year ago and we are still trying to get all the government approvals we need for our devices and products. We lost some time because LCA in the USA said they would take care of it. We offered to help, but they refused. After 6 months they admitted that they had never seen anything like the bureaucracy in Israel.

FYI, they have a licensee in Greece.

So, we took it over. I figured I have been in business for over 30 years, I am from Brooklyn. How tough can it be here?

I can handle it.

oy

If I had been half as  savvy as I thought was, I would have checked out this list before starting any business here.  https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/rankings

It shows that Israel is Number 49 out of 190 in ease of doing business. Not too bad until you realize that that is lower than Kosovo, Rwanda, Kazakhstan and others.

As I said, Oy

We are sort of open, and my daughter is doing great, but it sure is disheartening at times. What I do know is that I am learning a lot (my father would call it paying Rebbe Gelt, which is essentially money paid to learn something the hard way), and I am not giving up.

I keep saying that to myself.

Over and over.

When we decided to do this we figured it would be a slam dunk (read statistic above about lice).

That is when I learned my second lesson. Israeli's will put up with the inanest things but can be totally inflexible when it comes to little things.

Some examples.

Israeli's are known as being very aggressive drivers. Trying to change lanes while driving  takes the reflexes and dexterity of an Olympic athlete. Yet when the yellow light starts blinking on the traffic light, BAM, everyone stops.

Also, no one jaywalks. I mean come on. Everyone in NY jaywalks. It is a g-d given right. If I do it here, everyone stares at me like I just broke the worst law in the world.

Ever stand on a line at anything in Israel. Again, another Olympic sport.

I am becoming athletic for the first time in my life.

I went to buy a car the other day. The car I like is $60k USD. In the USA it is $35k. Why is it so expensive?

Yes, I understand that there are taxes to pay the salaries of all  the people making us go through endless tests for our lice products but also because there are only 3 major car importers who control the whole market. The cars are sold direct.

No dealerships. They are all company owned stores.

You would think that a car would be a good place to bargain. I still think it is but here they won't do it. You can't go anywhere else to get it cheaper and they know it.

End of negotiation.

Everyone here just puts up with it.

Yet when it comes to a lice treatment, now that is a great place to bargain.

We basically have two treatments. One is your typical time-consuming comb out. It is a two-season treatment and we charge $75. Then we have our signature Air AlleÉ  (®) treatment which uses hot air to dehydrate the lice and eggs. It is the only treatment that is 99% effective in killing the eggs.

The best part is you only have to come in once.

Once and done.

For this we charge $100.

In most of the USA they get $175 for this treatment. In Manhattan, $250.

In Greece, $100.

‘Too much. we can't pay that.’

but you just bought a new car for double its normal cost.

Yes but $100 is to much. Your competition charges $75.

So do we, for the same treatment they offer.

But I don’t want to come back a second time.

So get the better treatment.

But I don’t want to pay extra for it.

OY

The truth is that the parents here all know how to remove lice since their kids get it all the time,

As they did.

As their parents did. And so on.

It is not easy to break ingrained family traditions, especially among the Jewish people. (think two-day Yom Tov, kitniyot etc.)

As I mentioned we just started and the going is a bit slow but my daughter is great, her reviews are great, and it is getting a bit better weekly.

I keep saying that to myself.

Over and Over.

Sorry for spending so much time on this but our marketing budget is very low.

BTW don't forget to tell your friends  https://shomreiharosh.co.il/