My first idea for a business was the SuperYad. It didn’t work.
I thought the name was clever. Super means super in Hebrew, and super also means big, and it even means supermarket. You following? Nice. I know. Yad means hand. So it means big hand too. It can also mean hand for the supermarket. Brilliant concept. Brilliant name. I know.
I’ll stop with the justifying. It was an upside down triangle. You can slip your bags on it.
I had to close down the business because you cannot making a living off of 500 pieces. If I was selling 500 homes, I would have been set. I was selling a 35 cent item, for $2. I had a great markup going. Yet, I still didn't pull much profit. The calling it 'Super' 'Big' 'Huge' 'Large' racket I had going, was sweet. Worked right into the hands of the Huge neighborhood supermarkets of Israel, called Huge and Giant, because they are not makolets.
I had a whole ad campaign. I would go to the shuk and tell them: ‘This is a better product. This was made in Americaת and Americans are smarter.’ You have to speak to the people. The people I was selling to were Israelis. They know Americans are smarter. At least they assumed they are smart, as they speak a fluent English. Back fifteen years ago, that was a great sale. Now there are too many Americans in Israel, and the Israelis figured us out.
Another key to sales that I mastered was drawing the attention of the masses. You have to know how to draw them to your product. I used physical contact. When you bump into people or lightly touch people passing by, they generally turn around. It is a sales technique that works on countless levels, and can get you arrested. I took my chances.
I put on a sales show too. I would take the upside down triangle, known as the SuperYad, and pick people up, or rip their pants. I would give the whole getting on the bus shtick and having to put all your bags down, with a guy screaming ‘Move faster- why wait us?’ Explain how apples go flying out of the bags, all the way to the other side of the bus- smacking people in the face, if you don’t have my product. The key to sales being that they have to understand why your product is different, and what issue is being solved. I made it clear that my product stopped the problem of flying apples on buses. Then I would talk about how painful it is to put down all your plastic bags in the shuk with each store you go to and then to have to pick them up. Point is I sold three.
After two years of sales, I still don't know what 'why wait us' means.
It was my business, which turned gifts. Just like every business my family ever started, such as the bookstore, the ice cream truck business, and the mirrors with the names on it- which we mass-produced with the name Ben (Jeremy and Hana were not happy with that gift; Ben was even more pissed off when he got three mirrors for his Bat Mitzvah). That is all it is, gifts that I found on sale. That is what my family does, we find gifts on sale. We don’t purchase real gifts for Bar Mitzvah boys. We find a watch that was $500. We pay $25 for it. The young man’s parents think we spent a bundle on their kid, until they go to the Christmas Tree Shop.
In my family's tradition, I have been giving gifts. I even give wedding gifts now, because they don't know that I found the SuperYads on sale. People love the SuperYad, or give a shocked look when they get it. Either way, with all their disappointment, they are trying to make it look like they appreciate it. As long as the look is one of shock, it is close enough to appreciation. And that is enough comfort for me to keep on giving it. Many people also have two hands; allowing me to give them another SuperYad.
I got my master's degree. I worked for that. When I made Aliyah, I decided to aim higher. I went straight to selling SuperYads. No formal education in SuperYad sales, I still shot for the stars.
That is what matters. I came to Israel and I put my all into it. 500 units. Started a business. Maybe there is no business anymore, but it was the greatest investment I ever made. My friends know how much money I have saved on not purchasing candle holders or challah covers. If you live in Jerusalem, I know you loved it when I gave you that first, second, and even third SuperYad, for couples shopping. You smiled and even looked to your spouse for approval; letting you know that you can smile at David and he will go away. You even mistakenly invited me back, after you received a full four SuperYads. But you smiled with a shocked look. Surprised that one person can have so many of the same gifts. Asking yourself how it is possible for one person to have such a big heart. The investment of friendship. To you, two dollars. A solid gift. For me, 35 cents.
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