The Participants of Entrepreneurs program 2010
Oren and Bat-El Cohen
A married couple from Sderot who is in the process of opening "Butterflies – House of Design", which will specialize in designing and producing happenings and events, and in graphic design.
Status: small business; they have begun to market "Butterflies" and to design events. They are the only employees.
Asaf Livnat
The internet housing adds board dirot7.com is a local adds board which provides information and advertisement space for private clients, real estate agents and contractors who are interested in advertising their properties, either for sale or for rent. The company deals with building websites for real estate agents and with developing software for management of real estate offices, called Manager, which fourth edition has now been released. The website is a great source of information; it is reliable and updated and provides details on the local market that cannot be found on the national real estate websites.
Status: medium business (Osek Mueshe); employs a permanent employee and several temporary ones, according to the need.
Achikam Orbach
Project details: "The Generous Tree" is a center for education and implementation of ecological life. The center will strive to minimize the human "footprint" and focus on implementing ecological solutions and making them accessible through courses, workshops and counseling, and will also offer ecological gardening and domestic grey water systems.
Status: medium business, counsels private clients, and provides services for Ramat Negev local council.
Yedidiel Alchiani
An internet entrepreneur; operates "YediSoft" for construction of dynamic websites and custom made management systems for small businesses.
Also operates a satirical website called "Spitting into the Well":
Status: medium business; employs a permanent employee and several temporary ones.
Roy Mizrachi and Ofer Asor
Lamda is an educational project for schools which purpose is to increase pupils' level of knowledge in science subjects, by having them taught by students who have a background and understanding in these subjects, as well as a teaching ability. The project is an alternative for deprived families who cannot afford private tutoring for their children. The lessons will be given in small groups, in return for a minor fee, all year round and in correlation with the syllabus of the school. The people behind the project are fourth year electricity engineering students at Ben-Gurion University, and they have vast experience in instruction and thorough knowledge in mathematics and physics.
A pilot of the project will begin already in the coming year around the Negev.
Status: small business.
Mirit Hessman-Perets
27 years old, M.A student in business management. The project is a center for holistic counseling – economic and emotional – for people who are retiring from the work market. This includes courses and workshops on topics that are related to the retiring process and to the life afterwards. The purpose is to give people some peace of mind in terms of dealing with the economic aspects, as well as an opportunity for growth and evolvement after the retirement.
Status: still not a business.
Omer Saban
24 years old, holds a black belt Dan 1 in karate, and is an instructor and a personal trainer at "Great Shape" gym in Be'er Sheva. He has opened a business for training, personal fitness, nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Omer is a B.A student in management at Ben-Gurion University.
Status: Opened a small business ("Osek Patur") so that he can give lessons, counseling and therapy treatments.
Ariel Sapornov
The entrepreneur and operator of MWW which provides a wide range of services and products which purpose is one – to be the business owner's power engine for growth via the internet. It may be building an image website, effectively managing a client club, enlarging the business network or exposing the business to new clients. MWW enables each business owner to have a high-standard presence on the web at a reasonable cost, all under one roof.
Ohad Gavrieli
Third year student of sociology-anthropology and geography at Ben-Gurion University; he is originally from Kiriat Tivon, but currently resides in Be'er Sheva.
The project is a showroom for second-hand items of especially high quality. The store will sell clothes, furniture, electronic appliances and bicycles, and will also provide transportation and repair services, and will give a warranty for all its products. The store will give reliable, kind and efficient service, and emphasize the ecological aspect of second-hand purchase and reduce the reluctance of buying such products.
Status: Ohad has begun dealing in second-hand clothes, and is currently selling them at festivals and fairs. He is trying to locate a site for the showroom.
Alex Gavrieli
The project deals with providing a unique technological solution for managing contact data and keeping it updated.
The solution enables saving and management of updated contact data (calling cards) by the one holding the information, and its retrieval by the information consumers.
The solution promises:
· That the one holding the information is always up-to-date because his calling card information never expires.
· That the information consumer is always up-to-date because he receives updated information at all times.
· Efficiency, tidiness and time saving for the information consumer because it saves Sisyphean work of typing the contact data.
Guy Gutman and Raz Kalmanovitc
Guy Gutman is a third year student of political science and management, and Raz Kalmanovitc is a third year student of management and sociology-anthropology.
The project is building unique guest rooms in the Negev, which, on top of their high standard, will give the guest a fantasy world experience. The experience will include fantasy and fairy-tale motifs that are to be incorporated into the building and into the various attractions for the guests.
Status: Possible sites for the project are being examined, the business plan is being formed and the extent of the investment required is being calculated.
Hadas Bar
An M.A student of anthropology at Ben-Gurion University who wishes to promote original Israeli art from the south around the country and abroad.
Southern Material – an alternative art experience. Building a center for an alternative art experience, which includes work spaces for rent for artists and a gallery that operates as a show room and as a location for special events.
The center is meant to be a place for mutual support and inspiration for artists, while creating a dialogue between them. In addition, it is a mean to expose the Israeli audience to local art, and Hadas hopes to strengthen the connection to Israeli culture.
Status: Hadas is studying the needs of the artists, meeting with the relevant bodies and forming a business model for the center.
Kfir Dagan
A smart system for control and atomization of devices, electric appliances and edge operators; for receiving and controlling electric and energetic information from anywhere, and for improving the energy consumption in private houses, buildings and industrial buildings according to an activity pattern and the client's needs. The system is mainly based on already existing electricity infrastructures.
Status: A pilot of the system is to be tested in the upcoming months.