The current period of prolonged emergency, where personal security is undermined, constitutes a daily battle of survival for small business owners in the region. This is not merely another branding strategy, but represents a struggle for human visibility and business continuity – and at times, for identity itself.
Since October 7 to the present day, the State of Israel has been experiencing continuous significant and challenging security operations. When personal life is suspended, it becomes difficult to discuss commercial life.
Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of local business owners continue to sustain their enterprises – often with their remaining strength – even when no clear horizon exists, even when revenues plummet, and even when customers are not genuinely available to spend money. However, the question that remains unasked is: what do those who also lost their homes in this war do – those who lost everything they possessed in an instant?
For the first time in the state’s history, certain business owners confront what is indeed an unprecedented situation. Some have had their homes destroyed along with their businesses, and they find themselves powerless against a harsh and unforgiving reality, having lost everything – their homes, possessions, and memories, along with the hope that something might stabilize. The state promises monetary compensation, but will it compensate for the loss of customers? For reputation? For the employment security that has been lost?
Unlike large corporations that can afford to generate activity through campaigns and substantial budgetary support, small business owners rely primarily on personal relationships and local customer communities, often neighborhood-based. During wartime, this thread connecting the business owner to the customer becomes particularly fragile.
So what can be done?
In such circumstances, we are required to operate through innovative approaches to rebuild ourselves and our businesses. In the absence of commercial activity, without routine operations, it is crucial to engage with customers and the community within which we operate, providing them with a clear understanding of the situation, and in certain cases, mobilizing their support for the business.
Additionally, this is the time to maintain visibility on social media platforms and establish collaborations with other business owners, even those not necessarily in the same field; to think beyond conventional boundaries and create partnerships that will attract customers.
Furthermore, we must learn to operate our businesses under current conditions, whether transitioning to digital formats, fundamentally transforming our business operational methods by 180 degrees, or even temporarily “lending” customers to close colleagues who are also business owners until we recover. In any case, one must not surrender when it concerns one’s life’s work.
Beyond all of this, there exists a broader question that we all must ask ourselves as a society: Does Israeli society still possess the capacity to support independent businesses and local enterprises when they are fighting not only for their livelihood, but for their very identity?
The precarious existence of small businesses during this period serves as testimony to a different form of strength – not that of polished advertising, but of human connection, determination, and hope that refuses to capitulate.
The writer is CEO of the Psifas Center, providing business and societal guidance.