Lessons in Building a Service for New Olim

It happened often enough that I started to recognize the pattern before the call ended. Someone who had recently made aliyah would find my studio, scroll through our portfolio and tell me, that this was exactly what they wanted. Maybe a coach, a therapist, or a consultant, they had spent years building a practice somewhere else and were now starting over in Israel. Their current website wasn’t saying what they did. It didn’t feel like them. They knew it was costing them clients.

Then we’d talk about custom-site pricing and a timeline measured in months, and the energy in the conversation would shift. They’d thank me, say they needed to think about it, and politely disappear.

For a while, I assumed these just weren’t my clients. Eventually I realized the problem wasn’t them, and it was never that custom design is wrong. A fully custom build still has its place. For businesses that need that level of depth and have the time and budget to invest in it, it is the right choice, and we still build them. But the businesses Olim are building in Israel have different needs, budget, pace, and expectations. So I built a service offer specifically for Olim. It’s called The Awaken Experience, a one-week website service designed from the ground up.

Building it taught me more about what it takes to serve Olim than anything I’d done before. That’s what this piece is really about.

Understanding the Olim founder

Many olim arrive with deep expertise and rebuild as solo service providers: coaches, consultants, therapists, lawyers, doctors. They are doing two hard things at once. They’re explaining their value to a market that doesn’t know them yet, and often they’re selling to clients abroad while living here.

They’re also short on bandwidth. Aliyah is a full-time job before you’ve even opened for business, and Israeli business culture moves fast. People are busy, and a long, drawn-out process doesn’t work for them. They won’t commit. When a project drags on for months, whether it’s branding, marketing or business setup, it loses its energy and slides down the list. And momentum is the one thing they can’t afford to lose.

So when Olim go looking for support, they aren’t just looking for someone to do the work. They need someone who understands both worlds: the market they came from and the one they’re building in now. They need help putting their expertise into words that land with clients, here and abroad. And they need it done quickly, without having to manage another long project.

Most services aren’t built that way. There’s a template, an AI tool or a budget freelancer for almost everything, and in theory you can piece it together yourself. But your time is an investment too, and what you get tends to look and sound like everyone else. When you’re trying to stand out in a new market, looking generic works against you.

A service built around an American client’s budget, timeline and expectations doesn’t translate as-is. It has to be rebuilt.

What building for Olim taught me

Here’s what I learned, and how each lesson shaped what we built.

Lesson one: Don’t just discount. Redesign the scope.

The instinct is to lower the price. But a cheaper version of a months-long process is still a months-long process. What changed things was moving from open-ended custom work to a fixed, clearly defined package. The question became: how do we keep the quality of a fully custom service, but in a price and format that works for olim? The answer was to change the structure, not to cut corners. That way, Olim get work that’s close to custom, at a price they can afford.

Lesson two: Respect the Israeli pace. Compress the timeline.

Long processes lose busy clients. So we compressed the timeline: a full team focuses on one client at a time, over a short, set period. Because everything happens in one focused stretch, the momentum never fades, and clients often see results while they’re still energized by the process.

Lesson three: Don’t make busy clients do the heavy lifting.

Asking a new immigrant to do the heavy lifting in a market they’re still learning is a lot. Writing their own copy, pulling together photos, and other materials: each one becomes another task on an already full plate. The service should take that weight off them, not add to it. Even small changes help, like shorter intake forms or letting clients answer in notes instead of polished sentences. Then the provider handles the rest.

Lesson four: Make the process predictable.

Getting used to a new business culture can be disorienting, and clear steps help. When clients know what happens at each stage, how many rounds of revisions they get and when each part will be done, they can stop worrying about the process and focus on the decisions that matter. A predictable process builds trust, especially for someone who is still learning how business works here.

For example, our process is the same every time: prep, a strategy call, design week, then the reveal and launch. Revisions are fixed, and deadlines are set, so clients always know what comes next.

Lesson five: Help Olim put their professional identity into words.

Moving countries often shakes how people describe what they do. Credentials don’t always translate, job titles mean different things, and the way you introduced yourself back home may not land here. Any service for olim has to help with this, even if it isn’t on the official list of deliverables. The real result is often not the deliverable itself. It’s the moment a client can finally explain their work in a way that feels like them.

Lesson six: Build independence, not dependence.

Olim build for the long term, and they shouldn’t have to call a service provider every time something changes. A good service lets clients manage and update things on their own. At Awaken, we teach clients to update their sites themselves. That independence builds confidence in the Oleh business owner, helping them succeed. That independence builds confidence, and confidence helps Olim business owners succeed.

Lesson seven: Remember that Olim often sell across borders.

Many olim serve clients in Israel and abroad at the same time. A service built for them has to work in both markets. That means making sure their offer is clear to clients on both sides and easy to find wherever those clients are looking, whether that’s Google, AI search or a referral from back home.

Olim businesses that went through it

Naomi Zelwer, a psychotherapist and simplicity expert who made aliyah from Australia, helps her clients declutter and organize their homes. Her online presence didn’t reflect the calm, uncluttered approach she brings to her work, and she wasn’t sure where to start with a new site. Now she has a clean, professional website that matches her philosophy and clearly shows potential clients how she can help. 

“At first, I was daunted by the prospect of creating a new business website but soon discovered that Awaken Studio had mapped out every step of the way for me. The entire process was streamlined and smooth, and all my queries were promptly and clearly answered. The expertise of the team and their attention to detail gave me full confidence from Day One, and I’m thrilled with the finished product.”

Dasee Berkowitz, a coach and facilitator who made aliyah from Boston, helps leaders and teams communicate honestly, build trust and work together more effectively. Her offering spans team facilitation, leadership retreats and workshops, but her online presence didn’t tell that story in a focused, compelling way. Now her website presents her work clearly to clients in Israel, the US and beyond, and reflects the warmth and energy she brings to every room. 

“They [Awaken Studio] made a process which felt so daunting into an experience that clarified my services and captured the personality of my business. They are sharp, creative, strategic and so much fun to work with!”

Shahni Ben-Haim, a PR specialist who made aliyah from California, helps B2B tech companies and startups build their presence in global media. After six years of putting her clients first, her own website had fallen behind the business she’d built and needed constant updating to keep up. Her new website gives a clear picture of her expertise and services, built to grow alongside her practice, and it drew an enthusiastic response from industry peers as soon as it launched. 

“I knew I was working with a team I trusted, and I truly wanted their professional guidance and insight. Following the site’s launch, I finally felt that, after 6 years in business, I had a central place that captured who I am and what I do. I was pleasantly surprised by the reception from professional peers. It feels dynamic and will remain true no matter how my business grows, which makes it easy to share with potential clients so they can get to know me better.”

A challenge to Olim and Sabra founders

The lessons here aren’t about websites. Olim are an underserved market for accountants, marketers, coaches, lawyers, and almost every other kind of service provider. Too many of the services available to them were designed for somewhere else and imported without much adjustment.

So here’s my challenge to anyone serving this community, whether you made aliyah yourself or were born here: design around the way people in Israel actually live and work. Fast, direct, low-friction, and respectful of busy schedules.

A few questions to test your own offer: Can it be delivered faster without losing quality? Can you take work off your client’s plate instead of adding to it? Is the process clear from day one? Does it work for clients who sell both here and abroad?

Olim bring enormous talent to this country. The more of us who build with them in mind, the faster that talent turns into thriving businesses.