Business in Lebanon Infographic

Business in Lebanon by Patrick Chemali
Inititally Posted on March 6th 2013 on Facebook

If you were to ask me now, I probably would not be able to pinpoint the exact event that prompted me back on March 6th, 2013 to create this infographic.

I promise you, it is not due to the fact that I suffer from a poor memory, but rather to the onslaught of a multitude of incidents that any of which could qualify as the trigger.

Doing business in Lebanon works...in mysterious ways. So I discovered after my transition from the corporate to the retail world.
In spite of a fruitful year in 2012 running a very young startup (Sharp Lemon), I was continuously frustrated by practices that often plague the daily business scene in Lebanon.
Some might argue that I am not adapted for the big challenges that such a dynamic over-crowded marketplace poses. I agree! I only know how to sell straight!

This does not make the contents in my infographic less true. Of course I did over-simplify it, made it more though provoking (some say provocative) but I have never been one to gently cuddle the ego of the masses.

All businesses suffer from what I highlighted above. Some survive in-spite of such practices, others by using these very practices and following it up with "Hayda Lebnen" (i.e. This is Lebanon) as part of a one-size-fits-all justification.

It's worth mentioning that the infographic recently stirred some people up when I reposted it on twitter and my good friend Tarek dedicated a post to it on his hugely popular Beirut/NTSC blog.

Some accused me of useless bashing, of degrading our image as Lebanese in the eyes of the world.
I am not sure if they did it out of their enthusiasm, youth and love of the country or if, perhaps, it struck a chord making it too close for comfort. To each his own...meanwhile this remains my point of view!