Today, Lebanon is facing unprecedented times and desperate times require desperate measures, or blog posts.
That is why, I decided to share with you an initiative we launched two years ago, Watani. I rarely share Socialprise‘s work on my blog, although many don’t approve of it, including my team (we can debate this if you want), but this time, and specifically during these dark days Lebanon is going through, I decided to share with you more info about Watani, our initiative, proudly launched by Socialprise team to support Lebanese brands.
The Problem
With the exchange rate of LBP to the USD skyrocketing, the pandemic effect, the financial crisis and its causes, the revolution, Lebanese citizens attitude, it is time to act differently. Let’s think about it, if you keep doing the exact same activities, with the exact same stakeholders, how can you expect different results? I mean seriously! How?!
The Marketing Agency Behind Watani Initiative, Socialprise
For those who are reading my blog post for the first time, let me introduce you to Socialprise. Socialprise is a marketing and communication agency that I launched in 2005, we have been working remotely ever since. Lucky us right? Well kinda. I am bon in the North of Lebanon, more specifically Zgharta/Ehden. I moved to Beirut when I started my university studies, it was very difficult to commute back and forth during the weekends and holidays to see my parents, but there was no other choice. I sure wasn’t the only one. Decentralizing Lebanon’s economy and education establishments was never an option due to governmental policies.
When I started working, I used to spend more than 4 hours a day driving in traffic and I was residing in Beirut. It was horrible, I was depressed, I didn’t have enough time for myself. Well at that time, things were different, we never cared much about mental health, although we claimed we did. So I decided to be the change I wanted to see in the world and founded Socialprise. That is when my journey in Entrepreneurship started, and when everything started.
The Motivation
Socialprise’s aim was and still is to offer premium quality service to international clients. With the rise of demand for digital marketing services, Socialprise’s business model of working remotely was ideal. I was very keen on recruiting a team that lived in rural areas. Having an economic background, I always believed that we are missing on a lot of opportunities in rural areas across Lebanon. I am one of them. I always dreamt of working and living in Ehden but that was impossible because none of my Lebanese clients accepted to have a full remote service, including meetings. Many did not understand how we can perform while working from home. Well believe it or not, we were more productive compared to teams who were reporting regularly to offices.
I don’t mind traveling don’t get me wrong, on the contrary, it is my favorite part, but I do mind spending hours in traffic to attend a 30 min meeting that could have been done online. Thank God, today everyone understands what we have been explaining for years, well maybe not everyone and for sure not all businesses can go 100% digital. But many businesses understood the advantages of having a team that works remotely, not wasting time commuting to work and meetings or traveling for work. That was an additional reason to stand by my beliefs, it encouraged me even further to establish and run Socialprise in Lebanon, recruit Lebanese talent living in rural areas and contribute to the Lebanese economy. And again thank God for making that choice!
The Reasons
With time, Socialprise started growing and we noticed that many Lebanese brands were not able to sustain their businesses while only targeting the Lebanese market, some didn’t even have a chance to reach the international market because of the Lebanese start-up ecosystem that, unlike what so many believe, does not support start-ups. So we started Socialprise’s accelerator program and supported many start-ups with marketing activities at the international level throughout the years. Sadly many of them could not grow or also decided to stop working because of the underdeveloped start-up ecosystem in Lebanon.
The Launch of Watani Initiative
Putting all those reasons into perspective, Socialprise team decided two years ago, to help all Lebanese brands at a larger scale by offering them a digital platform where they can display their products to the world. However, our focus was also on small brands, small home businesses that do not have a chance to survive without being available on the international market. So we put in place an e-commerce marketplace and reached out to local brands we know and gave them shops. Watani was born. The best part of it, is that Watani does not charge any commissions on sale and all rewards are directly paid to the vendors in fresh dollars. Watani does not sell in Lebanon, however, the platform is available for visitors in Lebanon and all orders placed in Lebanon are handled directly by the vendor.
Ever since the revolution started in October 2019, we noticed an increase in the demand for local products on the Lebanese market and the local audience for Watani started to pick up as well. So we introduced pricing in LBP for the local market and in USD for the international market. Today, local businesses listed on Watani are receiving fresh dollars for international orders, however, we noticed the increase in international payments for local delivery. Many Lebanese around the world are ordering products on Watani, paying in fresh dollars and asking for the products to be delivered inside Lebanon to their families. This activity is helping many businesses, especially the small businesses survive during this financial crisis.
Watani is not just another e-commerce marketplace, it is a business development platform where Lebanese brands can connect with international distributors and expand their business.
We will be soon launching a knowledge center, where Lebanese successful business people will be sharing their expertise and guidance to local businesses in order to be able to export their products to the world. In brief, Watani is a business development solution.
Many volunteers play a big role in the success of Watani so I would like to give them a shoutout here, a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this success, we are contributing to a better economy.
So how we make money you will ask. It’s important to clarify that we are not an NGO, not yet, maybe. However, we raise our funds from small commissions we take on the first order with international distributors, ads placed on the website, donations and projects we engage in.
We charge a percentage fee on the first order of international distributors, ads, and donations, we also offer trainings.
You can also support us by donating here.
The Present
Today, when we receive a lot of calls from vendors reaching out to us with despair, saying we are ready to do anything but please help us generate fresh dollars. When a lady cannot make ends meet and is working from home to generate some fresh dollars to survive, we are more determined than ever to develop Watani initiative.
We are so proud to read the amazing messages we receive when new vendors learn about our initiative. Together we will be stronger, and together we can build the economy again. Together we will do it.
Shop Lebanese, Shop Watani.
