From shared learning to tailored advice in Lebanon

Six very different Lebanese businesses approached PUM Lebanon with a similar initial request for marketing expertise. Instead of immediately starting individual projects, PUM Lebanon tried a new approach . The question “What if the best way to support an entrepreneur is not to start with the solution, but with the problem?” was at the heart of this initiative. Three online webinars gave the entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from an expert, and from each other, followed by one customised online coaching session for each business.

The participating SMEs represented a diverse range of businesses: Meker produces kitchens and interior furnishings; Judi Lebanon processes and packages food products; Bustan El Zeitoun produces extra virgin olive oil; DOODA Solutions develops organic fertilisers through vermicomposting; Gharset Kheir works with native seeds; and Savvy Element develops sustainable homecare and selfcare products.

Despite their difference, the businesses all approached PUM with an interest in strengthening their marketing. Rather than immediately starting six separate projects straight away, PUM Lebanon decided to bring the entrepreneurs together online first.

From marketing questions to business challenges

PUM expert Mark Thomas Kierans worked remotely with the six businesses through three online webinars. The approach was developed and coordinated together with PUM Country Representatives Farah El Zein and Marwan Nasr and Country Manager Jos Beckers.

The webinars created a common learning environment where entrepreneurs could explore key marketing concepts, reflect on their businesses, exchange experiences and, most importantly, identify the challenges they actually needed to address. One of the strongest lessons was simple: Start with the problem before looking for the solution.

As Jos Beckers reflected during the evaluation: “Thinking in problems may be much better than thinking in solutions that you don’t need.”

The participating companies benefited not only from expert knowledge, but also from learning together and sharing experiences before focusing on their individual businesses.

From the group to the individual business

After the three webinars, the learning moved from collective to individual. Each SME received a dedicated online coaching session with Mark, enabling the advice and recommendations to be tailored to its specific context, needs and challenges.

The Lebanese country team calls it a simple but effective “3+1” approach: three webinars to develop a clearer understanding of the challenges, followed by one customised coaching session for each business.

Learning together in  Lebanon  

The experience demonstrated how group learning and personalised coaching can complement each other effectively. By exchanging ideas and experiences, the entrepreneurs gained a clearer understanding of their own challenges before moving into the individual sessions. This made the collaboration with the expert more targeted and valuable, with the one-to-one coaching translating those insights into action and practical next steps.

For Farah, Marwan, Jos and Mark, this successful experience provides a model that PUM can build on in Lebanon. By bringing businesses together remotely around shared questions, PUM can combine the experience of its experts with the knowledge and perspectives already present among Lebanese entrepreneurs themselves.

And it starts with a deceptively simple question: What is the problem we really need to solve?

Or, as the team behind the initiative summarised it: “Learn together. Define the real problem. Then customise the support.”