Details
1 | Our vision integrates successful business activity, social advocacy, and a bi-national team of Israelis and Palestinians plus over 200 members in 22 countries. |
2 | Founded by a group of serial entrepreneurs and social activists led by Echoing Green Fellow Fred Schlomka |
3 | 12 years of steady income growth including 25+% in 2017 and 2018. |
4 | Most tour companies offer the same standard tours that neglect to mention the issues surrounding the 'conflict'. Green Olive illustrates these issues by bringing clients to visit the Separation Barrier and Occupied Territories, placing the experiences in a context through ongoing analysis and moderated discussion with the guides. |
5 | 10 Working Partners. 5 Palestinian. 5 Israeli. Trailblazing new relationships. Our Partners buy into the company and work as managers, tour guides and drivers to ensure the complete satisfaction of our guests. |
6 | Our stakeholders include our members, shareholders, customers (5,200 in 2018), and the thousands of people in communities we visit on our tours and programs. |
7 | Over 200 members in 22 countries. Our members own shares and are an important part of our team. Members are invited to contribute new ideas, sit on committees, and host events in their homes to help promote our tours and programs. |
8 | We offer tours and volunteer programs that not only visit historical and religious sites, but provide critical analysis of the situation and visit Palestinian refugee camps, Israeli settlements and Bedouin communities. |
Offering Type | Price per share | Minimum Investment | Valuation |
Common Stock | $6 | $100 | $1,495,400* |
* When you invest you are betting that the company's value will reach almost $1.5mil.
Founded in 2007, Green Olive Tours is a Collective and Social Enterprise of Israelis and Palestinians dedicated to building a future together. We are the leading alternative tour company to Israel and Palestine providing tours that visit historic sites and promote democratic values and human rights. Seed funding came from our Partners, family, and sweat equity. Join the Green Olive Community. Invest in our future, and yours.
Green Olive Highlights
• $5 million in total revenue. • Bootstrapped and profitable since inception.
• 25+% financial growth in 2017 and 2018
• 50,000+ clients over 12 years • 200+ members/investors in 22 countries
• 10 Working Partners in Palestine and Israel - 5 Palestinian & 5 Israeli
For twelve years our team has developed a solid foundation for our tours. Our working partner team includes accomplished entrepreneurs, managers, and experts in the history, religions, and geopolitics of Israel and Palestine. The partners work closely together to ensure the satisfaction of all our guests. Most importantly we are a combination of Palestinians and Israelis working together, providing needed services for visitors to the country, and advocating for peace, justice, and equality for everyone in the land.
Currently, 29 day-tours and 7 multi-day tours are offered every week. Also offered on a rolling basis are University and institutional programs for college credit, volunteer programs, camps and a focus on cooperation and collaboration with local organizations.
We pride ourselves on great customer service and high satisfaction ratios. Our tours offer people to people interaction between visitors & locals. Our fair trade practices benefit local communities, and our advocacy for human rights, justice, and democratic values is second to none.
Social tourism goes by many names - Alternative Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, Political Tourism, Eco-Tourism, Fair Trade Tourism, Educational Tourism etc. Over the past decade, Green Olive Tours has helped define these categories and spurred the development of this important sector of tourism in Israel and Palestine. From humble beginnings as a start-up business, we have grown into an industry leader.
By scaling up our operations with your help, and opening our first guesthouse, the Collective will be able to bring our unique style of touring to a greater number of people.
During the next five years, we plan to scale up our operations and create a regional network of Green Olive Guest Houses to complement our tours, further integrating our activities with local populations. Beginning in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, guesthouses also planned for Tiberius, Amman, and Sinai.
Our mix of dormitory rooms and private rooms, with large shared and public spaces will create an environment where visitors and locals can get to know each other. The guesthouses will host events to attract the local population, such as music performances, lectures, art openings and the like.
The Green Olive flagship guest house in Bethlehem will offer many value-added services to our guests, including volunteer opportunities, classes in Arabic, Palestinian cuisine, traditional embroidery, and Palestinian history. These classes and seminars will draw on the considerable expertise available in the Bethlehem area.
It will take up to two years to establish our first guesthouse.
• January - June 2020 Locate a property.
• June - December 2020 design and planning permissions.
• January - June 2021 Remodelling building & recruiting staff.
• June - December 2021 Open in time for Christmas.
The second guesthouse will be in Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee, which is also experiencing a shortage of hotel rooms. and is another important hub for foreign visitors.
Visitors often arrive in the Holy Land expecting to sun themselves on the beaches of Tel Aviv, visit a few historical sites, and maybe eat some awesome hummus. Then out of curiosity, they take a Green Olive Tour, and for many, their life is transformed. Transform your life. Invest! Visit!
We all love a freebee. Invest now and receive a special thank you. Lunch with a Green Olive Partner is a great introduction to the country.
* Non-transferable, **May be gifted to another, ***Any in-house package tour
Green Olive Tours provides guests with:
• A cultural, historical and political overview of Palestine & Israel.
• Visits to cultural, historical and religious sites.
• An experience of the political facts on the ground.
• Personal visits with Palestinians and Israelis.
Analysis and commentary based on:
• Human Rights
• Cultural and political self determination
• The right to live in safety
• The right to political freedom
• The right to a home
The complex mosaic of religions, nationalities, and political viewpoints in the Holy Land are explored in depth, including interaction with Palestinians and Israelis, visits to areas that embody the history and current status of the conflict, and the gulf between Israel's Jewish and Palestinian-Arab citizens. Possibilities for reconciliation are explored.
Tours also visit sites of historical, cultural and religious interest, placing them within the context of the ongoing analysis provided by the guides. Our booklet, 'A Brief Framing of the Israel/Palestine Conflict' has become a definitive text, and is distributed free to guests.
Tours inside Israel peel back layers of history from the Negev Desert to the hills of the Galilee. Every part of the country was transformed as it developed and absorbed millions of Jewish immigrants, eventually becoming today's high tec powerhouse. Green Olive Tours examines the social and political costs of this development through visits to the destroyed Palestinian villages, exploring the ongoing plight of the Bedouin, and examining the often uneasy relationships between Israel's Jewish and non-Jewish citizens.
Palestine • West Bank • Judea & Samaria
Tours in the Occupied Territories visit the Separation Barrier, Palestinian towns, refugee camps and Israeli settlements. The differing political and legal rights of these neighboring communities are discussed and illustrated by the facts on the ground. Some tours arrange visits with residents of the occupied territories, both Israeli and Palestinian, helping visitors understand the complexities of the relationships.
Gaza
Green Olive has not been able to take clients into the Gaza Strip for many years since it became a closed enclave. However tours are conducted along the Gaza border when security permits, visiting nearby checkpoints and communities.
Most tour companies offer 'classic' tours of one type or another, focusing on the historical, religious, pilgrimage, Nationalist or Zionist aspects of Israel and Palestine. We don't.
Green Olive Tours has financial statements ending December 31 2018. Our cash in hand is $132,122, as of July 2019. Over the three months prior, revenues averaged $62,167/month, cost of goods sold has averaged $29,000/month, and operational expenses have averaged $22,000/month.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this offering. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis, including information regarding the strategy and plans for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the "Risk Factors" section for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.
Overview
We are the a leading provider of touring services in the Israel and Palestine, with extension tours in Jordan and the Sinai. We leverage our partnership with Palestinians and Israelis to enable an in-depth experience for tourists in both societies, providing expert political analysis and unique cultural experiences. The company's ability to mirror two societies which are in conflict has given us the ability to provide tours and experiences for visitors that o other company can match.
Our business activities are divided into 4 primary categories. The 2018 year end percentage of our overall business was as follows:
1. Day-tours - 60%
2. Package Tours - 27%
3. Volunteer programs - 8%
4. Product sales - 5%
1. Day-tours
These tours provide our bread and butter income. The company started 12 years ago with one day-tour of Jerusalem, and quickly grew to our present offering of 30 tours departing from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Amman.
2. Package Tours
Our package tours take several forms. We have designed several 'in-house' packages, from 3-10 days, that anyone can sign up for, and begin every Monday, providing our guests with an intimate overview of the Israel/Palestine. Also, pre-organised groups often contact us and we design a tour for them based on their specific needs. Some of our specialised tours for Universities provide college credit, and we conduct tours for Congressional delegations from the USA, and parliamentary delegations from Europe.
3. Volunteer Programs
These programs range from organised summer camps for groups at refugee camps or bedouin villages, to individually curated programs for specialists such as dentists or teachers.
4. Product Sales
This is a relatively minor project at madeinpeace.com that we hope to grow into a significant cash flow generator with wide social impact. In addition to craft items made by local underserved populations, we sell small self-contained solar lamp on the website, and for every lamp we sell, we donate a lamp to a Bedouin family that lives off the grid in the Negev or Judean/Jerusalem deserts.
Revenue Collection
Revenue from these activities is largely collected online, with about 90% paid at the point of sale on our website via credit cards or PayPal. For payments over $5,000 we generally request a wire transfer to our US Bank account, resulting in less cost for the company.
When clients make a payment, the revenue goes into our US company which makes payments via wire transfer directly to Palestinian hotels, tour guides, and other vendors.
Green Olive also has a wholly owned subsidiary in Israel which serves as a vehicle for payments to local staff and Israeli vendors. Generally one or two wire transfers are made to our Israeli company each month.
Overhead is kept to a minimum through operating the company almost entirely through online booking systems, databases, storage facilities and other cloud-based services.
Milestones
Green Olive Collective Inc. was incorporated in the State of Delaware in August 2012.
We originally started our business (pre-incorporation) in 2007 with one day-tour and little cash. As we have grown and evolved since that time, we had the following key milestones in the development of our business:
2007 - Bootstrapping the startup as Tours In English
2008 - Rebranding as Green Olive Tours
2009 - We grow into a full service tour company
2010 - We become a Collective
2013 - Tours to Jordan and Sinai are added
2014 - Testing the waters of crowdfunding resulted in raising a little cash, and developing a membership base of almost 200 people.
2016 - Tours to Ethiopia are added
2018 - Our best year
2019 - Launch Equity Crowdfunding Campaign
Our Hopes for the Future
December 2019 - With the additional capital from the crowdfunding campaign, the company prepares for restructuring and implementing the plans for growth.
December 2020 - Plans and permits obtained and ready to start renovation the new green Olive Guesthouse in Bethlehem.
December 2021 - Green Olive Guesthouse opens. You are invited to the party.
Trends of Growth
Our growth has been consistent over the past two years at 55% and 25% respectively, and we expect this to continue.
Historical Results of Operations
- Revenues & Gross Margin. For the period ended December 31, 2018, the Company had revenues of $658,615.47 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, when the Company had revenues of $508,183.07. Our gross margin was 11.58% in fiscal year 2018, compared to 18.75% in 2017.
- Assets. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had total assets of $64,792.40, including $64,792.40 in cash. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had $52,642.22 in total assets, including $52,642.22 in cash.
- Net Income. The Company has had net income of $16,319.18 and net income of $27,500.66 for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.
- Liabilities. The Company's liabilities totaled $0 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and $0 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.
Liquidity & Capital Resources
To-date, the company has been financed with $26,855 in equity.
After the conclusion of this Offering, should we hit our minimum funding target, our projected runway is 12 months before we need to raise further capital.
We plan to use the proceeds as set forth in this Form C under "Use of Funds". We don’t have any other sources of capital in the immediate future.
We will likely require additional financing in excess of the proceeds from the Offering in order to perform operations over the lifetime of the Company. We plan to raise capital in 12 months. Except as otherwise described in this Form C, we do not have additional sources of capital other than the proceeds from the offering. Because of the complexities and uncertainties in establishing a new business strategy, it is not possible to adequately project whether the proceeds of this offering will be sufficient to enable us to implement our strategy. This complexity and uncertainty will be increased if less than the maximum amount of securities offered in this offering is sold. The Company intends to raise additional capital in the future from investors. Although capital may be available for early-stage companies, there is no guarantee that the Company will receive any investments from investors.
Runway & Short/Mid Term Expenses
Green Olive Collective Inc. cash in hand is $132,122, as of July 2019. Over the last three months, revenues have averaged $62,167/month, cost of goods sold has averaged $29,000/month, and operational expenses have averaged $22,000/month, for an average net margin of $11,167 per month
No material changes have occurred since the financial documents have been prepared. The company's performance continues to be within within the projections for 2019.
Revenues and expenses over the next 3-6 months are expected to be 25% more than the same period last year. The company does not need any injection of capital to continue doing business as usual. The proceeds from the crowdfunding campaign will be entirely used to finance growth.
Low profits are due to plowing income back into outreach and marketing in order to sustain the growth. In addition, as a social enterprise and a collective, we try and balance profits with the needs of all our stakeholders. This includes using company funds to provide for the charitable needs some of the most marginalised communities in Palestine/Israel, including Bedouin and refugees. These strategies have resulted in strong sales, but low profits.
- We expect to continue to grow our business. Although there is no guarantee that our historical results or cash flows (as described below and in our financial statements) will continue to develop in the same way as they have in the past few years, we expect generally to grow in the coming years. Nonetheless, it may be years before Investors see a return on their investment, if they do at all.
The following trends or uncertainties could affect our financial condition, including the liquidity, cash flow and capital resources described below:
- Government restrictions on our activity
- civil conflict or war
- A decline in tourism due to civil conflict or war
1 | Much of our operations are in the Middle East, a region of conflict. In the past we have experienced downturns in revenue due to war or civil strife. Although these downturns have always rebounded with tourists returning to the region, there is always the possibility of a protracted war. |
2 | The proposed guest house may fail resulting in a dramatic drop in the value of the offered securities |
3 | CEO Fred Schlomka is nearing retirement age. The lack of clear succession may jeopardise the company. This is being addressed through increasing executive staff and developing a board of directors. |
4 | There is currently no secondary market for the securities being offered here. Investors may need to hold on to their shares for a long time before any possibility of profit. |
5 | The company is very committed to effecting social and political change through its business activities. This may result in little or no profitability in the foreseeable future. |
6 | Borders in the Middle East are often subject to arbitrary closures. This can affect the company's ability to operate freely |
7 | Our future success depends on the efforts of a small management team. The loss of services of the members of the management team may have an adverse effect on the company. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in attracting and retaining other personnel we require to successfully grow our business. |
Director | Occupation | Joined |
---|---|---|
Fred Schlomka | Tourist Services @ Green Olive Collective Inc | 2012 |
Officer | Title | Joined |
---|---|---|
Jehanne Elabed | Operations | 2013 |
Alex Jones | Marketing & Administration | 2018 |
Fred Schlomka | President CEO CFO | 2012 |
Holder | Securities Held | Voting Power |
---|---|---|
Fred Schlomka | 100,000 Common Shares - Class 'A' | 99.0% |
Date | Amount | Security |
---|---|---|
$0 | Priced Round | |
01/2015 | $26,855 | Priced Round |
Name | Maya Schlomka |
Amount Invested | $4,313 |
Transaction type | Other |
Issued | 01/15/2015 |
Relationship | CEO's daughter |
Name | Mikhael Schlomka |
Amount Invested | $4,313 |
Transaction type | Other |
Issued | 01/15/2015 |
Relationship | CEO's son |
Name | Sunita Staneslow |
Amount Invested | $17,900 |
Transaction type | Other |
Issued | 01/15/2015 |
Relationship | CEO's wife |
Name | Olga Staneslow |
Amount Invested | $330 |
Transaction type | Other |
Issued | 01/15/2015 |
Relationship | CEO's mother-in-law |
$50,004 | 60% Marketing7.5% Wefunder fees32.5% Rebuild website |
$650,000 | 55% Develop and open guesthouse5% Marketing guesthouse5% General marketing9.5% Working capital9% Company employment7.5% Wefunder fees4% New Tours & Programs R&D3% Rebuild website2% GOTV - Get Out The Vote Campaign
• Guesthouse expenses include the following- Legal and other professional expenses in locating premises, negotiating a lease, and operating a company within the Palestinian Authority- Renovating and furnishing the property.- Training staff
• Marketing the guesthouse will begin 6 months before the launch, in order to maximise occupancy from the day the doors open.• Marketing tours and programs are ongoing from current cash flow, and this additional boost will help expand activities and support the launch of the guest house.
• Working Capital includes all cash expenses for the first three months after opening the Guest House, allowing time to develop traction.
• Employment within the company will grow to reflect the expanded operations. Initially two new full-time staff positions will be added.
• Wefunder fees are a reasonable cost of this raise.
• New Tours and Programs include the Sinai, expanding the tours in Jordan, and opening tours in Cyprus.
• Although the present websites are generating a healthy return, but they are dated technology and need an upgrade. A properly designed new website will increase the SEO and result in expanded sales of tours and programs.
• In support of our mission we feel it is critical that a strong supporter of democratic values and human rights is elected to the White House in 2020
|
Class of Security | Securities (or Amount) Authorized |
Securities (or Amount) Outstanding |
Voting Rights |
---|---|---|---|
Common Shares Class 'A' | 150,000 | 100,900 | Yes |
Common Shares Series 'B' | 350,000 | 40,000 | No |
Preferred Shares Series 'A' | 250,000 | 0 | No |
The Securities and Exchange Commission hosts the official Form C on their EDGAR web site.
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