Turning Japanese

It is estimated that Lebanese consume about seven million pieces of sushi each year. Of those seven million, about 500,000 are ordered from Sushi Bento, the sushi delivery service established in July 2001. Revenues for the first year totaled $300,000. By 2003, that figure increased by over 33% to reach $400,000, and it is projected to hit the $500,000 mark by the end of 2004. Not bad for a company that started out with an initial investment of just $12,000. “We realized that there was a gap in the market, for high quality, low budget sushi. So we thought, let’s eliminate everything that makes costs higher,” said Imad Abi Chaker, the general manager of Sushi Bento, who along with two other equal partners founded the business. The first part of the elimination process was to scrap the idea of a restaurant and the costs that come with it. The core