Eighteen
years ago, Paula Eiblum started
Infocus Research Services in the basement of her home in Rockville, Maryland
(near Washington D.C.). Today, Infocus is a major distributor of books to
Israel and counts among its clients some of the biggest companies in Israel.
In Paula's words, "we found a niche and expanded it."
Seek and You Shall Find
Paula Eilblum will be in Israel from May 29-June 12. For more
information, contact Naomi Alper at Trendlines (04 958-3323, ext. 111).
Infocus
Research Services is an information research
and retrieval company founded in 1988. Its mission: To
help Israeli companies acquire literature needed to compete in the global market.
Infocus provides—
books for R&D, business development, management, marketing,
all disciplines
industry and military standards (ISO, MIL, ASTM, etc)
U.S. government documents (CFR, NASA, NTIS, GPO)
business and technical directories
article reprints from business and scientific journals
proceedings of conferences
marketing and CI reports
software and videos
out-of–print books, maps, and hard-to-find materials
Status: Eighteen years of business growth and expansion of services
The Positives and Negatives
The company has specifically focused on continuously growing its business
relationships with Israeli government institutions, corporations, and academic
libraries. It works with the Israel Ministry
of Defense, Rafael, Israel Aircraft, Teva, Amdocs, El-OP, Motorola, Elta,
the Technion, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, among others.
Yet, Eiblum is up against difficult competition — namely
Amazon and the Web itself. She is asked repeatedly, "Isn't everything
on the Web?"
What's the Lesson?
Eiblum and her staff (many of whom have been with Infocus
for a number of years) have learned that they "cannot
be all things to all people." She notes that "there will always
be clients who will opt for the cheapest source." Therefore, she positions
Infocus
"as a boutique, not a supermarket. Our uncompromisingly high
standards and prompt, personalized, and dependable customized service
have brought Infocus success."
Lessons Learned Along the Way
Over the years, Infocus has expanded its services
in order to be a one-stop shop for all types of information
needs. Eiblum says, "We've deepened the relationship with our clients so
that they can confidently request any type of document or book from us, and
know that they will receive it faster than any other available service. Most
importantly we've learned to respect our clients' need for discretion and
confidentiality."
As well, Infocus has accommodated to changes in technology (the
Web) and formats (PDFs for example) and provides delivery of standards
and article reprints, offers rush overnight courier service from New York,
and a search service for out-of-print books.
"We will continue to think of ourselves
as partners of our clients," explains Eilblum, "in our common mission and
vision for Israel's global business success."
The company has specifically focused on continuously growing its business
relationships with Israeli government institutions, corporations, and academic
libraries. It works with the Israel Ministry
of Defense, Rafael, Israel Aircraft, Teva, Amdocs, El-OP, Motorola, Elta,
the Technion, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, among others.