It's a serious art, being a shop-keeper in Israel.  Before you are allowed to open, you have to take a series of intensive courses in ignoring customers, refusing to order out-of-stock items, and many other things, as we know so well.

Once the trader starts in business, it is essential that he buys at least 4 (6 are better) broken old chairs, and positions them outside the shop in facing rows, perpendicular to the shop front, and blocking the door.  This means that he can sit outside with his friends and drink either (Turkish) coffee, or beer, rather than be distracted by annoying members of the paying public.  Please remember that these chairs must be at least 5 years old (10 or more is better), and aesthetically obselete (bright orange or lime green are the optimal colours).

Never price anything.  If the customer has to ask, you can tell that he doesn't know that he is being overcharged.  This is an essential way of increasing profit.  When they do ask, be sure to mumble the price in such a thick accent that nobody could tell the difference, and then charge accordingly.

Customers don't really want to buy anything, so it isn't worth having stock, per se.  Just one brand of dishcloth should be enough.  Why have more than one type of pasta, when the Soviet-era Russians never had a choice?  You didn't hear them complain - no, they were grateful to be able to buy an old and damaged sock, even if it didn't match the other half of the pair...

It's also essential to remember that customers don't *really* want anything that they order, so if it isn't in the shop, you mustn't pander to them by trying to get it in for them.  When I was in Yeshiva, our nearby corner shop wouldn't get the chocolate yoghurts that we wanted for breakfast, even though we assured the shopkeeper that we'd buy his entire stock every morning.  And don't try to order any foreign product - they just cannot be had, even for ready money!

Finally, you must buy bags of industry-standard dust, and scatter them liberally all over the shop.  We all know that customers prefer to handle dirty merchandise, don't we?  If they sneeze, you can say "gezundheit!", and before they know it, you've talked them into spending lots of money, so that you can shut up shop and take the rest of the day off...