Fusion Craft
Location
Fusion Craft,a social venture for uplifting the Indian Handicraft and help the artisans break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of utility and inefficient marketing. Whether it's the government or the emporiums they always target the foreigners promoting export.With design intervention and proper marketing we will use new sectors.
About You
Section 1: About You
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
Fusion Craft Pvt. Ltd.
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+91-9793973610
Organization Address
Nankari, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur
Organization Country
India
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
Your idea
Name Your Project
Fusion Craft
Describe your Social Enterprise
Fusion Craft,a social venture for uplifting the Indian Handicraft and help the artisans break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of utility and inefficient marketing. Whether it's the government or the emporiums they always target the foreigners promoting export.With design intervention and proper marketing we will use new sectors.
Country your work focuses on
India, UP
Innovation
What makes your innovation unique?
Our idea's uniqueness lies in the products we want to make, the execution plan and the human resource. As the name of the venture says "Fusion Craft",our products will be a fusion of modern designs and traditional art. The Indian product hadicraft suffers from lack of proper promotion and utility. The products are all traditional. Whether the NGO's, Government emporiums or the tradefairs or any such acitivity, they all are aimed at promoting the export of the handicraft. This methodology has long being into presence and has hardly helped the Indian handicraft, neither in terms of eport revenue generation nor in terms of helping the artisans. On the contrary it has made the artisans more prone and eposed to exploitation by the exporters. We did surveys and talked to artisans of the country and their situation as pathetic. There are few arts which has only counted artisans left. In absence of proper education, knowledge and capital they are caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and eploitation. Through our venture we will promote the handicraft in totally different, huge and uneplored sector of gift industry. We have a design team which designs products as per the clients requirement and the trends in the market. The artisans make the products using their traditional art and methods. Finally these products are sold by our company. The artisans get payed and besides this our venture will look after the education, social life and health of the children of artisans. We will give them technical trainings so that they can understand the trends in the market. A fixed percentage of our revenue will go for the education of the children.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Our venture will have a long term social impact, not only in terms of the upliftment of the Indian product hadicraft but also in terms of the social life of the artisans. We will be giving education to the children of the artisans which will overall help the cause of the upliftment of the handicraft. They will be better able to deal with the market and instead of looking upto the eporters for work they will be able to work and negotiate for themselves. With proper source of income the artisans will be able to work for themself also and will get an opportunity to break from the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. Since we have been in the business for just 2 months now, we don't have data or stories to support our point of view and social impact.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
Our social innovation is addressing the basic problem of upliftment of Indian product hadicraft. Throughout the world, specially China, Japan, Europena countries the handicraft has always been one of the major sources of foreign revenue, employment and overall depiction of countries culture. In case of India, though this sector employs a large section of the society, but it has failed to prove as a source of revenue generation. On the contrary it has led to exploitation of this field and its people. With lack of proper coordination, proper strategy, marketing, promotion and updation the art and the real people associated with the art have suffered a lot. Through our social venture we will address these questions.
Besides this the basic problems of the artisans, that of proper education of their children and their social life will be taken care by us. We will look after the education of the children of the artisans and will help them in their social life. The working conditions of the artisans are wvery unhealthy and hazardous. This leads to many diseases and health problems. The artisans in absence of any capital and proper workplace work from their homes. This not olny puts the artisans health at risk but also of their family members.
In absence of education and knowledge the artisans get only paid as per the labour charges and are not able to market their products. Thus they are totally dependent on the artisans for the money. At no point of time the artisan gets recognition for their art and efforts, neither in terms of money nor in terms of appreciation. All our products will be branded for the companies name and will carry a tag describing the artisans and their efforts. Besides we will pay them on regular basis and they will work in our workshops in a very well ecofriendly and healthy enviornment.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. Include a description of the business model. What might prevent that success?
Implementing of this project required winning the trust of the artisans. Without trust it is very difficult to convince the artisans that we are trying to help them. They have undergone ages of exploitation and this has made them very sceptical towards other people. To win their trust we spent quite some time with the artisans and talked to them about their problems and their sufferings. It was sad to know that the art which has won accolades throughout the world, the creator of the same art has to struggle to make his ends meet. The exporters earn millions selling the same handworked products for which they pay the artisans only labour charges.
We have started employing artisans in the venture. We also take care of the education of their children and their social life. As the venture grows we will have a proper workshop where these artisans will work. These workshop contrary to their present places and condition of work, will be safe and non hazardous. The artisans won't be working on contract basis but will be full time employees of the venture and will not be working on contract basis. They will be paid and the company will take care of their social life and their children's education.
Their will be designers who will design new products for the artisans and will help them to work and accept new technologies to not only improve their work but also their efficiency.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
In the first year of the venture we will be hiring only 5-10 artisans. These artisans will be full time employees of the company. The designers will help them to make new products and will design products for them. With every passing year we will hire more and more artisans.
Second year onwards we will have a workshop of our own in which the artisans will be working in safe and friendly conditions and environment. The artisans will be trained to use better technologies and methods. This will on one side help the artisans increase their productivity and honing their skills on the other hand this will be greatly helpful for the productivity of the company. As more and more artisans will join and more and better quality products will be manufactured and supplied in the market. This will help in increasing the sale of the handicraft and will help the artisans community and the place in whole. With the development and enough artisans under metal artefacts, Fusion Craft will explore other clusters. These will add variety to the products and will allow Fusion Craft to help more and more artisans. This will require setting up workshops at other places also.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
Sustainability
What stage is your Social Enterprise in?
Operating for less than a year
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your Social Enterprise
Partnership with some such social initiatives running in other parts of the country can be very helpful for us and will be critical for our success. Such associations will give us a more deep and wide access to other artisans and other art forms. In the beginning we are only concentrating on the metal and wooden handicraft because these are the two clusters we have studied well and have access to the artisans in these sectors. Association with cooperatives and NGO's working in this direction in other parts of the country will give us more depth and faster penetration in the handicraft. After the association we can get the clients for the aritsans and can do amrketing for their products.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
Me and my friend have invested the initial amount of 2 lacs form our own pockets. For the further assitance we are approaching the banks and the Venture capitalists for the investments.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
We were doing a projeat related to the Indian handicraft and its revenue and contribution. Whatever data was available it was only for the export and we could not find much information about the sale in the domestic market. Further study made us realise that actully the Indian handicraft has failed to contribute to the net foreign revenue generation. On the other hands countries like China, Japan and few European countries have a significant contribustion from the handicraft. We did surveys in Moradabad, famous for Brass aretfacts, Saharanpur, Jaipur, famous for wooden and marble aretfatcs respectively, Jodhpur, famous for the whitemetal and Khurja famous for the ceramic artefacts. We found a significnat difference between the picture projected by the government and the ground reality. We did market surveys to find out the taste of the peopel and the outlook of the people towrds the Indian handicraft. We considered all the results and cam eupon few conclusions and inferences. Based on that we designed some solutions ato increase the sale of the handicraft in the domestic market and to end the plight of the artisans. Those core ideas and the soltuions form the basic building block of the "Fusion Craft".
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Me and my friend are the people behind this social innovation idea. We both shared the passion of entrepreneurship, having something of our own. Mohit also had the thought of helping the society and the people. For quite some time he wanted to be an IAS officer but could not get away with the though of having his own venture. While working on a project the idea struck us. We sis surveys, talked to people, spent time with the artisans and the community in order to better judge and conclude. After a long survey and discussion we reached on the conclusion and thought of giving report to the government. But we has already seen the actions of government not reaching the people. SO we decided on starting our own venture and helping the community in our own way. The solutions which we found and proposed form the building blocks of the venture.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Web Search (e.g., Google or Yahoo)
If through another source, please provide the information
 | Ankit_IITK said: Hi Rachna, Yes we do have a sustainable flow of orders throughout the year. It's not just the corporates but also the ... about this Competition Entry. - 605 days ago read more > |
| Rachna.13 said: Do you have a sustainable flow of orders for products all year round, or only during occasions (where companies would look for corporate ... about this Competition Entry. - 616 days ago read more > |
| Ankit_IITK said: Hi Rachna, as of now Fusion Craft is working on bulk order models. The initial few years will be spent working on this model only. This ... about this Competition Entry. - 618 days ago read more > |
| Ankit_IITK updated this Competition Entry. - 618 days ago |
| Rachna.13 said: Thanks Ankit, For now could you tell me where I could find these products if I wanted to buy? about this Competition Entry. - 631 days ago read more > |
| Ankit_IITK said: You have very well pointed out the problem faced by the common man in buying these products. This in a big way affects the sale of the ... about this Competition Entry. - 632 days ago read more > |
| Rachna.13 said: Normally these handicrafts are sold at exorbitant prices in boutiques, and upscale stores. Many who cannot afford the price miss out on ... about this Competition Entry. - 633 days ago read more > |
| Ankit_IITK updated this Competition Entry. - 691 days ago |
| Ankit_IITK submitted this idea. - 692 days ago |
