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2014
IMT – H | Prarambh
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Prarambh Speaks…………………………………………………. 1 Indian Arts Industry..……………………………………………. 2 Craftsvilla …………………………………………………………….. 3 Ortus 2.0………………………………………………………………. 4 Passing the Baton ………………………….…………………….. 5 Add-ons ……………………………………………………………….. 6 Team Prarambh ……………………………………………………. 7
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 |
Prarambh Speaks The Indian art industry has been growing over the last few years. There have been a lot of entrepreneurial initiatives in the art industry in India. Entrepreneurship is all about initiating and taking risks, no matter in which it is. So, focusing on this segment of business, we present to the February 2014 edition of Empressario as Arts and Entrepreneurship. In this edition we have some articles on the Indian art industry. Also we give you a glimpse of Ortus 2.0 the flagship event of Prarambh, the E-Cell of IMT Hyderabad. Ortus this year was a Women Entrepreneurship Conclave. Leading women Entrepreneurs from varied fields came together to discuss about the Challenges faced by Women Entrepreneurs in India. Also as this is the last edition of Empressario for the 2012-14 batch, we have experiences of the senior batch documented in the form an article. Also this is the last edition before we all leap forward towards the summers, for a learning experience in form of the summer internships, we bid you good bye and also wish you luck for the summers. Till Then
Happy Reading!!
Team Prarambh
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 1
Indian Crafts Industry
Arun Kumar C IIM, Udaipur India is one of those few countries whose heritage is preserved and celebrated all across the world. From such a country one would expect its global market share to be more than that of other developing countries but unfortunately, India’s share is still less than 1 per cent of global art market. The main reason why the industry had not flourished the way everyone expected it to be was the lack of efficient supply chain system in the industry. As most of the producers were in remote areas, it was hard for them to find the right middlemen and customers without whom their work went unnoticed. However the times have changed now and many start-ups, understanding the potential, are venturing into art industry with the help of e-commerce. E-COMMERCE ERA: Before the era of e-commerce, startups used to move products to market area where there used to be significant demand. Now they are utilizing e-commerce websites to its full strength and several such companies have evolved in the last three years alone. Let us discuss their business model in brief: The startups focus on identifying the skilled producers and convince the artists to sell their products to them. This is the hardest step in the business and acts as an entry barrier for new entrants. Since many artists’ works go unrecognized, they do not produce any more and hence in order to find one good producer, startups need to explore several villages in the vicinity areas, which in turn would increase the acquisition cost of the product. Many times acquisition cost is several times higher than the cost of the product. After identifying the right producer, one needs to convince them in order to buy their product. Startups normally provide the necessary infrastructure and required materials to build the products. Startups also ensure cheap and safe transportation of products to their warehouse. After acquiring the products, startups strive hard to market and promote them. They promote the products as special occasional gifts and use social media marketing effectively. As the rivalry between competitors in the industry is very high, startups are very rigid about their website and other additional features. They focus rigorously on providing excellent user interface and additional features like live chat, cash on delivery etc. Once an order is placed by the customer they employ country’s leading package services in order to deliver the product. Learning from e-retailers, they give more emphasis on shortening the delivery time. Some of the notable sites include: enmarkit.com, artemporium.com and loveknits.org.
Shoppo.in, craftsvilla.com, indiamartidea.com,
Now that the arts industry is flourishing, one can reasonably expect India’s contribution to global art market to rise exponentially and this rise will definitely lead to our country’s heritage getting richer and better.
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 2
Craftsvilla
Manu Bajpai IMT, Gaziabad
An interface between an artist and an art-lover…… Handicraft industry of India has always held a classy position on the world platform, courtesy its variety and sophisticated style. But the irony is that many Indians only dream about owning such state-of-art unique handicrafts objects in their homes owing to high cost and suffice only by enjoying them at the showrooms. Another issue is that mainly the target market of this industry is NRIs and foreigners. But reaching them in an organized manner is difficult for the handicrafts workers in villages. It is in this backdrop, that Manoj Gupta and his wife Monica came up with an idea to bridge this lacuna and launched their concept Craftsvilla.com: an e-portal serving as the interface between the handicraft creator/seller and the buyer. This e-commerce venture, started in 2011, has not only helped increase the reach of the various crafts material but also helped eliminate the middle-men issue. After agriculture, handicraft is next industry which provides employment to most of the rural India. But it is mostly fragmented and hence crafts manufactures have to rely on various brands to sell their products. This not only increases the price, making it difficult for common man of India to buy it, but also decreases the percentage of revenue that the owner might earn due to the presence of middle-men. Craftsvilla business model is based on the premise of getting 15% commission on every sales made. It only acts as the interface and logistics is taken care of by the seller himself/herself. It is expecting revenue of 12 to 15 crores in the current fiscal year and a whooping profit after tax of approximately Rs.1.5 crores. As of now, it boasts of having 60000 products online for sale from approximately 700 sellers around the country. The artisans are just required to upload a photograph of their handicraft along with the price value and the interested buyer can place order from any part of the world. The added benefit is that now the percentage of Indians buying it has also gone up because of the reduced price. Global handicraft market is estimated to be around 400 billion dollars, but unfortunately India accounts only 2% of it even after having a rich presence of handicrafts. The main reason is associated with a fragmented market and Craftsvilla has emerged as a boon in disguise to take the Indian art on the world platform in a seamless fashion. It is a timely entry for the currently present 70 lakh artisans involved in handicrafts in India and more important because as per United Nations, the artisans have decreased by 30% over the past 30 years due to lack of consistent income from the profession. Hopefully, this start-up will boost the prospects of the artisans as well as that of Indian handicrafts industry on the world platform.
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 3
Ortus 2.0
To create awareness and to discuss the challenges in women entrepreneurship, Prarambh, the E-Cell of IMT Hyderabad is organizing its flagship event, Ortus 2.0 at 3 pm on 7th Februrary, 2014. Ortus means sunrise or a new beginning which advocates the true purpose of the event. This is the second year IMT Hyderabad is organizing Ortus and this year it is dedicated to Women Entrepreneurs. The theme for the panel discussion during the event is “Challenges for Women Entrepreneurs in India”. Women entrepreneurs from different fields are invited to share their knowledge and experiences with budding entrepreneurs. The chief guest for the event is Mrs. Rama Devi who is the Founder – President of ALEAP. Other panellists attending Ortus 2.0 are M. Bala Tripura Sundari – Director, Involute Automation, Sarvamangala Chavali – Owner ANAGHA, Hema S.Subramanyam – Social Entrepreneur, Color D Earth, Arshia Akheel – CEO Cocoon Management Consultants, Sangeeta Verma – Managing Director, Horizon Business Servces Pvt Ltd.
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 4
Passing the Baton
Prateek Mukherji 2012-14 Batch IMT, Hyderabad “With great powers, comes great responsibility” - Voltaire Entrepreneurship is more related to taking risks and not with being powerful. But if we look at it from a different perspective, this risk taking ability of an entrepreneur makes one powerful, putting him/her in the driving seat of one’s venture. Reflecting on the quote above, it feels nostalgic as it reminds us the responsibility bestowed on us and expectations set. Looking back, we realize that the past one year reflects the scorecard for our efforts and achievements. It has been a memorable year; a year which would have ignited few more sparks of entrepreneurship and innovation amongst the students and have helped us build our skills. We are at an emotional crossroad. Just yesterday we were bidding farewell to the batch and the team of 2013, and now it’s time for us to move on, to pass the baton to the next batch. With the targets set and the awareness of the responsibility entrusted, we are sure that the new team would take the cell to its newer heights and achieve its mission. We thank our faculty mentor Dr. Archana Pillai, for constant motivating us, guiding us and the student community all through; for believing in us and helping us in the endeavor. Ending with a similar quote, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” — Winston Churchill
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 5
Add-Ons
Readers’ Corner Got any comments? Would you like to contribute to the newsletter? Get back to us at: ecellprarambh@gmail.com. Your comments/views and articles would be published from the next issue. A few things to be kept in mind: • • •
Articles/comments should not be demeaning / damaging in nature. Articles should be to the point and of around 500 words. The decision of selecting the articles to be featured and the number of such articles rests with the faculty mentor and editor of the newsletter.
So put on your thinking caps and show us your intellect side.
Empressario | Jan 2014 | Page 7
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 6
Team Prarambh
Sarang Pious
IMT – H | Prarambh
Empressario | Feb 2014 | Page 7
IMTVol. – HXIII | Prarambh Iss. 1 | Empressario | Feb 2014 | Prarambh | IMT Hyderabad