OfIndianOrigin journey of helping artisans

Women led Start-up gets recognition
An interview with Natasha Acharya – Founder, Of Indian Origin

What is your enterprise about?
Of Indian Origin (registered name – Cottage Collective LLP) is a social enterprise that works with a collective of artisan-based cottage industries, providing a platform that promotes hand-crafted products made in India to a global audience. It is an effort to reclaim our extraordinary heritage by engaging with an audience that understands the history of these crafts and the need to patronize not just the crafts but the artisan communities that struggle to keep them alive.
We currently work with over 100 artisans and as many craft traditions. Our online store – https://ofindianorigin.com/ showcases a mindfully curated or co-created product line that articulates cultural identity. Our vision is to create a model which will provide quality craft that is relevant, build artisan communities that are organised and professional, create an audience that will engage in long term and volume transactions, thereby transforming the sector in a way that is scalable and sustainable.

What is the problem the start-up is solving?
As younger generations of artisans seek employment in other unskilled jobs, we are slowly losing craft traditions that are age old and part of a heritage that needs preserving. We are losing our cultural identity in a bid to be a homogenous part of the global citizenry. There are so many examples of craft traditions which have dwindled to a single family practicing it today and a few years from now, when the next generation has no incentives to carry it forward, it will be lost to the world.
The crafts are dying for a multitude of reasons.
1. The traditional craft forms or designs are no longer relevant or appealing to the modern consumer, hence the need for design innovation.
2. In this sector there is little awareness of product standardization or quality requisites, a pre-requisite to volume orders or export orders, hence the need for process training.
3. In this sector there is little respect for delivery timelines, which is a primary prerequisite of long-term business transactions, hence the need for structure and leadership.
4. The major craft buying audience in India is still the masses, which means the craft production is driven by cost which is invariably detrimental to quality - hence the need to educate an audience segment that has the means to impact the craft and the community on a scale that will take it to the next level.

What is the uniqueness of your solution?
An approach that clearly understands and addresses the challenges endemic to working in this industry where product quality, production consistency, delivery timelines, professional business practices need serious process intervention to make it into an organised supply chain business.
Empowering artisan communities, by employing intuitive technology that is easy to use and enables even the remotest rural artisan to showcase his or her products online and thereby reach a global audience. This holds a big potential for self-employment and wealth creation at the grass roots level and truly empowers the community both socially and economically.

How is a social enterprise different from a business enterprise?
Social enterprises are businesses which not only have a commercially sustainable business model but also aim to create social impact. This model has the potential for social impact at multiple levels. We believe that businesses should not be just about creating wealth for one organisation but collaborating with communities that impact and improve their lives substantially.
We have always been committed to ethical sourcing and paying the artisans a fair. We work with several organisations, who engage people with disabilities, or work with underprivileged women, or work with tribal groups, made in india to produce craft that secures a source of livelihood for them. We believe in promoting organic, eco-friendly products, and encourage sustainable fashion.
You have been awarded a certificate of Recognition from DIPP?
Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of start-up businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.
DIPP certification is a certificate of recognition issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Thousands of start-up ventures / projects are evaluated and only the select few who fulfil the vision of Startup India, reflect business feasibility and show future potential are awarded the certificate of recognition.
We are very proud to have been awarded this recognition. It lends credibility to the work we are doing and is an important validation that we are moving in the right direction.

What has your personal journey been like?
In my extensive travels over the last 20 years, I have had the opportunity to live and work closely with artisans from remote parts of the country. To be able to promote them and their craft is an idea that has always been brewing inside my head. When I decided to quit my corporate career, it was with a mind to start working with handicrafts and artisans. For me personally, it was also a coming together of various skills and passions like research and content, photography, handicrafts, design and so on, topped with previous start-up experiences. This entire enterprise has been a labour of love, starting from building the website, to building the entire supply-chain, and most of all curating the most beautiful crafts and products that this country has to offer.
This also seems to be the right moment to acknowledge the contribution of an amazing team. Over 40 years of combined experience in the craft sector including working with the top e-commerce brands, 25 years in Operations, 25 years in international branding, the best of tech, content, graphic designing, to list just a few. Every single one of them, always willing to go the extra mile, no questions asked.

What is the road forward, what is your vision?
What we want to disrupt is the quantum of impact that transforms the livelihood of artisans and artisan communities. We can do this by bringing in an intuitive technology driven process and a digital platform that lends structure to a currently unorganized sector. The vision is to make technology and thereby a global market accessible to even the remotest artisan in the country.

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