Craft, Creativity and Business

The formation of the Indha group( 2005) was for rural and?urban slum women who had no market after learning basic stitching and dressmaking. The purpose was to help them; however, after studying the market, we had to reskill most of them to match the market need. New designs were needed to market needlework, block-printing, handmade paper and stationery.UNSDG2030 goals spotlighted women's empowerment, sustainability, poverty alleviation and Social enterprise to enter the market, and multiple rounds of market research were conducted to understand demand. Feedback from the market was collected and then incorporated into a special training under the Karigari project of Literacy India. Though there was adequate market space available for traditional handmade products, it was essential to ensure that the products were of high quality with modern designs. To ensure that Karigari and Indha worked together to create market-friendly products, we held special training sessions with designer inputs and pilot runs. Indha programmes follow ICE (Investing, Capacitating and Enablement) model. Through this model, Indha plans to create a pragmatic, risk-free business for rural and semi-urban artisans. Rigorous market surveys, consultation with design experts and advice from marketing professionals laid the foundation of each product and led to an understanding of customer demands.

?Indha's Product journey includes the following:

?One product – One woman: Each product is created by an artisan whose story is identified, and a connection is drawn to the product.Genuine handmade: Direct artisan-to-customer link, unlike B2B platforms.Quality Assurance: In-house chain – from training to the design selection, customisation to production for a given business

Indha is a ?social enterprise venture that also promotes CSR buying, social goods buying, environment, and sustainable product buying for Villages to the Corporate world of India and Outside India. Our Artisans come from a background of ethnic, conservative and traditional India, yet it carries a flavour of something original and indigenous.

Finally, the homes of many carry our handmade products, which speak of classy craft, the essence of handmade making each handmade piece is different for users to enjoy.