HARSHWARDHAN VIPAT
SOUMYADEEP DUTTA
SHAYAK MAITRA
Sriyansh Srivastava
Suraj Kumar Sharma
Goa Institute of Management
Divya Singhal
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Traditional handicrafts are in huge demand, not just in India but worldwide. But is there someone who’s working toward bridging the gap between locally made traditional handicrafts and the young consumers based in cities? Here comes Mrs. Aishi Sengupta with her business venture, Soul Crafted. SDG goals fulfilled by the organization are –
Goal 1 – No Poverty
Goal 8 - Decent work and economic growth
Goal 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 12 - Responsible consumption and production
The business has 3 models & those 3 are interconnected in some way. Homestay business in the Shantiniketan area or the brand ‘Soulcrafted’ is generating revenue from it, providing proper employment to the locals there & taking care of their children’s education. The business also provides an opportunity to avail incentives apart from the daily wages from the money the business runs from each guest.
Regarding the 2nd business model concerned, the founder Mrs. Aishi Sengupta herself is very fond of handmade art crafts. She reaches those local artists there who cannot reach the target audience & takes their products to the target audience. In this way, they can earn their livelihood & the business model runs well.
In this way, apart from generating profits, the business helps the locals there, satisfies their needs, builds a sense of trust & co-ordination with them in running the business & gives back to the society.
Having a post-graduate degree in HR with rich experience working in the corporate sector, Mrs. Aishi Sengupta never had a strong inclination towards entrepreneurship, nor did she ever have a long-term goal of starting her business venture. But as she believes- Things that are meant to happen will happen; ultimately, she became an entrepreneur and now is the founder of the company ‘Soul Crafted.’
When we asked her what exactly her motivation was and what inspired her to take the brave call to where the cap of an entrepreneur, she said the Covid-19 Pandemic was a big turning point for her professionally. Before the pandemic, she worked with a trading company where she was the head of the HR department and worked with them for nine years. This job included a lot of traveling and mainly dealt with consulting clients and business analysis; she was very well enjoying the work but, somewhere, felt it was a lot in her comfort zone
During the pandemic, having some extra time in hand, she got some time to think but still was unsure about how she should proceed in her career, carry on with the same company, switch roles, or do something completely different. This was the time when she got the opportunity to visit West Bengal. There she came across a lot of local artists making handicrafts, and now this was something that excited her; having a personal interest in handicrafts, she appreciated these locally made handicraft products, but she also realized one problem in the situation, all these beautiful handicrafts were derived from tourist and visitors. Still, they had the potential to cater to the needs of many consumers like her who like handmade decorative items, and this was when she thought of a business model and started to work towards it.
Soulcrafted started with a homestay business. It began with a single house, and now seven such homes are managed and maintained. The employees include the women in the village area nearby, thus providing them with scope for employment and a better standard of living. The unique idea is how the business is run by creating a social income. The employees are not just given a fixed salary but also a share of the revenue earned from the company. Thus they are incentivized to do their job correctly because if they cannot get guests, they will lose part of their income. Also, if the employees provide cooking services to the guests, they will earn extra over what they deserve. This system gives an automatic flow to the business. Also, the soulcrafted store bought an innovative idea where they can take handicrafts in rural areas of west Bengal and various other places in India to the target audience, which is the urban citizens of India, thus helping to increase the market for these artists as well.
The homestay business or Airbnb is the main source of revenue for Mrs. Aishi Sengupta as it all started from here only. The business earns a revenue of around INR 25 Lakhs from all three segments. It employs 15 employees & it also has the potential to reach INR 60 Lakhs in the coming years. Employees are like family to the business as their well-being, and children’s education is taken care of & they don’t work for fixed wages as their incentives are also linked to it.
It always tries to create new handicrafts which are the 2nd vertical of the business to attract the Indian population which is the target audience made by the local artisans mainly. It also has a connection with the artisans in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, the northeast, etc. It creates new opportunities for the locals to earn money.
The business also has the vision to do more for society by engaging in NGO activities, helping during natural calamities & creating a positive impact on society.
The Woman entrepreneur’s mission is to keep balancing the profit earned while also contributing to society. The first goal was to achieve breakeven as soon as possible and establish a brand image by providing a better consumer experience. She first tried to group together the team and then decided to go ahead with the idea. She is giving employment opportunities to the local people to monetize the homestays and artisans' work. This business also helps to connect local artisans to a wider audience. And handicraft decoration pieces are also eco-friendly more than conventional decorative pieces.
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The Soulcrafted brand started with a homestay business in Shantiniketan where a lot of rural women staying there got employed. The houses are maintained by these rural women who get a part of the income generated along with a fixed salary thus giving them the incentive to work efficiently. Then the business extended to the selling of handicrafts made by artists in various parts of India online to urban citizens of India. And the third business under this brand was the food business where vegetarian south Indian foods are sold to people in Kolkata.