We wish to work with small and medium artisans: Tejashree Bhatt
We wish to work with small and medium artisans: Tejashree Bhatt

Indian culture is preserved from 4,500 years and its prevalence can still be witnessed. Bringing in the cultural beauty of 29 states of India, the skilled artisans are valued for their creativity and innovation. However, the percentage of rural artisans migrating to urban areas is increasing. In the past 50 years, the rural population has reached to 68.9 percent from 82.0 percent.
In order to reduce migration of rural communities to cities and providing them an option to live with their families was the basic idea of TheCoCompany. This eCommerce startup not only helps artisans achieve financial stability, but also believes in building long term relationship with the artisans and their communities. The 3 basic pillars that support their vision are financial support, food security and water security.
Retailer Media interacted with Tejashree Bhatt, Founder,TheCoCompany to know more about her vision of offering financial stability to artisans.

How was the idea of your Start-up conceptualised?
We witness several people leaving their families behind in the villages and shifting to cities for better life. This migration gives them a marginally better life, but it involves lot of sacrifices. Mumbai constitutes of such people. It makes us sad to see people struggling everyday away from their families for something which is just enough for them to survive. We wish to help these people move back to their villages and live a better and happy life. We have started working with weavers which is the second biggest income generating entity in rural India. Our intention is to fuel the migration back to villages with this initiative.

What is the need you are addressing to?
Everybody loves to be with their families. But, lack of opportunity forces them to move out of villages and work in cities. We have started working in handloom industry, which is the second biggest income generating industry after agriculture in rural India. We strive to provide the opportunities which are currently missing for artisans. Our fair trade policies make sure that people have dignified income.

How much potential do you observe in the handloom industry?
Handloom industry is vast. The numbers are reducing in this field, yet there are several heart warming stories of people going back to their families and continuing the age old tradition of weaving. Government has also refocused on the handloom industry. There is a huge demand of these fabrics outside India too.

Can eCommerce uplift the handicraft industry and the talent of local artisans to a new level? How?
I definitely think eCommerce is a “Masiha” or messenger for Karigars (craftsmen). I wanted to share my thoughts on this. While the production happens in the villages, each district has a handicraft hub where the trading of handmade items happens. Government or eCommerce marketplace giants can start studios in these hubs. The studio should have a photographer and 2-3 IT guys who would train the artisans or someone from their families on how to open accounts and upload products online. Today, the infrastructure is so good that courier companies do not mind delivering in the villages. We should take benefit of such infrastructure. Many more artisans can benefit from this kind of setup.

What have been the major challenges in the journey that you have traded so far?
We wish to work with small and medium artisans. But, we are facing challenges like color combination and designs. The designs are only suited for local market and may not sell well in national and International markets. The artisans need exposure to the outer world. They need to connect with design schools to learn several aspects of colors and designs.

What has been your A-ha Moment in the business so far? (The high point)
Being a novice in this industry, we went to Kutchh to understand the market. We would walk on streets in villages with few names in hand. We had no backup or connection with anyone in that area. I was not sure why would somebody give something on consignment without even knowing us. But, that’s the beauty of the people of Kutchh, as they trust in themselves and others. We collected products worth Rs. 50K on consignment during our first trip itself.

What is the selection procedure for choosing the right artists/craftsmen and products for your platform?
The selection process is pretty simple. We travel to different places to understand the working conditions and methods of the artisans. We keep in mind long term sustenance. According to us the design should click, it has to be evergreen and the quality of products should be superior. Whichever artisan is ready with stuff that fits the bill becomes our partner. We are very transparent with our artisans.

Which are the top selling categories on your portal?
Saree tops among the list of our top selling items. We only deal in cotton and linen. Our stuff is pretty exclusive as we source it directly from artisans and cooperative societies.

How do you manage the logistics part and what is the total run-time for delivering a product?
We have shopify as our IT solution and Fedex for couriering. We wanted to try India post, but it has its own limitation and we wanted logistics to be perfect from day one. The courier service should be hassle free and quick and that’s what Fedex is doing. Mostly, the package is delivered within 3-5 working days from the date of order in domestic market, while it is delivered within 6-8 working days from the date of order for International customers.

How has been the product response in tier II and tier III cities?
We unfortunately have not yet reached tier III cities, but we see a great potential. Not everyone gets a chance to travel to places and collect things. We do that for them. We travel places and collect unique designs and colors for our customers.

Kindly share your expansion plans in terms of Pan India presence?
We are already Pan India as our customers are from Delhi, Shimla, Calcutta, Bangalore, Chennai and other tier I and tier II cities. We have started connecting with International brands that work with organic cotton, khadi, handloom and natural dyes.

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