Poonam Gupta spent her time teaching paper art to young minds in Moradabad. As the paper took shape in her hands, becoming a necklace or a vase, she dreamt of lining shelves with her products. Her dream soon became a reality when on May 23 she began selling her hand-made jewellery and other products, made of paper, from the buzzing large-format Sabka Bazaar store in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. What’s more, the teacher-turned-entrepreneur is earning money and getting bulk orders too. ?This is the first time I am selling my products anywhere. Sales have been good, and the exposure I am getting is tremendous. I get 60-70 genuine customers daily. There are some interesting enquires like exports for me to pursue once I am done,? says the 45-year-old painter and paper jewellery maker.
As it turns out, Gupta is the first beneficiary of Project Bhagidaari, a social responsibility initiative of Home Stores India Limited (HSIL). Gupta has got 100 sq ft of space at the 10,000 sq ft store to display her goods, besides the required knowhow on the art of selling the right way. The inputs given to entrepreneurs range from inventory management (picking goods that can sell), pricing the goods right (keeping aside the required margins), visual merchandising (display the products attractively) to communicating it well to the customers.
The social project aims to enable local artisans to showcase and sell their products and make a modest beginning as entrepreneurs. The artisans will be allocated a minimum retail space for three months at a nominal cost (Rs 1,000 per month). ?Though the idea behind the project is largely to connect to the society we live in and sell to, it became important for us to make it sustainable and thus ongoing. The cost component here aims to bring in an element of commitment and seriousness to the business aspiration. It also calls for strategy on the part of these entrepreneurs,? says Salil Sahu, CEO, HSIL.
And the initiative at the store at Civil Lines, Moradabad is just the beginning, promises Sahu. Planning to take it national (at least at the supermarket?s large-format stores) and make it bigger, interwoven with promotional schemes at the store, the chain is promoting the project locally by putting up catchy slogans in the neighbourhood market. The promotions are on in full swing at the store, says Sahu.
?To customers who have helped us with good sales, the coupons of these handicrafts will come as a reward. This way, we will award our loyal customers and the entrepreneurs will sell too,? he adds.
If all goes well, contends HSIL, entrepreneurs will also be contributing to some steady sales per square foot at the store. ?And then, social responsibility will turn into business we all would want to be part of. That?s what we call bhagidaari in the true sense of the term,? concludes Sahu.