Entrepreneurship Management

ASSIGNMENT-4

Business plan Report on Pottery Selling Venture

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Ruchika Dawar Ankita Paul

(Asst Prof) Kumud Thakan

Manish Maharshi
Payal Mahant
Rachna Singh
Dft-6
 PETRICHOR
-Earth born pottery

Introduction:
We believe that a thirst for artistic beauty and design is central
to being human, yet it frequently does not find fulfilment in our
lives. This is where we will enable our start up: we focus on
connecting appreciators of art and design with creators of
uniquely designed or handmade works that, we hope, will enrich
your living spaces and
enlarge your sense of beauty and joy. This platform will provide
forum where artists will showcase their work for direct purchase
by clients who would otherwise never encounter their creations.

Pottery is the ceramic material which makes up pottery wares; of which major type include earthenware, stoneware
and porcelain and all those earthenware and porcelain artifacts and utensils are further decorated through painting,
ceramic glaze, carving, burnishing, terra sigillata, and lithography.

The art of pottery differs from region to region and the skills of the potters of different localities across India. Those
vivid eyes gazing and cautious hands moving relentlessly in synchronization on the wheels as a mass of clay gets
transformed to a pot and one who sees it happen sings praise for the mesmerizing skills, these people who are
known as potters, possess.

Many potters dream of turning their talents into a full-time business venture. Presently the pottery sector involves
the upper middle class people who earn their livelihood just by making and selling of the pottery artifacts and
utensils. Mostly the whole family is involved in this work. We are trying to provide a platform to those talents to
sell their products in a wider market with increased profit margin. There will be a direct contact between the potters
and the customer and we will be working as the mediator between the two by building a website, contacting to
major interested buyers through fair, exhibition, displays, etc.

Scope:
 Pottery artisans will work in large factories, workshops or studios.
 Wider target market through online selling.
 Social well being activities through free pottery workshops conduction in rural and urban schools and
institution (Increasing Brand Image through such promotions)
 Bringing the skills of potters at a wider levels
 Supplying crockery and earthenware to a number of 5 star Hotels and restaurants.
Marketing:

 Target Market: Many consumers settle for cheaper pottery items that are
mass produced. Those who produce hand made pieces appreciate the time
and skills that goes into each creation and are willing to pay a little extra
for their one of a kind piece.
 Promotional Activities: The various types of promotions that will be
conducted for the start up are as follows:

1. Consignment:

We will try to communicate with various restaurants, hotels, furniture accessory stores and other businesses to
see if they would be willing to sell your pieces on consignment. Include a business card with each piece, and
leave a pile of business cards at the business for those that want to learn more about your pottery via your
website.

2. Fairs and Art Shows:

We shall get involved with craft fairs, farmer’s markets and art shows open to the public to spread word out
about our pottery. Rent a booth to display your pottery, and will let everyone in our database know about the
event. Mentioning of fair on our social-media sites and on our website, too. Bring a pile of flyers to the event
so people can take one home and head to our Facebook page or website to learn more.

3. Open House:

An open house will be conducted. Invitations to the event will be mailed to interested buyers a few weeks
ahead of time, and use of sandwich board signs on the sidewalk or road on the day of the open house to attract
even more traffic.

4. Social Media:

Brand and product promotions on various social media platform like Facebook and Instagram. Products will be
displayed on the social media page. And advertisement will be done too showing various offers and discounts.
To create more buzz pictures of the products will be displayed on pinterest which people can share with their
friends and family.
 5. Custom Service:

Obsessive customer service is the mantra. Customers will be satisfied even at the expense of short term
profits. This recognizes the business model that presumes long-term profits will be maximized by taking care
of the customer.

6. Pricing:
The pricing scheme is designed to track both material costs as well as time spent in creating the product.

7. Distribution:

The products will be distributed through the booth at art and craft fairs, the website, and select galleries/stores.

Situation Analysis

Petrichor is a start -up company located in Ratanada, Jodhpur, Rajasthan which is a place famous for its
artistic skills and artwork. Marketing will be a critical component of the business to ensure success and
profitability. The basic market need is a creative, unique, ceramic and earthenware dish maker, and
other home decor things like vase, wind chimes, toys, etc.

Market Summary

Petrichor possesses good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes
of the most prized and loyal customers. Petrichor will leverage this information to better understand who is
served, their specific needs, and how Petrichor can better communicate with them.
 Target Markets

Gift purchasers

End consumers

Gift Purchasers: 55%

End Consumers: 45%

Market Demographics

The profile for Petrichor’s typical customer consists of the following geographic, demographic, and
behaviour factors:

Geographic

 The immediate geographic area is the various cities of Rajasthan and Delhi in north with a population
of 18.6 million.
 We will be providing our services in areas of Rajasthan attracting tourists and the rest will be online
selling across India through our websites and promotions.
 The total target is estimated at 41,341.

Behaviour Factors

 Appreciates and collects arts and crafts.

 Is willing to pay extra for things that are appealing.
 Have an artistic flair, or wish they did.
 Values handmade items relative to mass produced goods.

ENTERPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT Page 5

Market Needs

Petrichor is providing its customers with a wide selection of handmade earthen dishware and
homedecor. Petrichor seeks to fulfil the following benefits that are important to their customers:

 Selection. A wide range of choices for styles and finishes of dishware.

 Accessibility. The patron can have the finished products shipped to them anywhere in India.
 Customer service. Petrichor customer-centric business model ensures complete customer
satisfaction.
 Competitive pricing. Prices are competitive relative to other handmade dishware and home decor.

Market Trends

The market trend for dishware and home decor is an increased demand for creative and artistic designs
as well as custom design work. This trend can be explained in part by the fact that during the mid-
nineties, the market was flooded with mass production artsy dishware and unique decor things. The
market was soon overwhelmed with tons of similar dishware that tries to appear artsy, but because of the
large scale of production, was just garish designs.

After the market was flooded with so many similar, common designs, demand was generated for
custom artists to produce dishware and home decor that had unique artful designs and were not mass
produce

Market Forecast

60,000

50,000

40,000

Gift purchasers
30,000
End consumers
20,000

10,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Market Growth

In 1999, dishware market in India reached $365 million dollars in revenue. The mass market is
forecasted to grow at an unexciting 4%, however, because of a recent increase in demand, the custom
handmade niche is forecasted to grow at 7.5% for the next several years.

SWOT Analysis

The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and
describes the opportunities and threats facing Petrichor.

Strengths

 Strong relationships with raw material vendors.

 A partially taught, primarily instinctual, eye for art and up and coming styles inducing the
ancient intricate designing skills of artisans.
 An efficient style for construction of earthen pieces, decreasing the labor costs per piece as
well as meeting artisan demands and customer satisfaction.
 High customer loyalty and referral rate

Weaknesses

 The brand lacks brand equity.

 A limited marketing budget to develop brand awareness.
 The struggle to grow the business while at the same time attending to all of the day-to-day
activities.

Opportunities

 Participating in a market niche that is growing at a faster rate than the larger general
ceramics market.
 Increased sales opportunities from various online promotions on social media and
various social activities and pottery workshops as a part of promotions.
 The ability to increase the profit margin as variable costs are decreased due to operating
efficiencies and fixed costs is quite at lower scale.

Threats

 Competition from a large reseller of dishware who might steal some of our designs and
have them produced offshore.
 Quality control problems with the raw materials that could render an entire batch of
products ruined.
 The continued decrease in the cost of dishwashers (the decrease in cost can generally be
correlated by harsher handling of the dishware to be cleaned by the dishwasher) making it
conceivable that handmade dishware will have to be washed by hand.
 The unbreakable term cannot be introduced in our products and that can be major
disadvantage.
Competition

The competition consists of different sources.

o Commercial dishware and home decor pottery manufacturers. This competitor mass
manufactures a wide range of dishware. These companies appeal to someone that is
looking for general dishware. These competitors serve people that are more interested in
function instead of aesthetics.

o Assorted craftspeople. This group of competitors is serving the segment of people that are
purchasing earthenware as gifts.

o Other potters. This group is the most direct competitor in terms of business activities, but
not necessarily the most vigorous. The reason they are not the most vigorous competitors is
because most potters that sell their products make cups and vases. Therefore, while they
are direct competitors, not many are making competing earthenware.

Product Offering

Petrichor makes production and custom earthenware. It manufactures a line of 12 production styles of
dishware, as well as offers the option of custom designs. The custom designs can be either based on a
design petrichor has done in the past that is displayed in a portfolio or can be a creation of one our
artisan or as per the demands of our customer.

While we do have production designs, all this means is that we make them for inventory regardless if
there is an order for them. Production in this case does not take on the typical association of "mass
production."

The pieces of dishware that are offered are serving platters, dinner plates, bowls, coffee cups, and
saucers. Other pieces can be created at the request of the customer. The dishware comes in several
different shapes and glazing options. Products are expensive targeting the elite market. Petrichor is not
trying to compete on price, We will be making high-quality pieces that are all handmade. Some of the
more elaborate designs adds significant amounts of time of construction as well as adds to the price. The
price/positioning strategy will be the upper end of the market.

Keys to Success

• Unique, cutting-edge designs.

• Outstanding customer service.
• Professionalism.
• Attention to detail.
• Having fun while working hard.
 Financial:

 The selling will be online based so there is no requirement of shop but a warehouse will be required
for storing the inventory which be in the outskirts of jodhpur and at the initial stage the area required will
be 800 sq ft. Which will cost around Rs2000/month?
 Various other costs involved are: Logistics cost (Depending upon location where the delivery is to
be done), Communication cost- Rs1500/month, Accounting cost, Promotions cost, etc.

Financial plan

 We plan to use our savings to establish the base of our entrepreneur. Adding to this some loan from
the bank will set the things to gear up. The next will be done by our work progresses.
 Basically the targeted customers are the elite groups who love to showcase the art and culture of
their country in their society so we planned to make more and more fashionable arts available for them.
This will cost us the experts who know this art by heart and also we have to spend on the training of the
amateurs who will learn the art from the experts at the same time. For most sells there should be
availability of enough products.
 Initially marketing and advertisement will be the biggest expenditure.
 Primarily our need will be to survive and once we are established in the market we will spread our
business in a larger aspect.
 The place where the start-up will actually go ahead will be Ratanada. We have chosen this place as
the place is known for handicrafts and most importantly labourers are easily available in this area. Also
renting is within our budget. So we will not have to think about these two initial issues. Other than these
the basic things required for our business are listed below:-

Basic requirements:-

Items Cost

Personnel
1. Potters -8-10 Rs. 200/day
2. Web developers -2 Freelancer
3. Marketing partner -1 -----
4. Administrator -2 -----
Raw material
1. Clay Rs. 1,300
2. White clay Rs. 1,200
3. Water -----
4. Paint Rs. 1,500
 5. Brushes Rs. 500

Machine assets
1. Finishing equipment -----
2. Pottery wheel Rs. 700
3. Intricate design equipment -----

Promotion costs ----

Administration assets
1. Table Rs. 500-1500/-
2. Chairs Rs. 500-1500/-
3. Telephone Rs. 300-500/-
4. Showcases Rs. 1000/-
5. Computers Rs. 10,000-20,000/-
Transportation
1. Thermocol Rs. 280/sq. metre
2. Bubble wraps Rs. 800/-

Profit

There will be no profit in the starting. As the products start getting recognition profit margins will increase.
Mostly the things will be published in the retail houses.

Vision

 Long term - To achieve upto 25% profit in 3 years.

 Short term – To gradually increase the productivity.
 Intermediate – Marketing strategies to be maximize gradually.