We are publishing an interview of Mr. Saurabh Agarwal, Founder, Billion Crafts.
About the founders
Billioncrafts was initiated by Saurabh Agarwal, a MNIT Jaipur Graduate in Electronics and Telecommunication. After completing his B Tech he got on campus placement in Verizon Wireless, one of the biggest telecom company of US. But he was not satisfied with the IT job he was put in and so after 1 year he left the job and came back to his home town, Jaipur. Saurabh is handling the whole operations of the company.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
India is a country of diversity and it can be seen in the Handicraft Industry also. We have so many handmade art techniques that no single person can consolidate it and that is why this sector is totally unorganized and facing a lot of issues due to lack of technology and negligence. These artisans are facing a lot of issues. They do not proper guidance, proper systems and the middle man are earning everything by selling their art three to four times in retail and exports. We are trying to end this exploitation of these middle man and have created such a platform where the artisan can directly sell their items with proper channels and earn more for his/her art.
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
The start up connects with people at the roots of this industry. We do not associate with middle man persons. We give an opportunity to the poor artisans to sell their items to the direct customers at International Level. We are also working with Household ladies who make beautiful art forms but they do not sell it and just give them as gifts to other. We have encouraged many such strong ladies to show their talent through platform and earn money to be independent.
What is the revenue model? Explain your thought process.
As an eCommerce Product based company we are selling the items to the clients and purchasing from artisans. We keep very small margins for ourselves as we do not want to increase the rates of these products to so much that it becomes heavy for anyone to buy and the whole concept of this idea get shut down. Also we are dealing in B2B market also so bulk quantity gives us good margins to work.
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
We target all the people who love these types of art forms. These products are mostly used in gifting purposes or decoration items. We also target re sellers with shops all across the world. We are also in exports to countries. So target audience is very big.
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
We want to involve all the artisans of the country to our platform so that he/she can sell their unique products fairly and earn the right amount of money. We want to become the biggest art and craft platform of India and definitely we will do so
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
When I wake up each morning I face new challenges and problems. The biggest problem is logistics and infrastructure. These artisans are located in remote villages with no facility like internet and no transport company picks up product at these pin codes. So it is a very difficult task for us to manage the orders without creating any inventory. Also now the taxation policy has become more strong and from an exempted item to directly in GST level of higher taxes the sale and revenue will get affected. We are constantly working on these issues and it is very challenging for us but a great learning experience. Visit http://billioncrafts.com to know more about us.
Thanks Saurabh. Best wishes.