Kraftinn Journey - Learning the Process

(... continued from KraftInn - The Journey so far )

Many people discuss about the quality workmanship of bamboo handcrafted items, but the challenges of retaining its originality require different techniques and treatment processes. At the beginning, we thought of supplying the lamps sourced from a group of artisans and the workmanship of these artisans is very excellent, but if the item is not treated, it outweighs the quality. And, moreover, sourcing introduces a lot of delays, and quality and delivery of suppliers is an issue and overall transaction is not financially prudent. We learned early that we would need to have a setup wherein we can have full control of the quality standards and supply chain. 

Immediately, we made a small bamboo shed wherein we could accommodate people to work for us. It was very difficult to find skilled artisans and we had to provide good incentives while persuading them to move to Kraftinn location at Jorhat. We visited more that 15 villages across Assam to search for the right people and finally hired two artisans. 

Bamboo is a rapidly growing fibrous plant and is abundant in mostly tropical forests. It mainly consists of roots, culms and leaves. They are usually hollow and vary in sizes, diameter, colours and textures. The cellulose fibres run along the length of the culm and carry nutrients between roots and leaves. Because of its cellulose fibrous nature, it is one of those materials that have very high tensile strength. But, bamboo, because of its high starch content, has very low resistance to biological degrading agents. 

Bamboo Treatment - The firewood used is waste bamboo for its low pollutant residue

We needed to ensure that the bamboo we use need to be treated to enhance the durability of the bamboo. We use the immersion technique where we immerse bamboo culm in 6% solution of boric acid and borax as suggested by Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre(CBTC), Guwahati, Assam. But, in this process, selection of bamboo also plays an important role. We start by individually hand picking mature bamboo which has to be between 3-5 years old, otherwise the bamboo would shrink and crack when dried. Also, for harvesting Oct-Nov is the ideal time when the starch content in bamboo is at the lowest level. Once the bamboo is treated, it needs to be left to bask in the sun for 4-5 days depending on the sunlight. Then the bamboo needs to be dried in a dark shade to weather.

Bamboo Kept for Drying

Finally, we are ready with treated high quality bamboo for our use. Luckily, our first client was very co-operative and he showed full trust in me and I was able to convince him to extend the delivery deadline.

We didn’t want to take any risk in executing our first order and we started our production and are ready with the desired lamps. As a normal human nature, we prided ourselves on the final outcome of the products regardless of how will we manage to deliver the products safely to the clients place. When, we received the order, we were not very sure about the logistical challenges and quoted the price accordingly. But, the logistical challenges of delivery are far more challenging and costly than we anticipated.

 - Parikshit Borkotoky
Founder, Kraftinn

(continued at Overcoming the Greatest Challenge: Logistics)

KraftInn - The Journey so far

After coming fresh out of my college in 2004, I got a job with an MNC bank in the sales division. But, you may say, because of peer pressure or whatever, I started to believe that to make a solid career in the corporate sector, you need to hop around jobs. Because of no reason, I started looking for better jobs as I was not very clear of what I really wanted. By this time, I ended up in a start-up software company and heading the BFSI domain for the Northern Region.The experience in working in a start-up company was incredible. In a start- up company, you are master of your own destiny. It may be scary sometimes but the sense of responsibilities and ownership drives you to work incredibly hard and allows you to enter into a territory which was unknown to you. There are no cleared defined roles but you will need to get involved in all aspects of the business. This helped me a lot to sharpen my entrepreneurial skills and gave me well rounded view of how a business operates. During October 2009, there was a massive economic slowdown in US, which directly affected the business in India. The company where I was working had to be shut down. I was left with no job and almost no savings of my own.

By virtue of our experience in a start-up, I realized that I too can also build a company. With few of my friends/colleagues, we started a consultancy firm “ROPeS Consulting” named after the initial of the partners name. But, we were not able to match up with the competition and failed in our attempt. Not to mention that recruitment is not among the most lucrative of spaces during a downturn :). The experience made me realize that building a company requires a good understanding of the area in which it operates and also the importance of building core competency.

I packed my bags to Bangalore to start afresh. My brothers are well established in software companies in Bangalore. I discussed with my brothers about the intention of starting a business. There were few ideas spinning around our head at the time but I was not very clear about how to start . Finally, we zeroed up with a thought to start something which can promote the crafts and hand-looms of NE India which has a lot of potential and is being unexplored and untouched. My brothers, sister-in- law ensured their full support and confidence in me. Immediately, we brainstormed about the name for the firm and booked the domain name www.kraftinn.com.

 

Assam is well known for art and craft skills. It is home to 140 different tribes and every tribe practices a different style of craft. The sense of simplicity, style and richness of handicrafts and hand looms in this part of India is truly limitless. So, the name Kraftinn struck, its a slight twist of two words- ‘craft’ that symbolizes our desire to design unique products and harness the skills of artisans who have evolved over generations and ‘inn’ where people passing by, can experience a little bit of the local culture. We envisioned www.kraftinn.com as a place where people can get a little bit of the unique north east culture and take it back to their homes as tangible artifacts like lamps and bags.

 

Once we had decided on what type of business we would like to run it was then just a case of doing some research work. We looked at various websites and drew up a list of products which were selling and were popular at that time. For the first three months, much of my time went on extensive field research, meeting artisans of different crafts work across the region.

At the beginning, we have chosen bamboo because of its characteristics and availability in Assam. Bamboo home décor has a good demand and this market is largely disorganized and it’s largely a very niche and untapped category. Besides this, we wanted to start something which will address sustainable income to the artisans, environmental and social awareness by using Eco-friendly products, reviving the dying art forms of Northeast.

I went to Delhi, with some of the samples collected from a local shop from Guwahati, and showed some of the samples to few known exporters. Luckily, we got a lead from a exporter and they introduced me to a reputed designer who was working on a bamboo project. And to our rescue, we clicked our first order of 100 lamps with some amount of customization. That was great sign to start and we were at the top of the world. We were very happy with the start as we were not aware of the challenges of delivering.


- Parikshit Borkotoky


Founder, Kraftinn

(continued at Kraftinn Journey - Learning the Process)

Customer Feedback

Recently, one of our customers bought a few lamps for her home from KraftInn. She sent a picture of her home after installing the lamps.

Things to buy online for men

Since we went online a couple of years ago, we have also spent quite some time buying things online. Here are a few e-commerce sites that we think are pretty cool - we have also included ourselves :)

Top eco-friendly materials

Green living is slowly becoming a lifestyle choice but how do you decide which material is good for the environment. Here is a starter list for reference

Virtual Cards in India for Safe Shopping

India is the fastest growing internet consuming market after China and each day we hear about a new e-commerce website being launched. Even then, most of us don't feel safe while shopping online. So, here is the solution. Virtual Cards also known as "Single Use Cards". 

So, what is a Virtual Card?

KraftInn at IIT, Guwahati for Startup Showcase,Techniche'12

In a recently organised event, Startup Showcase as part Techniche, an annual technical fest of IIT, Guwahati, KraftInn was invited as one of the top innovative startups to showcase themselves in front of a distinguished audience which included personalities like Amit Ranjan, COO, Slideshare, Satish Kataria, Consultant (DARE), Cyber Media Publications, Anil Joshi, Pesident, Mumbai Angel Venture Mentors and Navin Honagudi of KAE Capital.   It was great time interacting with these people and the curious students of IIT, Guwahati, who aspire to entrepreneurs. We are sharing some of the pictures of the event.