Idea 107 of 500. Cluster 5: Wellness, which we are famous for and barely sell
Aromatherapy product ranges for the spas abroad, from oils distilled here
The mechanism, from the book
Ayurveda is a system of medicine the world already recognises and seeks out. The demand is there; what Sri Lanka needs is more of its own names, known and asked for abroad.
Every idea in cluster 5 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Buy cinnamon, citronella and other oils from a distiller you can name, and blend three products a spa uses every day: a massage oil, a room scent and a bath oil. Label each with the oil's origin and send samples to five spas abroad, run by Sri Lankans or already using Sri Lankan oils. Ask what they pay now and what they would pay for a range from the source. The proof is a first paid order.
- Who pays first
- A spa abroad that buys its massage oils from a wholesaler and would rather buy a named range from where the oils are distilled.
- What leaves today
- The oils leave in bulk to be blended, bottled and branded abroad; a range made here sells the finished product at the spa's price.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. TwoAn Island Nobody Has Counted
The island's resources, counted - Ch. SeventeenOne Building
The showcase that lists ayurveda among 100 to 300 Sri Lankan brands
More from cluster 5
- 101Ayurvedic treatment centres to international standard
- 102Forest-bathing days in the hill and rainforest reserves, with a guide who knows the plants and their uses in Ayurveda
- 103Yoga and Pilates retreats
- 104Hot stone therapy using local granite
- 105Herbal bath and body product lines
- 106Traditional hair oil production, branded and exported
Idea 107 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.