Idea 168 of 500. Cluster 7: The infrastructure that makes the rest possible
A single online catalogue of Sri Lankan export-ready products, curated, in English
The mechanism, from the book
The tiny business pathway. A rural woman with an exceptional product should not need photography, English copy, packaging design and a distributor before the world can find her.
Every idea in cluster 7 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Choose 20 products from small producers that are ready to export: packed, labelled and available in quantity. Photograph them, write each up in English with the minimum order, and put them on one simple catalogue page. Send the link to 30 importers of Asian food and crafts abroad and count the enquiries. The enquiries, and which products draw them, prove the catalogue.
- Who pays first
- A foreign importer who wants Sri Lankan products but cannot find reliable, export-ready suppliers in one place.
- What leaves today
- Foreign buyers who cannot find island suppliers buy from other countries instead, so export-ready products wait for customers who never arrive.
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. SeventeenOne Building
The dozen small things that turn a product into money that stays
More from cluster 7
Idea 168 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.