Starter Kit. Idea 401 of 500. Cluster 20
Furniture design in coconut timber, rubberwood and rattan, for export
The mechanism, from the book
Sri Lankans make the world's underwear to the world's standard, and the country has no fashion brand of its own that the world has heard of.
The first step
Commission one chair or side table in coconut timber, rubberwood or rattan from a local carpenter or rattan maker, and photograph it with its dimensions and a price. Send it to five interior designers or furniture shops abroad through contacts abroad and ask whether they would order a sample. A sample order paid in advance is your proof.
- Who pays first
- An interior designer abroad who wants handmade furniture with a clear origin for a client who asks for exactly that.
- What leaves today
- Timber and rattan earn little sold as raw material; designed furniture for export keeps the design and the finishing value on the island.
Ask first
- Forest Department. Ask what papers prove timber was legally sourced.
- Coconut Development Authority. Ask where coconut timber suitable for furniture can be bought.
Check before you spend
Proof of legal timber source, the destination country's rules on wood imports, and pest treatment rules for wooden goods sent abroad.
Find out these three numbers
- What would designers abroad pay for a sample piece?
- What does the maker charge per piece?
- How much does shipping one piece cost?
A comparison from the book
Phase Three of the list. Chapter Fourteen
"Turn the raw things into finished ones: cinnamon into a branded product, gems into certified, set jewellery"
Timber sold as finished, designed furniture keeps more of the value here than timber sold raw.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.