Idea 42 of 500. Cluster 2: Sell the making, not the object
Dumbara mat weaving taught by the families who still do it
The mechanism, from the book
The craft cannot be copied and the object can. In Europe people queue to watch glass being blown and then buy the glass.
Every idea in cluster 2 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Go to a family that still weaves Dumbara mats and ask whether they would teach a small group for a morning, and at what fee. Weave a small sample yourself to learn how long a beginner needs. Then offer the morning to two hotels in the Kandy area. One hotel booking and the family's yes are the proof.
- Who pays first
- Hotels around Kandy that want a rare craft to offer guests, and visitors who value learning from the families who keep it.
- What leaves today
- The craft survives in a few families and earns little; teaching it pays them to keep the pattern alive and passed on.
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. FiveThe Most Photographed Rock in the World
Courses instead of meals, the one the book would build first
More from cluster 2
Idea 42 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.