Idea 53 of 500. Cluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
Clay: terracotta homeware, cooking pots and lamps, thrown in front of the buyer
The mechanism, from the book
The Zermatt water bottle. Sigiriya has not got a stone with its own name on it.
Every idea in cluster 3 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Set up a potter's wheel for one weekend where visitors pass, and let a potter throw lamps and small pots while people watch. Sell what is made on the spot, and take orders for larger pieces to be collected or posted. Count how many watchers became buyers. A good ratio tells you the stall has a future.
- Who pays first
- Passing visitors who stop to watch and then buy the pot they saw made, and residents who want good cooking pots.
- What leaves today
- Terracotta sells cheaply when stacked by the road; made in front of the buyer, the same pot carries the skill in its 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. FiveThe Most Photographed Rock in the World
The Matterhorn water bottle and the souvenir that is from there
More from cluster 3
Idea 53 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.