Idea 58 of 500. Cluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
Antique and reproduction map shops
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
Photograph 10 old maps of the island that are out of copyright, from a collection you are allowed to copy, and print them on good paper in two sizes. Sell them at a weekend market in Colombo or Galle for two weekends. Note which maps and sizes sell. Steady sales tell you whether a small shop could pay its rent.
- Who pays first
- Visitors, collectors and Sri Lankan buyers abroad who want the island's history on their wall, printed well.
- What leaves today
- The island's old maps earn nothing sitting in archives; good reproductions sold here turn that heritage into local income.
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 58 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.