Clay pots are very special. Their use is beneficial from the point of view of environment and health. Nowadays their demand has also increased. Even in big cities, people are using pottery. Now food is being served in earthen pots even at weddings and big events. Seeing this demand, Kshitij Jain, a resident of Bhopal, started marketing pottery made of clay along with studies 5 years ago. Now his business has spread all over the country. More than 150 local artisans are associated with them. Even after corona and lockdown, he has a turnover of 10 lakh rupees annually.
23-year-old Kshitij has studied engineering. When he was in his first year, he laid the foundation of his startup. Later after completing his studies, he started working for his startup completely. Kshitij says that the demand for pottery has increased in the country in the last few years. Kulhad tea, kulhad lassi, kulhad milk, even now chaat is also available in kulhad. Many people also go to other cities to drink tea or lassi in Kulhad. People are also preferring to keep utensils made of clay in their kitchen. In view of this demand, in the year 2016, Kshitij decided that he should work in this field.
During his studies, Kshitij started his own startup in Bhopal named 'Paramparik Hub'. They met artisans and potters who made pottery from clay, understood his work. Then joined them and started marketing their product through social media. Earlier he used to market Kulhad. Later he also started selling other earthen utensils like kadhai, cooker, thali. Kshitij says that then we had spent about one and a half lakh rupees. Much of this money was spent on marketing and purchasing pottery. We also invested money in making videos, photos, and posters.
Kshitij says that initially, we used to do most of the marketing through social media and mouth publicity. Those who demanded earthenware from us, we used to deliver that product to their home. Our work went on like this for about a year. After this, we got a chance to participate in some government programs. We also sponsored some events. We benefited a lot from this. People came to know about us and we became an identity.
After working for a year, Kshitij's business started running smoothly. After that, he started expanding his scope. He also started marketing outside Bhopal. After getting a good response, he started joining hands with local artisans in Madhya Pradesh as well as in other states. He started making products according to his demand from those artisans and started marketing them across the country. Presently more than 150 local artisans are associated with them across the country including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh.
Kshitij explains that we get most of our products made by local artisans. We tell them our demand in advance, according to which they prepare the product. After this, our team collects the product from our unit. Then we bring it to our unit, after quality testing it uploads on the online platform. Apart from this, we also make products in our own unit. For this, we use the same soil, which comes out from the farmhouse of the farmers. The pots made from it are more durable than the rest of the pottery. Presently we are manufacturing kulhad, use and throw of pottery and plates in our unit. While other utensils we outsource.
Regarding marketing, Kshitij says that after Corona, most of us are doing business online. In this, social media and India Mart are the most effective platforms for us. We sell most of our products through India Mart. If there is a small order, we ship the product directly to the customer via courier. If the order is large, then in bulk, we send the sample to the customer first. After choosing a sample, send the product to him via transport. Before the lockdown, we used to get 10 to 15 orders daily. However, now it has come down a bit.
At present, a team of 6 people is working with Kshitij. They are marketing almost every type of pottery and home decor item made from clay. Along with this, they are also working on artwork made by local artisans.
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