A Case Study on Women Entrepreneurs, Women Artisans and Handicrafts: AllThatGrass

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is gaining momentum gradually due to globalization incorporating itself in the market. Women entrepreneurship is also growing and giving an outstanding performance with time and experience. Any endeavor by an individual, a group of individuals, or an established firm to start a new business or new enterprise, such as self-employment, forming a new business organization, or expanding an existing business, is what entrepreneurship is, as per our study. Innovation and competition are the accelerators of entrepreneurship across the globe. The world economy is aided by the entrepreneurial sector towards achieving stability with the help of the knowledge economy. Though employment opportunities are created by the entrepreneurship segment still, it gives birth to challenges and threats in the path of business. This study aims to understand and analyze the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs during their business processes and how they find a solution to the challenges and threats to conduct business ethically. For this research, we have considered a startup venture named AllThatGrass, whose origin is from Odisha, India. This case concerns an organization called All That Grass, which works to help tribal women earn a living outside of their homes. It aims to empower women artisans in rural India and aid in developing their identities. Soumya Sharma, the originator of All That Grass, set out to explore rural areas of Odisha at first. Still, over time she expanded her scope to include rural communities in eastern and northeastern India, including West Bengal and Manipur. She has also collaborated with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu artisans in South India. The organization has helped the women artisans showcase their talents and sell their artistic and sustainable creations with time. Sustainability has been a significant foundation of the organization. AllThatGrass ensures that the artisans are paid in time as per the organization's policies. The quality control, pricing structure, and warehousing are well taken care of to ensure the customer and the manufacturer is satisfied. The business processes carried out at AllThatGrass have been wholly focused on the socio-economic development of the rural women artisans and sustainable product development as the primary and priority aspect of the business.