Case Study: Crafterina Oman: The Art of Business
Case Study: Crafterina Oman: The Art of Business*
Background
“I always wanted to pursue my passion… had a strong desire to run my own business”
One cool morning, Jamana was driving slowly to college on Qurum Heights road to take her class but her mind was still in her friend’s daughter’s birthday party she attended last night. “How excited were all the kids with their creative craftwork”, she thought. Kids’ excitement took her into her past when she won tons of appreciationfromherteachers,
OpportunityandRisk:
Jamana always expressed concerns regarding kids’ obsession with electronic gadgets such as mobile phones , tablets, video games, watching cartoons on TV, etc., and had an opinion that these devices are taking away kids’ creativity and love for art. She felt a strong need to address this issue and help out kids and their parents to use their time more effectively. “Why can’t I do something to engage these kids in art and craft”, she asked herself, once she saw her two-year-old son playing a game on the mobile phone. She identified this need and started to think to develop and transfer this passion into a business venture. However, when she observed a sign of success in this idea as more parents were showing interest, she decided to step in t he market for some revenue. The risks involved putting everything at stake, financial and reputational. She did not have the resources but had the will and she felt that was good enough to take here through. She planned a business model to mitigate the risks. She chose an online model and promotion through social media to reduce the cost. She collaborated with other businesses such as Buffa lo Wings and Rings so that she does not have to incur high fixed costs.
An Entrepreneurial Lens
Like any fresh graduate, she had an idea but no adequate resources to reach out to customers. She opted for easy options, i.e., social media. She started selling her craftwork and jewelry through social media, word of mouth, personal references, etc., but it was certainly not enough to sustain. She started to take party orders from different sources where she had some activities to engage kids in artwork. Things were moving but not as per her expectations. She was charging only 2 RO per kid involved in various activities at birthday parties. She wanted to expand her business. In 2015, she met her old friend who had expertise in marketing. She decided to seek her help to use more online resources to push her business further. She created her website, had a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram page, which helped her expand her marketing strategies.
“What next?” Collaboration as a marketing Strategy.
The revenue generated through birthday parties was still very limited. “What next” was the big question in her mind all the time? “Why don’t you collaborate with some restaurants”, her marketing friend suggested. She immediately decided to go for it. She partnered with a restaurant called “Buffalo Wings and Rings” and
Pg. 4 Version 1
started to spend 4 hours every Friday arranging some fun activities with art and craft for kids. This partnership proved quite successful as it was a “win-win” situation for both. The restaurant started to attract more families with kids and Jamana started to get more recognition as an entrepreneur.
Road Ahead
Initially, Jamana invested about 4000 RO to reach up to this stage as she imported craft material from the US and Europe. She reflected on her past few years’ experience in her new venture and realized that she needed to spend more time strategizing her business, not only just doing the work involved in the business. This meant that she needed to explore more effective marketing strategies to expand her bus iness. In the future she hopes to open her craft studio and a creative center as she has success fully made arts as her business. Crafterina is a place where her passion and business meet.
*Source: Oman Academy for SMEs. (March, 2019). Optimize Your Venture: Case Studies & Research. 1st ed. Al Roya Press and Publishing House.
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Complete the following tasks:
1. Identify and analyse the main problems faced by Jamana. (300 words)
2. What are the types of helps available for entrepreneurs in Oman that Jamana could have exploited? (200 words)
3. If you were Jamana, how would you tackle the problems faced by her? Why do you think your solutions are more appropriate? (400 words)
4. Back up your answers with references – Minimum of 3 and maximum of 5 varied references.
Note: Support your answers with concepts or theories with in-text citations/references
Answer preview Case Study: Crafterina Oman: The Art of Business
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