Every region in Thailand boasts its own unique community handicrafts, showcasing distinctive works created by local community enterprises. These artisans come together to leverage their community's strengths, but making these handicrafts known and turning them into profitable businesses is not an easy task. It requires a 'holistic thinking process' to elevate ideas, blend design concepts with current customer demands, and plan effective marketing and sales strategies.

 

       Fortunately, in this era, accessing knowledge for business development is no longer difficult. Recently, the British Council, in collaboration with Applied Arts Scotland (a non-profit organization focused on Scottish crafts), launched the 'Digital Craft Toolkit', an online guide for designing craft businesses. This toolkit aims to assist artists, designers, and artisans in community enterprises with creative craft ideas, helping them transform these into profitable businesses and making community craft development easier.

       Today, we will introduce you to how to use the online guide 'Digital Craft Toolkit'. The Digital Craft Toolkit is a free web app www.crafttoolkit.com that allows users to enjoy quizzes to explore their preferences and determine what type of business they could develop. It also enables users to experiment with basic business planning. The website consists of four sections for tracking progress, each containing learning materials in the form of lessons, videos, and quizzes.

The Bigger Picture – In the first section, users will begin setting goals by exploring themselves through three key elements for business success: what they love, what they do well, and what generates income. This is done through a questionnaire that asks about preferred work styles, desired activities, and existing skills. Additionally, users will start basic business planning by creating a one-year work calendar to estimate expenses at each stage, as well as planning relationships to assess workforce readiness for their upcoming business.


Planning the Details – The second section allows users to begin developing products and services. They will encounter sample videos demonstrating product development by prototype artists, followed by lessons on product and service development components, inspiration for creating works, and business development strategies. Learning in these topics is presented in an easily understandable format through summarized lessons, videos, and inspirational quotes from renowned artists, along with games and quizzes to clarify their business vision.

Selling & Marketing – The third section focuses on quizzes that explore users' businesses to define target audiences based on their products and identify selling points for effective sales and marketing. In this section, users will gain insights into understanding customers, storytelling, and selling techniques, which are crucial steps in building a business.

 

Managing Money – In the final section of the guide, users will learn about the critical aspects of running a business, including cost calculation and cash flow management. They will engage in lessons to understand costs compared to pricing for setting appropriate prices that yield profits, as well as testing expense planning quizzes to visualize the overall cash flow in their business.

 

         After completing the quizzes in all four lessons, users will find a summary of their business plan and actionable items based on the quizzes they completed on the website at the end of the progress tracking page. This summary serves as a compass to guide the direction for developing and expanding their business effectively. Additionally, there are short inspirational films featuring artists embedded in each lesson, which business developers can adapt for their own enterprises. Notable artists sharing their experiences and inspirations through these short films include Pin Metal Art, Phukram, PATAPiAN, Jetsada, among others. There is also a section for additional information where users can seek resources to apply to their own craft business management.

         The Digital Craft Toolkit is available for artisans, designers, entrepreneurs, community enterprises, and anyone interested in exploring craft ideas into profitable businesses at no cost on the website www.crafttoolkit.com.

 

Thank you for the information from: British Council