The document summarizes interviews with three salespeople in the woodcraft and furniture industry in Bangalore, India. Research participant 1 works at a furniture store and workshop located in different parts of the city. The shop has been open for 15 years and employs many workers from Saharanpur. Peak sale days are weekends and months are around holidays like Dussehra and Diwali. Research participant 2 works at a stall and their workshop employs 15 people in a division of labor system, sourcing materials from jungle suppliers. Their peak sale times are also weekends and holidays. Research participant 3 is a sole salesperson who sources products from manufacturers in Udaipur and sees peak sales around holidays like Ganesh Chaturti and Di

1. Crafts and Livelihood-
woodcraft and furniture industry
Ameeshi Goenka

2. DISCLAIMER
Thisisnottheresearchpaper, justtheinitialtopicpresentation.

3. Wooden furniture
Research participant 1- Anish Khan
Place of work- Bangalore

4. AnishKhan
Wife and kids- Yes
Position- Sales person at Smart furniture
Years worked- 8
Store location- Infantary road
Workshop location- Tannery road
No. of employees- Many
Workshop employees- from Saharanpur
Government concessions to employees- Nil
Customized furniture- Yes
Materials- Locally acquired
Profit- enough to support their livelihood and they work even when
they have losses
Peak days of sale- Saturday and Sunday
Peak months of sale- Dussehra, Diwali and Ugadi
Bargain- happens a lot
Government support to the firm- Nil (private company)
Government exhibitions and fairs- Do not attend

5. • Miscellaneous Information-
They buy the furniture from the workshop and sell it to the customers.
They have more than one supplier. They have minimal profit margin.
Customers bargain heavily. They have wooden furniture, upholstery
and sofa making. The shop exists for the last fifteen years.

6. Woodcraft and furniture
Research participant 2- Mohammed Abit
Place of work- Bangalore

7. MohammedAbit
Wife and kids- Yes
Position- Sales person
Years worked- 10 to 12 years
Stall location- Safina Plaza
Workshop location- Laksandra
No. of employees- 15 people and others (division of labour)
Workshop employees- from Uttar Pradesh
Government concessions to employees- Nil
Customized furniture or products- Yes
Materials- Purchased in bulk from the jungles while it’s being cut by
another company
Profit- enough to support their livelihood and they work even when they
have losses
Peak days of sale- Saturday and Sunday and other national holidays
Peak months of sale- Dussehra and Diwali
Bargain- Inevitable
Government support- take care of travelling and stall expenses at fairs
Government exhibitions and fairs- Attend all of them

8. • Miscellaneous Information-
They have a permanent stall in Chennai as they have in Bangalore. No
severe competition in this industry. He started this work with his boss
at Muradabad initially. No major troubles. They strictly follow division
of labour at their workshop in Laksandra. They have photographers
clicking pictures of objects and bringing back designs.

9. Woodcraft
Research participant 3- Siddharth Sharma
Place of work- Bangalore

10. SiddharthSharma
Wife and kids- No
Position- Sales person
Years worked- 15
Stall location- Safina Plaza
Workshop location- No workshop
Government concessions to employees- No
Customized products- No
Materials- N/A
Profit- enough to support their livelihood and they work even when
they have losses
Peak days of sale- Saturday and Sunday
Peak months of sale- Ganesh Chaturti, Sankranthi, Diwali and Rakhi
Bargain- Inevitable
Government support to the firm- take care of travelling and stall
expenses at fairs
Government exhibitions and fairs- All of them

11. • Miscellaneous Information-
He had a DCH card provided by the government used to hold free stalls
at the government fairs and exhibitions. His full family is in this
business. They buy the products from many manufacturers in Udaipur.

12. Major Difficulties Faced
• They worked on a regular basis even if the incurred loses.
• No customer is ever expected by the shop owner to buy the pieces
again as even they understand that its utility is fulfilled by just
buying it once. They do hope for new customers everyday though.
• Since there are no set standards that a manufactured product must
live up to, the customers bargain almost to less than half price and
doubt the skills of the artisans , materials used by them, durability of
the final product and the labour work employed to get that final
product. The salesmen in this industry, then seem helpless and make
zero to minimal profits to earn a livelihood.
• The production in this industry hasn’t progressed much over the
years. The same amount of production that was done ten years ago
is continued even today with very little progress and the demand
has reduced incredibly.

13. Appendices
• Audio recordings of the research participants can be downloaded
from-
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/psy5n498bphdblg/ef_5lxrACk
• Link to download the questionnaire-
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrbp26x81d38eow/questionnaire.docx

14. THANK YOU