Why MADE BY WOMAN

Benefits for producers

It takes years if not decades to develop a brand internationally. The absence of an established brand is a barrier for small companies to sell their products and export them abroad. We give access to sell under the MADE BY WOMAN brand to those producers, who are value-oriented. There is no limit to the size of companies; there is a mechanism to boost value-oriented business development internationally. MADE BY WOMAN develops the brand internationally while producers focus on innovation and value-oriented management.

Value-oriented management and marketing processes, such as gender-equality, corporate culture, social mission, and others get on the agenda mostly in well-established businesses. Companies selling under the MADE BY WOMAN brand become growth-driven by making social concern as their core principle of operation and humanizing their management and marketing practices.

These are some of the  major benefits that producers get from selling under the brand MADE BY WOMAN:

  • Premium prices. Products and/or services that are certified may be sold for higher prices and thus generate higher profits and net income for certified producers. Such products are often more expensive due to the higher effort which has gone into producing and processing them in a sustainable way.
  • Higher quality. Higher profitability is also directly connected with the increased yields and higher quality of certified products.
  • Enhanced access to credit. As compliance to standards requires good organizational and management skills, businesses whose products or services are certified increase their credibility vis-à-vis investors, thus enjoying better access to credit.

MADE BY WOMAN: an international market access tool

Producers need to comply with requirements to export their goods as the success of an international transaction may depend on the compliance to these requirements. There are too many standards already. The exporters face many challenges. These are some of them:

  • There are too many standards already.
  •  Standards may be specific to a single country or a single product.
  • Some may also be tailored to a single buyer’s needs, making them relevant when selling to a particular buyer.
  • Standards are not always connected to each other.
  • Requirements may be difficult to comply with in certain contexts.
  • The costs of investments can be high.
  • There are also additional certification and auditing costs.
  • Increased earnings do not necessarily compensate for the additional costs entailed in standard compliance.
  • Premiums are not necessarily distributed equally among the actors in the chain.

By complying with the voluntary standard MADE BY WOMAN, exporters work simultaneously with mandatory/regulatory standards and company-specific codes as well.

MADE BY WOMAN as a marketing tool for handicraft products

It is MADE BY WOMAN’s task to keep traditions and old skills alive either by supporting the artisans by buying their products or by learning the skills ourselves.

The handicraft market plays an important role in the international market, as it is often the only outlet of ancient skills that might otherwise expire and may also encourage artisans, freed from convention and functional requirements, to develop new skills and ideas.

Handicrafts impact a sense of a person’s identity, provide comfort, teach values, pass on ethnic heritage, teach practical skills, awake creativity, help heal from a loss or a trauma and generate wonderful memories.

Handicraft products have become entwined with folklore and myths. The act of creation is such a magical process that the invention of many crafts is credited to traditions, heroes, legends, rituals, celebrations, and symbolism. Working with the hands using natural materials promotes an empathy with the natural world. All together they bring value, make us feel connected and embody the principles of harmony and balance that bring about a successful life.

Benefits for consumers

Consumers are sensitive to where and how products were made. Every time when buying products, they are voting for the future of any given business. MADE BY WOMAN helps consumers to make wise choices and to support those companies who are concerned of their impact on the future of the Planet, who recycle, become ergonomic, do not sacrifice customers’ health for the sake of mass production, do not employ children to keep high margins.

Value-oriented purchases also make consumers cherish products, use them longer and be proud of their power to directly support responsible businesses.

Value-oriented consumers are responsible in heart and act as ambassadors for responsible behaviors of people around them.

Besides, MADE BY WOMAN cuts out the middleman, and ships directly internationally. So consumers don’t pay extra for the countless unnecessary intermediaries between the producer and the consumer.

Spill-over effects over the global economy

MADE BY WOMAN products generate positive effects on the overall economy of a country (employment, creation of opportunities in other sectors such as tourism, prevent rural exodus, etc.), the protection of the environment, gender issues, preservation of traditional knowledge and biodiversity, etc. As developing countries are rich of traditional knowledge, generated and transmitted over generations, they become active participants of the global economy by adding on to Western values their authentic Asian ones. MADE BY WOMAN bridges local talents with a global market.

Too often entrepreneurs develop businesses with the predominant idea of making profits. There some companies that do become value-oriented but later when getting wise. Or there are those companies that simply tend to disguise their position of monopoly by applying social responsibility principles into their corporate strategies. MADE BY WOMAN though contributes to turning passions and social concerns of small producers into responsible global businesses.