Page 42 - MICROHUB Handbook - ENGLISH

Can you collaborate with some key partners for accessing and

sharing resources?

Or to leverage their experience, reputation and influence to

better engage with target customers?

Alliances with other key and more established players in the value chain
can help you reduce business risk by generating economies of scale and

scope in the manufacturing and provision of your products and services

Building and engaging in collaborative ecosystems can allow you to
leverage complementary skills and competences, as well as the power of

networks, to share the load of starting and growing a business.

For example, check out how Threadless[2] is crowdsourcing the design
and then the manufacturing of products, or how Powered by People[3]

offers a wholesale marketplace for small-batch producers.

So, who could be your key partners? Think about indirect competitors
(like distributors or sellers of crafts), support organisations, associations

or cooperatives of artisans in your region, etc. Like for example the

members of World Crafts Council Europe.

Want to know more? Further information relevant to

marketing, branding, sales and networking is also
available in Modules 3, 5 and 7.

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