Business Overview
Jumara Juwa is a an artisanal store composed of 30 skilled women, which sells cultural crafts such as parumas, necklaces, masks and baskets. The women that make up this group seek to find a way to share their culture and maintain their traditions alive and vibrant while also creating economic opportunities.
Jumara Juwa Artisanal Store - Ipetí Emberá, Panamá
Economic Challenge
Jumara Juwa was founded in January 2018 by 3 visionary women, and leaders in the community that seeked to share their culture with large groups of people across the country. This artisanal store is located in the community of Ipetí Emberá, right off the Panamerican highway, with a growing population of over 500 people. The committee has significantly grown over the past 2 years to 30 members, all women, which are consistently adapting to the needs of the market and eager to learn new ways to expand their business.
The Business
Previous brigades have recommended the group to have printed branded price tags for their artisan inventory, to keep a daily ledger of sales and to assign only one or two people to assist costumers in order to keep a clean inventory of sales. This group would like to learn more about how to create a tourism packet and promotional material to create a social media strategy as well as receive training on how to manage their inventory and assess the value of it.
Competitive Advantage
The community of Ipetí Emberá has developed a brand that has been endorsed by a World Guinness record following the active involvement and participation in the creation of the biggest fried plantain (patacón) of the world. This event in itself help gain more visibility for the community and Jumara Juwa as they were able to share their handcrafts and culture with almost a thousand people that came for the event. Furthermore, this group of women is also not only selling a product, but they are also using Jumara Juwa to create awareness of indigenous women empowerment and continously innovate in the design of their products they create by mixing contemporary and traditional Emberá designs.
Obstacles
At the moment some of largest issues this business faces is its lack of a marketing plan and of an organizational structure and policies. They also have a weak business model and inventory management.
Business Snapshot
Next Steps
The tasks thatJumara Juwa Artisanal Store has prioritized are:
Page Last Updated:December 03, 2019