From maintenance services to a new product line, and a pathway for local students
- Ecommerce
- New Revenue Channel
- Community and Skills Development
- Furniture and Refurbishment
A furniture refurbishment company that earned only from maintenance work wanted to sell products, and to give carpentry students from a partner college a way to earn from their work.
The client's revenue came entirely from services: repairing and restoring furniture. Every rand depended on someone being on site. At the same time, the company was working with a local TVET college and wanted its carpentry students to build real products, not only practise.
Objectives
- Add a product line so revenue no longer depended solely on service work
- Create a distribution channel to sell the products nationally
- Give partner-college carpentry students a way to have their work sold
- Build internship and training opportunities around the new line
Outcomes
- The company launched a product line alongside its service business
- An online store became the distribution channel for the new line
- Student-made products could be sold and monetized, giving the work real value
- Internship and training opportunities were created for students in the community
The opportunity
The business had skills, a college partnership and a community goal, but no way to turn them into a product people could buy. The opportunity was to build a commercial model that served all three: a product line to diversify income, a channel to sell it, and a role for students inside the supply chain.
Approach
We began with the business model, not the website. We worked with the client to define what the product line would be, how student work would fit into production, and how orders would flow from customer to workshop. Only then did we design and build the online store around that model, so the platform reflected how the business would actually operate.
Overview of the solution
- Product line planning: defining the range, positioning and how student-made items would be offered
- Ecommerce store: a storefront acting as the distribution channel for the new line
- Catalog and presentation: products structured and photographed for online selling
- Supply chain fit: a clear path from customer order to student production to delivery
- Community pathway: the platform supports the college partnership, internships and training
Technology highlights
- Ecommerce platform with catalog and checkout
- Product catalog structure and search-friendly pages
- Order handling aligned to a workshop production model
Impact
The business moved from selling only its time to selling products, with a channel built to scale. Students gained a way to see their work sold, and the company created training and internship opportunities in its community.
