Earlier this summer The Anou Cooperative surpassed $1 million USD in total sales since we launched the Anou market place several years ago. This is a major milestone for any business. Businesses are hard. Only about 6% of business ever reach $1 million USD in sales. For Anou, this milestone is special because it was achieved by the effort of people erroneously believed to not be business savvy at all: artisans. Artisans across the Anou community have to make a huge jump and take on large challenges to transition to selling directly to customers. In addition to photographing and posting their own products, there are the challenges of how to scale their businesses and manage their growth. It’s not an easy learning curve. The biggest learning curve of all is that of Anou’s artisan leaders. Artisan leaders work as a team by working shifts at Anou’s HQ in order to help manage quality, manage materials for the artisan community such as wool and dye work, collaborate with partners such as our retail, shipping, donor and government partners, and help advise newer groups on how best to organize their cooperatives. Through this work, artisan leaders like Kenza of Association Tithrite, Brahim of Association Ighrem, Mustapha of Cooperative Nahda, Rachida of Cooperative Tiglmamin, Rabha of Cooperative Tamlalt, Fatiha of Cooperative Tifawin, Halima of Association Zaouia, all have set the bar for what artisans can achieve.This milestone and the success of all Anou’s artisan leaders all comes back to you, our supporters. To everyone who has helped advocate on Anou’s behalf, or purchased a product (or several!), told their friends and family or had their orders delayed due to various growing pains, none of this would be possible without you. The Anou community is deeply indebted to all of our customers and partners who have made this milestone a possibility. There is still much more work to be done in building Anou’s community and reshaping Morocco’s craft economy but with all of your support we know the best is yet to come.Kenza (left) of Association Tithrite.Rabha of Cooperative TamlaltFatiha of Cooperative TifawinBrahim of Association IghremHalima of Association ZaouiaMustapha of Association NahdaRachida (left) of Cooperative Tiglmamin
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