Not sure it’s that far off. If we find that it’s attractive for more upstarting co-working spaces and communal spaces in the MENA region, we might want to bake this into the next project funding proposal that @nadia is working on.
I agree that it’s risky as an alternative to existing co-living models. I had primarily co-working models and other non-residential communal spaces in mind though (didn’t write that clearly). Of these, there are many more, and they can add guestrooms or living quarters without making that their focus.
That’s a great idea – I’ll add it above! Because, online sales to European consumers enables your artisans to get a higher price, when compared to both local sales and sales via wholesalers. (Market prices in Europe are higher, and by having an online marketplace for direct sales this higher margin is not captured by intermediate traders but can go to those manufacturing the products.)
We tried something similar here at Edgeryders by importing coffee beans from a village in Nepal and offering it on an associated online marketplace for direct sales (epelia.com), which a friend of mine founded. The farmers would get approximately double the normal price, while our sales prices in Europe are still average. And managing European Union customs is definitely doable (it’s a little nightmare the first time, but we got the coffee through in the end). Manuals and instructions for handling this can be part of the knowledge base as well.
The big problem with this approach is however, nothing sells online in Europe if you don’t actively market it. When Europeans do that marketing, a big part of the sales price will have to stay with them due to the higher price and wage level in Europe. I think the only solution to that is a collaboration where most of the marketing effort is done locally in the country where manufacturing happens, and only tasks that require knowledge of the European target market would be done inside Europe.