REVITALIZING CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIMACHAL PRADESH: SHGS INNOVATIONS, MARKET ADAPTATION, AND COLLABORATIVE GROWTH

2025-02-22T19:43:34+0530

Local economic development in Himachal Pradesh benefits from emerging entrepreneurial practices that use Self-Help Groups (SHG) as a key component. The region's local artisans and small-scale producers make up these grassroots organizations which work to protect their cultural heritage and simultaneously support rural livelihoods. SHGs need to adjust their operations toward changing market requirements while implementing contemporary marketing approaches to guarantee their prosperity and partnership with competing groups of artisans and SHGs. The study seeks to understand the ways that SHGs in Himachal Pradesh handle market adaptability challenges through analysis of collaboration initiatives and sustainability practices in addition to market adjustment approaches.The study adopts self-structured questionnaire that includes three districts, i.e., Kullu, Shimla and Kangra based on highest number of cultural product based SHGs in Himachal Pradesh to explain how SHGs adapt to market fluctuations and consumer taste and preferences and able to work under collaborative environment. The study found that SHGs organizations have successfully started adapting their operations to modern market demands yet they continue to encounter problems in technology adoption, promoting their goods on social media platforms, product development and sustainability practices. Social groups coordinate their activities to drive expansion but their partnerships stay restricted by organizational restrictions combined with inadequate infrastructure. Customer feedback represents a vital factor for SHGs because it helps them enhance both their products' quality and market appeal. SHGs must benefit from specialized assistance in capacity development combined with improved market connections and sustainable resource availability to succeed in current competitive business conditions. The policy should support strengthened SHG-government cooperation while delivering business practice education and encourage innovative approaches that preserve cultural heritage within the region.

Keywords: Cultural Entrepreneurship, Self-Help Groups, Cultural Heritage, Local Economy, Himachal Pradesh.

JEL Classification: G21, R11, O33, D83, L26

International Journal of Advances in Management and Economics

REVITALIZING CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIMACHAL PRADESH: SHGS INNOVATIONS, MARKET ADAPTATION, AND COLLABORATIVE GROWTH