Habaradas, Aure, Mia (2017)

Plush & Play

Dr. Raymund Habaradas

Mr. Patrick Adriel Aure
Mr. Ian Benedict Mia

Company Background

Plush & Play is a social enterprise that manufactures stuffed toys crafted by the artisan women in the Gawad
Kalinga Enchanted Farm (GKEF) community. The stuffed toys are designed as fruits and vegetables, and among
some of these designs include Manny Pakwan, Jessica Saging, Pan Talong, Buko Martin, Fili Pinya, and Antonio
Repolyo, among several others. The social enterprise was founded in November 1, 2012 by French social
entrepreneur Fabien Courteille. His four other co-founders include Ainee Idanan, Coco Cruz, Howard Lorenzo,
and Lanie Montepio.

In a 2015 interview with ANC Green Living, Fabien narrates the premise of why he decided to build the social
enterprise:

“I’m obviously not Filipino and I totally understand why it’s ironic that a French guy is telling his love
for the Philippines to the Filipinos. I was planning to start a business, but eventually I turn on my television
in France and he is the business owner, he is the bad guy. You would see titles like cost-cutting, firing
people, outsourcing – and in my mind, I was wondering, why am I doing this? I don’t want to be the bad
guy. I thought being an entrepreneur would be providing solutions to economic problems and
environmental problems. I was getting to the point where I was getting confused, then I randomly found
out about Gawad Kalinga and their plan of using business to bring people out of poverty. I wanted to be
part of the organization that will end poverty in this country.”

Prior to starting the business, however, Fabien admitted that he knew nothing about sewing or creating stuffed
toys. By discovering that the women in the GKEF community were former workers in textile factories in Bulacan,
Fabien decided to partner up with them and come up with stuffed toy designs. One of their first designs was Anne
Kamatis, which is named after the famous Filipina actress, Anne Curtis. They were also able to get Anne Curtis
as an endorser for this stuffed toy.

The main demographic that Fabien wanted to highlight with the stuffed toys were the millions of kids in the
country. “It became a source of inspiration, and because most of the families made me their ninong, pag inaanak.
Pag dating sa pasko, mahal. So, that’s what I thought of, using the skills of the mothers to make products that we
can give to the kids,” he narrates.

Plush and Play began with only a capital of P5,000, which was shouldered by Fabien. He mentions that he needed
to borrow money from different people, and that building the social enterprise involved being very “street smart.”
Initially, Fabien had to lead all aspects of the company, including the stuffed toy designs, quality control, and
delivery, among several others. He also adds that the company would not be able to survive without the help of
the GKEF community and management team.

According to Fabien, Plush and Play has realized profit during its first few years, breakeven during 2016, and
loss during the present year. Their loss this year was mainly attributed back when they received a big order from
a certain corporate account. Fabien says that the production would cost around P80,000, but would give around
half a million worth of salaries. The problem for Fabien, however, was that this would give “too much jobs” for
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the artisan women, and that they won’t have enough time for their families. He had to decline the offer. This is
an example of how Plush and Play prioritized the social welfare of its artisan women more than the financial gains
that they could otherwise have gained through the corporate order.

Despite the loss this year, however, Fabien still aims to be able to produce 100,000 by the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, Fabien claims that the reason why they have their products consigned in Toy Kingdom was not for
profit, but to increase brand awareness. “Filipinos only believe your brand if it’s out there. If they see it on TV.
For marketing purposes. We try to expand and make it profitable,” he explains. Fortunately, their marketing
efforts were fruitful, since they have had inquiries from various corporate clients including Maynilad, which
Fabien claims to be their most loyal customer. They reach their customers via social media initiatives such as
Facebook and Instagram posts as well.

Regarding daily operations, Fabien’s schedule is very tight. He summarizes his daily routine on the narrative
below.

“Usually I start early, try to be in the workshop. Try to get the feel of how the mothers are doing and how
the production is. Set the mood. Usually around 9AM the guests are arriving. We do all the registration
for the guests. Then I tour from 10-12PM. I go to meeting. Production development. Supervising students.
I’m doing my incubation job. I usually try to eat, but sometimes [it’s] hassle to schedule. Try to get back
to work. Usually lunch is meeting. 1PM is usually demo. Then 3-5PM I work in Plush and Play. 5-6PM
meeting, management team meeting of farm. Then after, I deliver.”

Fabien shares that when he delivers to Maynilad, for instance, the only person that he always gets to meet is the
security guard. “Usually I deliver at night, 9 or 10PM. Like Maynilad, average delivery time is midnight. I only
know the security guard in Maynilad,” he furthers.

In terms of the advice that Fabien can give to aspiring social entrepreneurs, he mentions that the social mission
should be clear. Any aspirants must also first understand how current social entrepreneurs are running their social
enterprises.

“Don’t start your own yet. It’s only when you’re ready. It’s super demanding. It’s not 8 to 5. The biggest
challenge, honestly, is you don’t have the boss behind you to make sure you get the work done, so it’s easy
to be tempted of not doing it. Postponing it to tomorrow. Not challenging yourself to do more. That’s
what’s challenging, I think,” he emphasizes.

Social Value Proposition

The vision of Plush and Play is “to be the leading Filipino global toy company that inspires the next generation
of young heroes and nation builders,” and to realize this, their mission is “by melding the creative genius of the
poor together with the passion of young social entrepreneurs, we create proudly Filipino world class products,
restoring our people’s dignity and promoting children’s right to play, one stitch at a time.”

Plush and Play has the following main goals:

1. Employment – provide a secure source of income for 500 families by 2017
2. Education – continuously inspire and raise a new generation of young heroes and local social
entrepreneurs
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3. Equality – in 2024, no children in the Philippines will be deprived of their right to play, growing up
without toys
4. Standards – continuously set new standards in the Philippine toy industry in the areas of safety, social,
and environmental impact

Through the website of Plush and Play, information about the artisan women are readily available. Tita Fe, Tita
Frida, and Tita Sheryl all live in the GKEF community, and are near their Plush and Play workshop. This way,
they can essentially spend time with their children while working.

Currently, Plush and Play measures its social impact through various aspects like the women’s proximity to home,
time spent with family, empowerment, number of scholarships provided, and number of donations, among others.
He mentions that these are easy to monitor in terms of social impact, while others like household income are
difficult. Plush and Play also has a Japanese intern named Inako, whom Fabien is convincing to become the
company’s “Chief Operator of Happiness.” From time to time, Plush and Play also donates to the GKEF for it to
be able to continue its operations and services.

Seatwork (answer by pair or trio) – Questions / Tasks:

1. Visualize the current business model of Plush & Play. How would you characterize it – mainstream or
multistream? Why?

2. Enumerate positive and negative trends per PESTEL element that may affect Plush & Play (you may
adopt both macroenvironment/international environment perspectives). You may do your own research
and/or refer to the files.

3. Conduct a SWOT analysis for Plush & Play by answering the questions below:
a. What are the positive (strengths) and negative (weaknesses) characteristics of Plush & Play’s
current business model?
b. What positive and negative trends, based on your PESTEL analysis, can be considered as
opportunities and threats to Plush & Play?
c. What refinements and innovations can you propose for Plush & Play’s business model? Draw a
new business model that shows your refinements (you need not replace all the building blocks).