Social Food Inc: Creating an Effective Social Enterprise through Vertical Integration

Case Study

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Photo Source: Social Food Inc.

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I. Introduction

Sim Sin Sin sits in her small office adjacent to the commercial kitchen at Kampong Ampat. In the food preparation room flanking her office, 10 trainees get ready to clean and peel 250 kilograms of ginger. This is similar to how an ordinary day starts in any centralized kitchen facility—the difference here is that the trainees are all persons with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities. Sin Sin is the founder of Social Food Inc. (SFI), a Singapore-based Social Enterprise with the aim of teaching food preparation skills to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to integrate them into the workforce. A Social Enterprise is a business entity that is set up to achieve social and/or environmental objectives while simultaneously seeking financial return.1 Prior to starting SFI, Sin Sin ran another Social Enterprise called Spice Connect, which managed a chain of laksa-themed cafes with the main purpose of employing PWDs. While Spice Connect had a solid product, an innovative theme, and a robust social mission, the ultimate impact was minimal, because as a café requiring full operations, only 20% of its workforce could be PWDs. Thus, exasperated by the huge investments made into employing only a few PWDs, Sin Sin vertically integrated her businesses under SFI to establish a pipeline where PWDs are not only employed, but also trained in the skills needed to work in a commercial environment.2 While SFI’s main goal is training PWDs, it also encompasses a catering and a food manufacturing division to bring in revenue for the enterprise while providing in-house jobs to PWDs. In pursuit of its social mission, SFI has trained 28 persons with intellectual challenges in food preparation skills within a span of 2 years. However, Sin Sin now faces the uphill battle of finding ways to incorporate more PWDs into her program while ensuring financial sustainability. Observing the action taking place around her, Sin Sin muses on her journey: “I was clear from the very beginning that my business must serve my social mission. However, I am only skimming the tip of the iceberg—so many PWDs in Singapore are still in day care centers and at home without any training or jobs. We need to find ways to integrate them into the workforce. But I cannot do it alone…”3

II. Background/Context Participation of PWDs in Singapore’s Workforce Estimates based on 2010 data from the Health and Education ministries suggest that Singapore has around 97,200 PWDs, averaging about 3% of Singapore’s general population; the majority – approximately 77,200 – are over the age of 18.4 The Singapore Government defines PWDs as those persons “whose prospects of securing, retaining places and advancing in education and training institutions, employment and recreation as equal members of the community are substantially reduced as a result of physical, sensory, intellectual and developmental impairments.”5 Currently in Singapore, the pathways taken by PWDs vary according to the type and extent of disability, as well as the level of engagement and care given. Most PWDs in Singapore attend Special Education (SPED) schools until the age of 18. Upon graduating from SPED schools, some PWDs may be able to enter the workforce, while those with more severe disabilities may remain unqualified to

1 Roshni Prakash & Pauline Tan (2014). “Landscape of Social Enterprises in Singapore.” National University of Singapore. 2 Vertical integration is a strategy where a company expands its business operations into different steps of the same production path. (Vertical Integration, n.d.) 3 Interview with Sin Sin, August 29, 2014. 4 R. Raghunathan, B. Balakrishnan, C.J. Smith and M.M. Kadir (2015). “People with Physical Disabilities in Singapore: Understanding Disabling Factors in Care-Giving, Education, Employment & Finances.” Singapore; Lien Center of Innovation. 5 S. Shukla Pandey. “Hiring and Working with PWDs.” HRM (15.3), pp.33-35.

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work and in need of constant care services. While a substantial number of PWDs in Singapore remain closeted in their homes, care and employment options provided by the private and public sectors range from Day Activity Centers (DAC) to sheltered workshops and open employment.6

Figure 1: Spectrum of Care to Employment Options for PWDs in Singapore

Source: Adapted from ‘Enabling Master Plan 2012-16’, Ministry of Social and Family Development.

DACs cater to PWDs between 16 and 55 years old who have more severe disabilities and are therefore deemed unable to take up open employment or attend sheltered workshops. The activities at DACs thus promote the development of cognitive, social, communication, language, and motor skills, to maximize the independence of PWDs and to transition them to workshop employment.7 Around 15% of PWDs who graduate from SPED schools are placed in DACs.8 Sheltered workshops provide employment and vocational training to three groups of PWDs: i) PWDs with the potential to be placed in open employment; ii) PWDs with limited or no potential for open employment but who are productive in sheltered workshops; iii) PWDs with limited or no potential for open employment and limited productivity in sheltered workshops. Trainees engage in sub-contract work such as packaging, letter-shopping, tagging products, etc. These workshops prepare trainees to secure open employment, or a job in the open market.9 Open employment refers to PWDs securing job placements in the open market. With open employment, PWDs are able to live a life similar to that of a person without disabilities. Public and private sectors are thus relived from the burden of constructing DACs and sheltered workshops catering specifically to the needs of the PWDs. In bid to transition more PWDs into open employment, the Singaporean government has taken proactive steps to promote the inclusion of PWDs into the workforce. Under the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Enabling Masterplan 2007-2011, efforts were dedicated to the employment of PWDs based on a value chain employment framework comprising of vocational assessment, training, job placement and support. The Government collaborated with Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWOs)10 to give PWDs training to acquire Workforce Skills Certification

6 Enabling Master Plan 2012-16. (2012). Ministry of Social and Family Development. Government of Singapore. 7 Day Activity Centres. (n.d.). Retrieved from SG Enable: https://www.sgenable.sg/pages/content.aspx?path=/for-adults/day-activity-centres 8 Enabling Master Plan 2012-2016. (2012) Ministry of Social and Family Development. Government of Singapore. 9 Sheltered Workshop. (n.d.). Retrieved from SPD: http://www.spd.org.sg/sheltered-workshop.html 10 In Singapore, welfare agencies are called “Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs)”.

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(WSQ) in identified industries, thereby equipping them with skills and certification to pursue open employment.11 SG Enable, a government agency dedicated to enabling PWDs to join the workforce, is also working with VWOs and private sector partners on creating structured support programs that help PWDs into work attachments and subsequently employment.12

The Singapore government has also created strong incentives for employers to hire PWDs as part of its mission to create a more inclusive workforce. In 2007, the government set up the Enabling Employers’ Network (EEN) which has engaged more than 100 companies from various industries to commit to more than 400 employment opportunities for PWDs.13 In 2014, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) launched an Open Door Program under which companies could apply for funding support to hire, train and integrate persons with disabilities.14 In 2016, SG Enable launched a disability-employment portal where employers can post job openings for PWDs.15

On the whole, these efforts by the government have shown promising results. Since 2014, SG Enable and three of its partners have matched and supported more than 650 PWDs into jobs with employers.16 Between 2008 and 2010, the percentage of graduates from SPED schools who were placed through open employment increased from 2.6% to 21%.17 The government’s push to employ PWDs has led to an overall rise in employment rates even among the clients of VWOs. The number of disabled people who found jobs through SPD (formerly known as the Singapore Center for the Physically Disabled)18 almost tripled, with 127 securing jobs in 2015 compared to 37 in 2013.19 An increasing proportion of people with intellectual disabilities are also being employed. The Movement for Intellectually Disabled for Singapore (MINDS) is the largest VWO in Singapore running schools, sheltered workshops and DACs for the intellectually challenged— between 2010 and 2016, the number of MINDS workers placed in jobs increased from 25 to 185.20 Despite these achievements, the majority of PWDs in Singapore remain either unemployed or underemployed despite their ability and willingness to work.21 Successful professionals with disabilities are exceptions rather than the norm, and PWDs today do not have equal access to employment because significant barriers to entry remain.22 In 2015, about 200 out of 900 clients in MINDS’ shelters were unable to find work fitting their skill and ability level.23 Furthermore, although the majority of clients in sheltered workshops added value, about 90% of the clients earned less than SGD200 per month.24 More measures need to be taken to match the skills and needs of PWDs to available jobs with competitive wages.

11 Enabling Master Plan 2012-2016 (2012). Ministry of Social and Family Development. Government of Singapore. 12 Ibid. 13 Enabling Masterplan 2012-2016. (2016). Ministry of Social and Family Development. Government of Singapore. 14 Yng, J. (2016, May 6). As Bosses Come Around More People with Disabilities Get to Taste the Dignity of Labor. Retrieved from todayonline: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bosses-come-around-more-disabled-people-get-taste-dignity-labour 15 “More Initiatives, Support for Persons with Disabilities to Join the Workforce. (2016, 27 February). Retrieved from todayonline.com: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/more-initiatives-support-persons-disabilities-join-workforce 16 Ibid. 17 Enabling Masterplan 2012-2016. (2016). Ministry of Social and Family Development. Government of Singapore. 18 Formerly known as the Society for the Physically Disabled, it was later renamed as simply “SPD” to reflect the work of persons beyond those with physical disabilities. 19 Ting, Y. K. (2016, January 2). More Disabled People Finding Jobs Within Past 2 years. Retrieved from channelnewsasia.com: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-disabled-people/2392670.html 20 Yng, J. (2016, May 6). As Bosses Come Around More People with Disabilities Get to Taste the Dignity of Labor. Retrieved from todayonline: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bosses-come-around-more-disabled-people-get-taste-dignity-labour 21 Disabled People’s Association, Singapore (2015). Achieving Inclusion in the Workforce. 22 Ibid. 23 Tai, J. (2015, 18 May). People with Disabilities Losing Jobs to Technology. Retrieved from straitstimes. com: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/people-with-disabilities-losing-jobs-to-technology 24 Enabling Masterplan 2012-2016 (2016). Ministry of Social and Family Development, Government of Singapore.

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Implications of excluding PWDs from the workforce Exclusion of PWDs from the workforce has two major implications: it lowers the quality of life for PWDs and it unnecessarily places financial strain on both the PWD families and the larger economy. First, unemployed PWDs experience significantly lower quality of life. Research indicates that the benefits of work for PWDs are similar to those of the non-disabled population: a sense of personal accomplishment and productivity, a social network of co-workers and friends, increased income, and the possibility of further professional and personal growth and advancement.25 Employment fosters independence and self-confidence and facilitates beneficial integration into mainstream society.26 Second, unemployed PWDs place financial burdens on familial caregivers and society. As demand for PWD care services exceeds supply, the average waiting time to get into a care facility ranges from six to twelve months.27 The financial implications weigh families, as caregivers must choose between hiring expensive domestic helpers and sacrificing personal employment opportunities to provide full-time care. Moreover, there is a large financial cost of engaging respite care services in DACs and short-term care at residential homes. An unemployed PWD at a DAC for most of his adult-years costs approximately SGD260,000.28 Thus the potential cost savings from employed PWDs is substantial for families. In addition, the economy also benefits if PWDs are able to bring in income and pay taxes.29 Engaging the Private Sector in Employing PWDs At present, the government and individual efforts of VWOs support the PWD employment landscape. VWOs include: MINDS, SPD, Autism Resource Center (ARC), Downs Syndrome Association, and Bizlink. Through the efforts of these organizations, more companies are increasingly open to hiring PWDs. However, open employment of PWDs in Singapore still faces a significant challenge—there remains a lack of awareness of how the companies can successfully integrate PWDs into their workforce. In Singapore, employers tend to hire PWDs as part of their companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program or as a means to reduce their dependence on foreign labour and comply with Singapore’s employment quotas. 30 However, many employers are not fully aware of the job accommodations31 needed for PWDs to be productive in the workplace.32 Employers interested in hiring PWDs have to be willing to put in the extra mile to modify the work systems and provide support, not just on a one-time basis, but on an ongoing basis.33 To this end, much help is still required to raise awareness of the importance of job accommodation, and enable

25 Burge, P., Ouelette-Kuntz, H., & Lysaght, R. (2007). Public Views on Employment of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation 26, 29-37. 26 Enabling Master Plan 2007-2012 (2007). Ministry of Social and Family Development, Government of Singapore. 27 Homes for Adults with Intellectial Disabilities. (2016, March 24). Retrieved from Ministry of Social and Family Development: https://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room/Homes-for-adults-with-intellectual-disabilities 28 Enabling Master Plan 2007-2012 (2007). Ministry of Social and Family Development, Government of Singapore. 29 Burge, P., Ouelette-Kuntz, H., & Lysaght, R. (2007). Public Views on Employment of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation 26, 29-37. 30 Poh, R. (2013, December 6). Workers with Disabilities Face Greater Difficulties in Job Searches. Retrieved from spd.org.sg: http://www.spd.org.sg/updates/detail/workers-with-disabilities-face-greater-difficulties-in-job-searches-140.html 31 The United States Department of Labor defines job accommodation as a reasonable adjustment to a job or work environment that makes it possible for an individual with disability to perform job duties. In Singapore, there is no legislation yet that requires employers to provide job accommodation. 32 Poh, R. (2013, December 6). Workers with Disabilities Face Greater Difficulties in Job Searches. Retrieved from spd.org.sg: http://www.spd.org.sg/updates/detail/workers-with-disabilities-face-greater-difficulties-in-job-searches-140.html 33 Goy, P. (2014, April 19). More Firms in Singapore Hiring People with Disabilities. Retrieved from straitstimes. com: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-firms-in-singapore-hiring-people-with-disabilities

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employers to build their capability to hire, train and integrate PWDs.34 Thus, while VWOs serving PWDs work with businesses, the relationship needs to be stronger and more systematic to ensure an effective and sustainable workforce transition. In addition, employers willing to hire PWDs sometimes face a lack of supply of job-ready persons with disabilities. A research by MSF into the waiting list of Job Placement and Support agencies35 revealed that some PWDs lacked the requisite employability skills and industry-specific skills.36 They were mainly adults who had missed out on adequate vocational preparation to enable them to transition them into the workforce. Thus, a pipeline of adequately trained PWDs must be created to enable employers to accommodate them in relevant job tasks. Private sector stakeholders can step in to fill up the gap of providing training opportunities for PWDs. SFI is one such Social Enterprise that has stepped into the PWD training space with the support of the Singapore government.

III. The Journey to Founding SFI: Building an Effective Business Model Breaking Ground with Spice Connect Sim Sin Sin calls herself an “accidental social entrepreneur.” In what she refers to as “her previous lifetime”, Sin Sin was the CEO of her family’s business, an international chain of cafes specializing in a range of fine quality gourmet cakes. Not only did she hone her business acumen there, but she also finessed her ability to implement standardized business operations. However, her career took a serendipitous turn in 2007 when the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), a psychiatric rehabilitation center in Singapore, approached Sin Sin with a simple request for collaboration. They wanted her café chain to outsource some of its work to the IMH central kitchen to provide patients recovering from mental illnesses with job-based skills training and an earned income upon release from the center. Sin Sin says, “I knew immediately it was something I wanted to be involved with, but the business model of my café chain did not incorporate the use of a central kitchen.” While neither commercially nor legally viable for her to outsource her café operations to the IMH central kitchen, she felt personally compelled to help the IMH patients and decided to find alternative ways to assist. Sin Sin agreed to provide training in basic food preparation skills such as baking cookies and cakes to recovering patients at IMH’s central kitchen on a volunteer basis. While the cookies and cakes were not used formally for her business, the instruction provided activity and useful training for the patients. During her time at IMH, Sin Sin and her training staff closely observed the patients. Here she made the crucial observation that she would carry to her later businesses: challenged persons’ unique skill set includes meticulous, repetitive tasks. Based on this simple, yet powerful observation, Sin Sin conceived of the idea of a separate chain of laksa-themed cafes that would be created with the sole purpose of employing PWDs. Thus, Sin Sin established a new company called Spice Connect, Singapore’s first food and beverage (F&B) Social Enterprise. Between 2008 and 2010, Sin Sin conducted research and development in two phases: the first phase was to perfect Spice Connect’s proprietary Laksa paste recipe so that it could be produced and scaled without losing its unique combination of flavors; the second phase was to establish the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the central kitchen in a way that all employees could work

34 Poh, R. (2013, December 6). Workers with Disabilities Face Greater Difficulties in Job Searches. Retrieved from spd.org.sg: http://www.spd.org.sg/updates/detail/workers-with-disabilities-face-greater-difficulties-in-job-searches-140.html 35 The four dedicated Job Placement and Support Agencies are: Autism Resource Center, Bizlink, MINDS and SPD, as of January 2012 (Source: Enabling Master Plan 2014-2016). 36 Enabling Master Plan 2012-2016 (2012). Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore.

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effectively within their existing capabilities.37 Because PWDs require a set of systematic repetitive tasks, these step-by-step, clear and uniform instructions are essential to the business model. By streamlining the preparation process, there was less potential for communication errors, and more efficient engagement of PWDs. Difficult Financial Battles In 2010, Sin Sin opened her first laksa-themed café known as Laksania, under the parent company, Spice Connect, using the seed funding provided by MSF’s ComCare Enterprise Fund. Within a span of 3 years, Sin Sin opened 4 Laksania outlets. PWDs were employed in various capacities in Spice Connect’s central kitchen in IMH and at the cafés. Despite having a worthy social mission as well as an innovative theme, commercially Laksania struggled. Her business suffered a major blow in 2012 when she lost the tender to the central kitchen at IMH, which she was originally utilizing for free under the volunteering partnership with IMH. Despite slow sales at Laksania and higher operating costs that came with the loss of the IMH kitchen, Sin Sin did not want to let her employees down by closing the business. She found a dedicated 2,500 square foot central kitchen at Kampong Ampat with much steeper rental rates. It was increasingly difficult to make Laksania financially sustainable. She was forced to close down two of her outlets in the end of 2013 when poor sales and negative cash flow pushed the company to insolvency. To keep the business afloat, she sold her family's landed property in Upper Thomson, bringing the amount

that had gone into keeping Laksania alive to over SGD2 million. She also stepped down as chief executive officer of her cafe chain to focus exclusively on her Social Enterprise. Sin Sin reviewed both the viability of her business model and her business’ positive impact. She says, “If I have to run a café, I have to employ at least 80% able people—my cooks and cashiers have to be able. And for employing a small number of PWDs, I incur high costs in renting and refurbishing a commercial outlet to fit their needs. However, I was very clear from the beginning that my business will serve my social mission and not vice versa.” Determined to not give up on her social mission, Sin Sin found alternative ways to make her business viable and impactful. A closer review of her business revealed that the maximum social impact of the business centred around the central kitchen. Between 2008 and 2013, Spice Connect trained nearly 200 PWDs in its central kitchen. Sin Sin decided that she would change her business model to focus more on catering through her central kitchen. She rebranded Laksania to attract a wider audience and expanded the central kitchen’s operations to supply other institutions as well as Laksania. Providing meals en masse daily to institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools was one way she could keep the kitchen going without retraining her kitchen staff.

IV. Social Food Inc. Unfolds The Need for Vertical Integration While Sin Sin exhibited resourcefulness and innovative entrepreneurship, she struggled to develop a sound business model that would produce profit and generate social impact. Further, Sin Sin’s experience for the past 5 years in working with PWDs gave her insights into the wider spectrum of disabilities that were not being addressed. She realized that the persons she was employing at the Laksania outlets were PWDs who had the highest functional capacities. Even if they lost their jobs at

37 The Accidental Social Entrepreneur- Sin Sin (Batch of 1984). (2014, February 27). Retrieved from bizblogs.nus.edu: http://bizblogs.nus.edu/alumni/tag/laksania/

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Laksania, they would immediately be absorbed by other companies that employed PWDs. However, there was far less scope for training and employing persons who came from the moderate to severe spectrum of intellectual challenges. Thus, with such observations, and having amassed a depth of highly specialized knowledge on how to train individuals with special needs, Sin Sin identified an additional avenue through which she could help the PWDs – through specialized training in food preparation skills geared specifically to make PWDs with lower functional capacities integrated into the workforce. To focus on developing the training and employment opportunities for PWDs and to also allow her other Social Enterprise, Spice Connect, to focus on running the Laksania restaurants, Sin Sin decided that a separate entity was needed. Thus, in 2014 Sin Sin founded another Social Enterprise, Social Food Inc. (SFI) with her daughter Su Yin, as a sister entity to Spice Connect with the central idea of training PWDs, providing them with a viable income and helping them find jobs through open employment. Sin Sin was the main driving force behind SFI while Su Yin would later become the principal trainer of PWDs in basic food preparation skills. Together, Sin Sin and Su Yin identified the target beneficiaries of SFI to be the untapped, almost hidden pool of PWDs who were unable to enter the workforce. These were persons with more severe forms of functional disabilities – those with Autism, Down’s syndrome and other such intellectual challenges who were less functional and languished in DACs or stayed at home with caregivers. Sin Sin said, “Initially, I did not plan to specifically work only with those with intellectual challenges. But I realized that is where the need is the strongest.” Under SFI, Sin Sin would later add three divisions: Train and Place (TnP), OEM Food Manufacturing (OEM), and the Catering Division to ensure both financial viability and impact creation of the business. However, the primary focus of SFI was the TnP program to equip PWDs with skills they need to work in a commercial kitchen environment.

Figure 2: Relationship between SFI and Spice Connect

By incorporating the TnP program, Sin Sin vertically integrated her business model, meaning she included distinct businesses at different stages of production under one company, SFI. While many businesses vertically integrate to reduce costs, control delivery times and improve the quality of the product, Sin Sin found vertical integration to be the best model, given PWD needs. She reasoned that in order to transition the supply of untapped PWDs towards the employer demand in the open employment space, she needed to first train the PWDs, then offer them work within her own organization in Catering and OEM. Once fully adjusted and capable of assuming added responsibilities in a foreign environment, the PWDs could assume roles in external organizations.

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Figure 3: Value Chain Employment Framework

Train and Place: An Introduction Cognizant that the TnP program was to be the backbone of her vertically integrated business, Sin Sin started SFI with the creation of the TnP Division. She created a 12-month framework which can be broadly broken into three distinct phases. Phase 1 - Basic training: Each trainee spends the first six months in SFI’s central kitchen, learning basic kitchen knowledge and skills in a supportive and stress-free environment. Because PWDs cannot travel independently, SFI arranges transportation to bring them to its central kitchen. The trainees work in the kitchen from 10AM to 3:30PM every day, completing basic tasks such as counting and measuring packets of sugar, flour, spoons etc. At the end of the six months, trainees undergo an evaluation to determine what specialized activities each trainee will focus on for the next stage of the Program. Phase 2 - Work environment exposure: The aim of the second 6-month phase is to equip each trainee to work in a professional kitchen. SFI matches the skillset of each trainee with the needs of the relevant F&B companies, and a Program supervisor monitors the development of each trainee. The supervisor also familiarizes the employer with the working style as well as emotional needs of the trainees. The trainees advance to food preparation activities such as cleaning ginger, chopping vegetables and making curry puffs. Phase 3 - Graduation and employment: Once a trainee has completed 6 months of on-site training in an F&B company’s central kitchen, the trainee will ideally be offered a full-time position in this kitchen and be integrated in the workforce. Sin Sin felt confident with this TnP program because it would prepare trainees at their own pace and according to their individual skill set. Only with supportive and detail-oriented training would the PWDs have any hope of future employment. Creating a Sustainable Business through Vertical Integration of Operations Once Sin Sin mapped out the TnP program, she fully recognized its potential financial cost. The basic cost of the proposed TnP program included training materials, rent and utilities. Trainers were

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needed for day-to-day training and overseeing of the trainees. A manager was also required to focus on (i) developing relationships with F&B companies that would take on trainees after they had completed their basic training, (ii) working together with relevant stakeholders in the selection process of the trainees and (iii) coordinating the training materials with the trainers. Additionally, a supervisor would oversee and monitor the trainees once they had been placed into the kitchens of F&B companies. These estimated costs daunted Sin Sin, leaving her to wonder, “Who will pay us? It is either the government or the parents. But if the parents say they cannot afford the training costs, do we want to miss being inclusive because nobody is paying for it?”38 Because the TnP program was not commercial in nature, it would require financial support from the government to cover ongoing training costs as well as the salaries for the personnel required to run the program. However, if the training grant funding was unavailable, the business would need to be thought of very differently.39 In the worst-case scenario, the program might not be able to launch at all if SFI is unable to find alternative funding sources. Due to the significant capital outlay required, Sin Sin concluded that the training program could not exist as a standalone operation. She would need to create an overall sustainable business model that would generate revenue and thus subsidize the training program. Sin Sin decided to postpone the TnP program’s launch and instead focus on creating revenue generating divisions for SFI, which would hire PWDs, create synergies across operations, and vertically integrate SFI. Expanding Operations: OEM and Catering Divisions As a start, Sin Sin decided to first establish a new division known as OEM Food Manufacturing to take over the laksa production process of Spice Connect, which ran restaurants and produced hand-made laksa pastes and marinades. As a revenue generating unit, OEM division would charge Spice Connect a 1.5x mark up on the processed ingredient. Because Spice Connect expected stable demand, SFI would also constantly generate revenue from sales. In the future, the OEM division could expand into retail sales, selling its laksa pastes to a broader range of food establishments. Moreover, to ensure synergies with the anticipated TnP program, the OEM division would provide outsourced support products such as chopped ginger, onion, vegetables, etc. to commercial F&B establishments. This division also served as an opportunity for placement of trainees under Phase 3 of the TnP program. In addition, as the OEM division required a central kitchen for its operations, a combination of OEM and training would optimize the use of the central kitchen under SFI. To establish OEM’s food manufacturing division and equip its new kitchen space, SFI used the capital from a recently awarded grant from Comcare Enterprise Fund. The grant stipulated that SFI must train and employ 30 PWDs in its kitchen over three years. Second, after establishing the OEM division, Sin Sin looked to open another unit–Catering. In addition to the fact that the OEM division which trained PWDs left unused food supplies which could be used for a catering business, Sin Sin reasoned, “Catering will feed jobs into the TnP, and it is more varied. While the PWDs are able to continue to make paste for Laksania, this is very unique to our business and the skill is not so transferable. However, the skills involved in cutting of vegetables and cake, etc. is more transferable to other central kitchens.”40

38 Interview with Sim Sin Sin, August 29, 2016. 39 Interview with Sim Sin Sin, August 29, 2016. 40 Interview with Sin Sin, September 14, 2016.

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However, knowing that the F&B landscape in Singapore was extremely competitive and her small start-up was not yet in a position to directly compete with the big players, Sin Sin decided to seek other avenues for catering. She looked in particular for an avenue that could not only provide a revenue stream, but could also increase her social impact. Her optimal solution therefore was to provide full catering services to a variety of care homes around Singapore.41 After tendering for care home catering contracts, in March 2014, SFI received its first catering contract from Simei Care Center, a purpose-built psychiatric rehabilitation center. Under this 2-year contract, SFI would prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for approximately 150 residents. All meals would be prepared by SFI staff and the care center residents in the kitchen, while a number of sauces and marinades would be prepared in SFI’s central kitchen in order to simplify the cooking process at the Centre as well as utilize its space and resources at SFI’s central kitchen. In addition to care home catering, SFI also offered small-scale, ad-hoc catering activities, including one-off and recurring events and private functions. With plans to gain contacts with four centers per year over the next five years, SFI envisioned drastically expanding the Catering division and making it a strong revenue driver. Tying Divisions Together and Cementing Effective Vertical Integration The partnership between the TnP, OEM, and Catering divisions streamlined the process for PWDs to move from elementary food training to employment. Not only was the integration better from a financial perspective, but it also benefited the PWDs. Vertically integrating the business units proved advantageous on various fronts. First, while the TnP division primarily runs on grant funding, the Catering and OEM divisions generate revenue, which then covers the overhead costs of business operations for SFI at large. Second, the Catering and OEM divisions use the training program’s prepared food, which mitigates waste. Third, since the catering contracts vary on a daily basis, the trainees learn a diverse range of skills, possibly unattainable if the TnP division was a stand-alone unit. Lastly, TnP trainees gain exposure to commercial kitchens during the training program, which prepares them to find job placement in SFI’s Catering division or in the on-site kitchens for care homes. Figure 4 below illustrates SFI’s fluid business operations.

Figure 4: Vertical Integration of Business Operations at SFI

41 SFI Business Plan

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V. Overcoming Challenges in Launching the Training and Placement Program

With the revenue generation units – OEM and Catering – in place, it became time to officially launch the TnP program. Since such a training program had never been attempted with PWDs with lower functional capabilities, the learning curve for SFI was steep. Sourcing and engaging beneficiaries through multi-stakeholder involvement Sin Sin’s first hurdle regarded sourcing PWDs to fuel her TnP program. She figured that “the most natural and simplest way is through the DACs. When you look at the disability group, the associations they belong to include the Down Syndrome Association, MINDS, Delta, Rainbow, HWA (Handicap Welfare Association), etc. There are so many of them. Each has some kind of day center.” Sin Sin quickly recognized that because PWDs cannot travel on their own, she needed to transport them by bus to SFI’s central kitchen. However, it would become a logistical nightmare to gather PWDs from geographically dispersed DACs.42 Thus, she first concluded that the trainees “have to, first of all, preferably belong to one center, and they have to be able to live close enough to travel in one bus.” Aside from the logistical challenges, Sin Sin also recognized that trainee selection had to be subject to two other considerations: one, whether the trainees can go out and handle the work in a social setting,43 and two, whether they are suitable clients for the F&B industry. Bearing in mind the above restrictions, Sin Sin decided to collaborate with just one association, MINDS, to provide a group that could best benefit from the pilot F&B training and to be a central location for gathering the trainees for transport to SFI. MINDS seemed “a natural partner because if you look at day centers, MINDS has the biggest catchment – about 1,000 PWDs. Everyone else only has a few hundred”. Moreover, as MINDS hires internal counsellors, it could quickly and accurately select appropriate trainees within the pre-identified limitations.44 Once Sin Sin had resolved the issue of sourcing trainees, the next hurdle quickly presented itself. Prospective trainees’ families, especially caregivers, were particularly worried that if the trainees dropped the MINDS DAC program in favour of SFI’s training and employment, they would lose their existing places in the DACs, given the long queues for enrolment.45 This concern hindered many families from allowing their PWD relatives to enter the SFI training program. To solve this problem, Sin Sin approached SG Enable for help. Through their influence, Sin Sin was able to obtain the government’s promise to retain the trainees’ space in DACs for up to a year. With this promise that “If the trainees don’t like the working environment, they will still have space to go back to the DAC,”46 the fears of the caregivers were allayed. Moreover, discussions with SG Enable resulted in two additional collaborations – it was willing to not only fund the TnP pilot program for three years, but also to provide an additional stipend to the trainees during the training phase as incentive for the trainees to join the program. Also, SG Enable offered to facilitate joint caregiver orientations and monthly meet-the-parents’ sessions between caregivers, MINDS, and SFI. With such strong support and collaboration between multiple stakeholders, the first batch of 10 trainees from MINDS’ DAC finally joined SFI’s TnP program in April 2015.

42 Interview with Sin Sin, September 14, 2016 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 45 Ibid. 46 Ibid.

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Tailoring operations to cater to the needs of beneficiaries However, once the pilot training began, a new set of challenges arose. MINDS catered specifically to the people with moderate intellectual disabilities (IQ<50), thus there was a limit to the extent to which the trainees could execute not only routine F&B operations, but also basic every day routines. Moreover, because Sin Sin was a pioneer in this landscape, she had no pre-defined food preparation curriculum to follow. She explained that “in what we are doing, there is no curriculum for us to follow. No one has undertaken such training before –so even we are really learning and writing the curriculum as we go along.” To illustrate the severity of this challenge, Sin Sin recalled the initial days where trainees counted and measured packets of sugar, flour, spoons etc. into boxes of fifty as part of the Phase 1 training. The original rationale for this exercise was (i) to facilitate ease into SFI’s OEM and catering operations, and (ii) to accustom the trainees to daily operations of F&B outlets where a lot of packing needs to be done. However, SFI soon realized that some of the trainees could not count, or could count only to 10 or 20. Thus, the training department in SFI worked around this obstacle and catered to the needs of the trainees. Su Yin, SFI’s principal trainer explained, “We gave them 5 bowls and they put 10 items in each bowl - in a way that is how we cater to them.”47 In many ways, this lesson mirrored another one Sin Sin discovered early in her days: PWDs excel at performing repetitive tasks instead of a group of varying tasks. Thus, she had to simplify the content of the training as needed. Sin Sin says, “Many people question what is the big deal about teaching them how to peel vegetables…but this group of clients can only handle so much. Sometimes parents and teachers think that their children can always do more than they actually can, and then you add unnecessary pressure. We are really focusing on basic things because our experience has taught us that this is what they can do best.” In addition, even if a pre-defined curriculum existed, Sin Sin had to tailor each curriculum to the student according to his or her unique physical and emotional barriers. Initially, the job task training was minor problem compared to coping with the emotional disquiet among the trainees. Because many of them stayed cocooned in MINDS’ environment for many years, the new environment at SFI was foreign, and thus intimidating. Even seemingly small adjustments required added problem-solving. For example, many trainees previously lived a more sedentary lifestyle and thus needed the discipline, stamina, and focus to stand all day. To manage the difficulties associated with working with persons with intellectual disabilities, SFI not only had to tailor its program to meet the practical and emotional realities of her clients, but it had to also extend its role beyond just that of a trainer to building support networks. Building Support Networks to Manage Challenges To ensure a holistic and effective program for the PWD trainees, SFI and MINDS collaborated throughout the training process. MINDS would station its officers in SFI’s central kitchen during the training phase. They would support the clients in the case of an emotional breakdown or client-related issues and be the main liaison with caregivers during the first phase of training. Su Yin explained, “The Training Officers from MINDS really helped me to understand the trainees more because they have been in contact with them for many years during their time at MINDS’ DACs.

47 Interview with Su Yin, September 14, 2016.

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With the Training Officers’ experience, I get to understand each client’s emotional disposition much better.” While the Training Officers played a critical preliminary role in helping the PWDs adjust to their new environment, they could not forge too strong a bond with their clients. External organizations would be reticent to allow Officers in their facilities, thus SFI did not want PWDs to build a dependency. Su Yin remarks, “In the second half of the training, once I actually get to understand more about the clients, I take over. This is because Phase 2 is when we are supposed to simulate an actual working environment, and this is when I actually start contact with the caregivers directly as if we have employed them, even though they are actually still under training.”48 Aside from actively involving MINDS in the TnP program, SFI also had to also reach out to caregivers and elicit their cooperation to ensure maximal impact on PWDs. For instance, the caregivers had to ensure that the trainees reach the bus-stop on time. Sin Sin elaborated with another example, “Over the weekend, one trainee’s mother decided to give him some food that did not agree with him and he had food poisoning. When he came to work on Monday morning, he was sick and we had to help him clean up. We had to tell the parents, ‘make sure that you don’t give them too oily food.’”49 Thus, while Sin Sin and the SFI staff handled the everyday challenges deftly, these challenges required a combination of multiple stakeholders to ensure effectiveness and impact maximization. Creating Realistic Operational Tasks to Suit External Stakeholders While SFI tried to build a tailored TnP program for PWDs with the help of its support networks, Sin Sin remained cognizant that there needed to be an added degree of realism to the training provided, to ensure the PWDs had skills relevant to the needs of the prospective placement organizations. To Sin Sin, what matters at the end of the day is “how many people can you impact? How many of those trained can you really place them out? Training should be realistic. The outcome should be a real job in the F&B industry that they can handle.”50 To equip trainees with basic food preparation skills found in most, if not all, central kitchens, SFI broke down every day normal F&B operations into general functions and replicated these small duties, such as sandwich making or vegetable cutting, in the TnP program. SFI also decided to capitalize on its OEM division to provide its trainees with more complex real work tasks from external organizations. For example, each day the trainees clean approximately 250 kilograms of ginger for Soup Restaurant and prepare up to 400 curry puffs for RJ Business, both prominent F&B organizations in Singapore. However, despite this variety of complex tasks awarded to trainees, Sin Sin insists, “Vegetable cutting has more impact creation, despite the lack of glamour”. This is because few trainees are able to complete the task of making curry puffs, with only 2 of 30 trainees able to do so on average.51 While Sin Sin tirelessly tailors her curriculum and business model to suit PWDs, she remains convinced that “these people can be trained, best to custom specifications and not a whole slew of general functions – train them to do one task, and one task well.” 52 Sin Sin elaborates, “I have broken down the production process, and found that the disabled can be incredibly good at single focused tasks like chopping onions. They are quite happy to focus on that.”53

48 Interview with Su Yin, September 14, 2016. 49 Interview with Sin Sin, August 29, 2016 50 Interview with Sin Sin, August 29, 2016. 51 Interview with Sin Sin, September 14, 2016. 52 Ling, C. (2014, June 11). Laksania Serves Hope and Fabulous Laksa. Retrieved from makansutra.com: http://www.makansutra.com/stories/3/1175/Laksaniaserveshopeandfabulouslaksa 53 Ibid.

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Employer Engagement Despite overcoming difficulties in establishing the TnP program, the greatest risks to the program remained the failure to place trainees in external kitchens. Thus, before starting a systematic outreach to potential placement kitchens, Sin Sin spoke informally with other central kitchens in the same building to take on at least one PWD trainee. She believed that once the first group proved they could perform the requested tasks and add value to the kitchen, it would become easier to persuade other kitchens to take on trainees.54

However, even with these initial attempts at conversation, Sin Sin knew the success of expanding her trainee placement to external kitchens hinged largely on managing the difficult relationships with external employers. In order to convince them to hire PWDs, she had to do two main things: one, convince businesses of the benefit of PWD labor, and two, manage employer expectations coupled with intricately managing their new processes associated with PWD labor. First, Sin Sin needed to convince businesses of the value of employing PWDs. She says, “If we request employers to employ PWDs out of compassion or charity, such a strategy will never be sustainable in the long run. What I want to do is to show the employers that the PWDs can be a viable alternative workforce that will add value to their business.” She tells employers, “Don’t look at their disability. Look at what they can do. These are young adults who won’t be staring at their mobile phones, or thinking of jumping ship for a $20 increment. They are a very stable workforce.”55 Once potential placement kitchens showed interest, Sin Sin needed to manage the employers’ expectations with regard to the productivity level of the trainees. She went into long discussions with the companies on their operations, so that she could reasonably assess her clients’ potential productivity. She first learned the intricacies of an organization’s food processing chain, noting the complete chain of a basic task, such as preparing soup, and the number of headcounts required to complete the task; subsequently, she agreed to set expected productivity level at 30% of a normal abled staff, with aim to increase this level to 50% within a certain number of months.56 For a curry puff production company, she studied their preparation process. While one fully-able person would make the entire puff, Sin Sin broke the process into three stages with one trainee at each stage. Three trainees were respectively in charge of either rolling the dough, adding the filling, or folding the puff. This employer engagement stage is critical for Sin Sin. She discusses each company’s operations with them and inspects the property to assess suitability and potential areas for improvement before entering into a business relationship. She also shares with the employers the strengths, weaknesses, preferences and emotional triggers (if any) of trainees. With such orientation sessions, SFI hopes that the employers will be more understanding and better equipped to employ PWDs. Employer On-Boarding If expectations are managed and employers hire PWDs, SFI commences the on-boarding process. Partnering with other employers remains an uphill task because both SFI and the partner organization must remain flexible: “Bringing employers on board is not so difficult, but the most difficult part is to sustain the relationship so that it is a win-win situation for SFI, for the PWDs and also the employers. This requires a lot of work and adjustment between both SFI and the partner organization,” explains Sin Sin.57

54 SFI Business Plan (2014) 55 Ling, C. (2014, June 11). Laksania Serves Hope and Fabulous Laksa. Retrieved from makansutra.com: http://www.makansutra.com/stories/3/1175/Laksaniaserveshopeandfabulouslaksa 56 SFI Business Plan (2014) 57 Interview with Sin Sin August 29, 2014.

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Sometimes Sin Sin encountered companies which wanted to hire trainees, but were unable to accommodate the trainees in their kitchen due to space constraints or inability to manage PWDs’ emotional needs. Instead of dismissing the employers, Sin Sin provided an alternative solution until the company found space to incorporate the PWD into its location. She essentially “loaned SFI’s central kitchen as a hosting area.” However, this temporary solution is not sustainable, as SFI’s central kitchen is already starting to experience a space crunch, limiting the ability to expand the program to a larger audience. Furthermore, this temporary solution has its own set of logistical difficulties. For example, in SFI’s partnership with another curry puff company, it took several rounds of trial and error before SFI and the curry puff company successfully figured out the logistics of transporting the ingredients from the factory to SFI’s kitchen without spoiling the puffs. The curry puff company also had to tailor their cooking process to adjust to the outsourcing of the curry-puff making process to SFI. Sin Sin says, “Earlier, their cooks were used to frying the puffs immediately since they made the curry puffs in their own kitchen. But now that they have outsourced the curry puff making process to us, they have to train their cooks as well just to fit us. All the logistical adjustments are not easy. If we do not fit their requirements, the relationship will just collapse.”58 Moreover, in the spirit of partnership, MINDS also actively tries to assist with the on-boarding process. As part of its open employment scheme, MINDS sends its officers to check-in with the Phase 3 trainees periodically to ensure that they are accustomed to their new working environment. Thus, though transitions can be difficult, SFI has been successfully able to tightly manage each hurdle to complete the vertical integration process, graduating PWDs from training to external placements in the workforce.

VI. SFI Achievements SFI overcame many hurdles in the path to creating a viable training program for PWDs. The positive results are apparent. First, SFI directly impacted the lives of PWDs by putting them through the TnP program. Within a span of two years, SFI trained one batch of 10 PWDs and is currently training two more batches of 20 PWDs. Out of its first batch of 10 graduates, 8 were placed in jobs—2 have been placed in the kitchen of the Simei Care Center, 3 have been placed in the curry-puff making department of a Singapore-based retailer, and 3 have been hired by SFI to help in its Catering and TnP divisions.59 SFI is in conversation with employers to hire its next batch of 10 trainees, who are due to graduate in September 2016, while a new batch of trainees will join SFI in October 2016, taking the total number of trainees over a 2-year period to 40. The success in training and employment of PWDs represents a hopeful beginning for a group of individuals for whom the norm has been to spend their time in DACs or at home with caregivers. Second, PWD, caregiver, and employer attitudes all improved in various ways. While these results may be unquantifiable, they are invaluable. For the PWDs, the training at SFI represented an opportunity to be independent, to learn useful skills, and most significantly, to experience the self-worth that comes from being engaged in productive labor. Su Yin summed it up, “There is marked improvement in their confidence and social skills. Even though a few of them are resistant in the beginning, they eventually adapt themselves to the work. Through encouragement and support, they develop an understanding that a certain job needs to be done by a certain time. After the first few months, we even notice that the absenteeism rates go down. They develop a sense of purpose and

58 Interview with Sin Sin, September 14, 2016. 59 2 of the PWDs returned to the MINDS center because they were unable to cope with the demands of the job.

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responsibility.” Visiting the OEM division makes it clear: PWDs take immense pride in their work. They willingly demonstrate to visitors their work and tasks. Seeing PWDs improve and become more self-reliant brings immense pride and joy to familial caregivers. Small positive changes in their children deeply move them. One of the trainees chopped an apple and served it to his parents. The overjoyed parents were astounded their child manoeuvred a knife independently. Sin Sin says, “None of the parents seem to care so much that the children are bringing home an income, though that does help if they are poor. But it makes a tremendous difference to the parents that their child is learning to be self-reliant.”60 With their children working, family caregivers now have more free time to relax, or take up employment to supplement their household income. Lastly, employers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the capabilities of PWDs change. Sin Sin says, “The employers we are working with are very happy with our work. For instance, the trainees peel 250 kilograms of ginger for Soup Restaurant every day. Earlier their chefs had to do this task themselves. But now that they have outsourced this task to our kitchen, their chefs are free to do more value-added activities. So the employers are beginning to understand that our PWDs are actually adding value to their business. This change in perception is very important.”61 Such an attitude shift is imperative to Sin Sin’s business success. Once companies start seeing PWDs as viable employees, they can steadily start closing the gap between untapped PWD supply and employer demand.

VII. The Future Course of Action: Scaling SFI As a pioneer, SFI laid the groundwork for a successful Social Enterprise. Now it aims to incorporate more PWDs into the program, but struggles to scale. SFI encounters the same challenge that many Social Enterprises face when they are attempting to scale: ensuring financial sustainability while magnifying the scope of its impact. Increasing Financial Sustainability Sin Sin is clear that SFI’s growth is not going to come from selling products, but from selling its services—training and placing PWDs. However, Sin Sin firmly believes that the TnP division should continue to be subsidized because many caregivers of PWDs would not be able to afford training costs. This means, however, that she has to think of ways to make the OEM and Catering divisions more profitable, so that it can cover the costs of the Training division, should external funding cease in the future. Therefore, to increase profitability, Sin Sin has to focus on SFI’s two revenue-generating units: OEM and Catering divisions. One option is to expand the sales from her existing OEM operations by seeking out more food preparation contracts, e.g. getting more outsourcing orders for chopped vegetables, ginger etc. from restaurants. Sin Sin is currently negotiating with other commercial kitchens in Kampong Ampat for food preparation outsourcing contracts. Eventually she plans to reach out to other commercial kitchens in Singapore for outsourcing orders. Sin Sin also has the option of increasing revenue from SFI’s Catering division by applying for more catering contracts to supply meals to senior citizens’ homes. However, this option would be more viable if SFI were to achieve scale by securing contracts for a large number of senior citizens’ homes, since margins from catering contracts at such homes are typically quite small. At its current size and

60 Interview with Sin Sin, September 14, 2016. 61 Ibid.

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staff capacity, SFI does not have the resources to tender for large scale contracts. Sin Sin’s plan is to enter into partnerships with other larger catering companies. She says, “We are looking into partnerships with larger organizations who could provide the catering services, while SFI could sub-contract the food-preparation activities for such an organization.”62 Such partnerships are in the pipeline for SFI. Another option is to retail SFI’s proprietary laksa paste in supermarkets. For retail sales, SFI has to commercially produce pre-made laksa paste fortified with preservatives so that it has longer shelf-life. This is a more difficult option for Sin Sin since this would require heavy capital investment and mechanization of the laksa making process. Sin Sin says, “Currently, my entire laksa paste making process is done by hand. If I go into retail sales of the paste, I have to mechanize certain tasks. This would mean less jobs for my trainees.”63 Sin Sin is considering other options to increase sales of her laksa paste—currently, she is using the proprietary pastes and recipes in her catering contracts. Sin Sin is focusing on potential revenue streams to magnify the impact of SFI so as to stand true to her mission as a Social Enterprise. Magnifying Impact SFI’s TnP program has a capacity of 10 trainees in each batch. To magnify impact, the program has to be extended to more trainees. At this juncture, there are several options that are available to Sin Sin to incorporate more PWDs into the program. First, SFI can reach out to the large pool of untapped PWDs that are currently residing in DACs run by voluntary organizations such as MINDS or those staying at home. Sin Sin was approached by a VWO who works with people with hearing disabilities for including their clients in the TnP program. While cooperation with other VWOs is a worthwhile option to consider, it would require tweaking of the existing training curriculum to cater to different disabilities. More difficult, however, is the recruitment of PWDs outside the organized system of caregiving in sheltered workshops and DACs. Even though there is a large pool of PWDs who are currently at home, and could potentially be included in SFI’s training program, it is a challenge to reach them due to the absence of systematic data on PWDs outside the organized system of caregiving. Moreover, another large obstacle confronting Sin Sin is that SFI’s TnP program can only be expanded if the graduating trainees are successfully placed within SFI or in external organizations. So far, SFI has attained reasonable success in placing its first two batches of trainees. Sin Sin says that some employers are open to the idea of having PWDs on their payroll, but they want the PWDs to continue their work in SFI’s central kitchen. This means that employers are reluctant to manage the day-to-day challenges that may arise in interactions with PWDs. This is a big challenge because SFI’s central kitchen does not have the capacity to accommodate subsequent batches of trainees. Also, if the PWDs work only in SFI’s kitchen, it would defeat the bigger social purpose of truly achieving an integrated and inclusive workforce. Second, to increase impact, SFI can expand the scope of the TnP program. Currently, SFI’s training is limited to the F&B industry, but it can be extended to other sectors such as cleaning, laundry services, IT services, etc. From her experience, Sin Sin notes that not all PWDs are able or suited to working in the F&B industry and some PWDs may be better suited to work in laundry services or IT services doing repetitive tasks such as folding clothes or data entry. Sin Sin says, “If employers from other industries show interest, we are most willing to share our training knowledge with them.”64 The full potential of

62 Ibid. 63 Ibid. 64 Ibid.

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their abilities can only be utilized if a broad range of options are available to PWDs across a diverse range of industries. However, training and placing PWDs in other industries presents a new set of challenges. Sin Sin needs to build partnerships with employers in other industries. Given the small staff and limited resources at her disposal, SFI alone cannot take on the enormous task of approaching and convincing employers in other sectors to regard PWDs as a viable alternative labor force. Looking Globally for Inspiration With three divisions in place and visions to expand, Sin Sin looks globally for models of businesses using vertical integration and employing PWDs. One innovative model is Samhall Aktiebolag, a Swedish limited liability company which integrates a complete suite of employment opportunities for PWDs under one umbrella organization. Sweden is a country with a strong welfare agenda—full employment is a national ethos and forms the economic foundation of the welfare state. Aligned to this ethos, the Swedish government’s disability policy is structured to give people with disabilities a greater chance of participating in society on the same terms as others. Thus, Samhall was founded as a state-owned group in 1980 to provide employment to the disabled and to circumvent the inefficiencies of sheltered workshop, and other operations managed by county councils, municipalities and other authorities. The aim was to streamline the fragmented operations and provide coordinated employment to PWDs. Through the government’s support, Samhall vertically integrates its operations by developing the PWDs through training programs, employing them in their own production facilities, and preparing its employees to move to other employers in the open workforce. Samhall now employs PWDs across a range of industries in accordance with their skills—assembly and packaging, warehousing and logistics, staffing and cleaning, land management, services for the elderly and more. In 2014, Samhall employed 7,071 people in new jobs and training programs while 1,122 of Samhall’s employees made transition to open employment. Samhall’s example offers promise for Sin Sin. However, it is worth noting that Samhall has factors favoring it that are not available to SFI—Samhall has had strong governmental support. Moreover, as SFI does not have the size and reach of Samhall, Sin Sin is cognizant that to effectively adopt such a model, she would require the cooperation of multiple partners from the public and private sectors spanning various industries such as the elderly care, hospitality and tourism industries. Furthermore, as a Social Enterprise, SFI has financial targets it must meet. Though Samhall has succeeded in creating vertically integrated businesses, it continues to run as a subsidized government entity. Samhall has achieved 30% self-financing, while the remaining 70% is subsidized by the Swedish government. Since SFI is a Social Enterprise and not an NGO, financial self-reliance is an indispensable component of its long-term survival strategy. Sin Sin currently faces the tough decisions that social entrepreneurs trying to scale their business often encounter—how to scale the Social Enterprise and make it financially sustainable without diluting its social impact. Having vertically integrated her business, she must now decide on the best strategy going forward to (1) attain financial sustainability and (2) incorporate more PWDs into SFI’s training programs. As Sin Sin looks around her office to the adjacent commercial kitchen where the PWDs are training, she is reminded of the potential that both the PWDs and SFI holds. The pilot stage of the training

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program has succeeded—Sin Sin now has to make choices about how SFI will attain scale without sacrificing impact.

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