Making toys and rebuilding lives
Workshop helps people with disabilities move from charity-dependent roles to market-driven employment
Profitability
Despite the early success, the workshop is far from profitable.
"We're compromising on profit to build a reputation first," Cao said. "The Fairmont order covered the cost of raw materials, but that's it. No labor. No design fees. We're paying for credibility."
The team's business model is still taking shape. They have received small orders — toys for a weekend market and customized figurines for a piano teacher's students — but nothing steady. "Most people don't even know we exist," Cao said.
Technical dependence is a major challenge. While the workshop's members have mastered basic printing, complex modeling still requires outside help from Li Changsen.
"Our goal is to become independent," Shen said. "We want to train our people to become teachers. Li Siwei could be one of them."
