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When 34-year-old Sourabh Jain first turned a father to his daughter, his perspective on life modified. Like all guardian, his daughter turned his world.
Nonetheless, he struggled with bonding along with her to start with. “She was so tiny and couldn’t communicate. I didn’t know bond along with her. That’s once I realised that video games and books are interactive and supply a chance to spend hours along with her,” he recalled in a dialog with The Higher India.
Thus started the hunt for video games and toys that not solely helped him bond along with his daughter but additionally contributed to her cognitive improvement. Throughout this search, he realised that not solely are these toys and video games laborious to search out, however they will additionally burn a gap in a single’s pockets.
“One other realisation was that it is rather laborious to make toys eco-friendly. There’s some quantity of plastic at all times current and it’s dangerous to the surroundings and the little ones,” he says.
Whereas he aspired to provide his daughter the world, he additionally endeavoured to go away behind a cleaner, greener, and extra sustainable world for her. Right now, he owns The EleFant — a toy rental firm, or in Sourabh’s phrases, ‘a labour of affection’.
The corporate has a buyer base in 14 main cities in India, together with Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Indore, Bengaluru, and many others. Interested by how the enterprise works and how one can hire toys to your children? Learn on.
Sustainable, age-appropriate and enjoyable
Born and raised in a enterprise household, Sourabh at all times had an entrepreneurial mindset. Regardless of working as a chartered accountant for many of his life, he harboured a persistent curiosity in beginning his personal enterprise.
“The thought for EleFant emerged from the will to offer the most effective toys for my daughter, however it’s additionally a model for fogeys like us,” he explains.
Amid altering household dynamics, Sourabh noticed the rising problem for fogeys who juggle work and residential duties concurrently. “More often than not, I’d be working, leaving little room to exit and seek for toys. I needed to simplify one factor for working mother and father like myself,” he says.
The transition from the company world for Sourabh was gradual. “The thought started taking form in my thoughts in 2022, however I needed a strong plan of motion. I aimed to supply mother and father a dependable service and an efficient subscription mannequin,” he provides.
Sourabh additionally emphasised the significance of making certain that the toys offered to youngsters are usually not simply satisfying but additionally participating and academic. “As a guardian, I perceive how essential it’s for youths to have the fitting surroundings on the proper time to encourage them and assist them develop,” he says.
In pursuit of this idea, Sourabh enlisted the experience of a psychologist, a paediatrician and an ex-school principal to discern the forms of toys that will be most useful for kids.
“After almost a 12 months of creating the idea and making certain that every one our toys meet the very best high quality requirements, we determined to launch the model,” he states.
At the moment, the corporate has a buyer base of greater than 250 subscribers with over 2,000 downloads of the appliance per day. In addition they have collaborations with 70 toy corporations the place they supply their toys.
Amongst these 250 subscribers is Rahul Bhauwala from Mumbai who rents toys for his 6-year-old. “I’m a working skilled and I hardly get any time to exit and spend hours on the lookout for and shopping for toys. I may use that treasured time to play with my baby as a substitute. This is the reason I like utilizing The EleFant app. They’ve a variety of toys that are categorised as per age. The merchandise are very well-packaged and my son cherished opening them because it seemed like a gift to him,” he says.
“We goal to ascertain a round financial system the place toys are reused repeatedly. This not solely cuts prices but additionally advantages the surroundings. Contemplating how rapidly children outgrow issues, toys usually find yourself in landfills,” he explains.
Pocket-friendly for fogeys and enjoyable for youths
Whereas the behavior of reusing and thrifting might need began trending lately, if we glance again to our childhood, sharing youngsters’s belongings has at all times been a part of our tradition.
“We might go down our toys and garments to our chachi, mami’s (aunts) children. Nonetheless, with the nuclear household setup, this development has declined. I believe it was this follow that has made individuals place their belief in us too,” he says.
Recalling the preliminary response of the individuals he says, “The mother and father have been very delighted and confirmed encouragement. Whereas they have been a little bit sceptical of sanitation since these merchandise will likely be reused, I defined that we have now a sanitation course of and each toy that reaches their child is protected for consumption,” he says.
Moreover, the librarians and toy consultants of Sourabh’s crew are all mother and father who perceive the necessity for sanitation and hygiene of the merchandise and ensure they’re correctly sanitised.
“Our content material is completely targeted on data, development, and improvement. We firmly imagine within the essential function of toys and books in enhancing youngsters’s abilities. At the moment, we provide a various vary of 14 toy classes,” he says speaking in regards to the means of subscribing to The EleFant.
The classes embrace STEM-based toys, board video games, artwork and schooling, faux play, sound books, academic books, and extra.
“The abilities we give attention to embody modal abilities, gross motor abilities, bodily and emotional improvement, in addition to social, environmental and relationship understanding, amongst others,” he says.
The registration course of includes downloading the app, and as soon as on-line, they will proceed to change into a member, they will select from the out there packages.
“We provide three plans: Backyard, Property, and Forest. The Backyard plan permits for 2 merchandise at a time with two free deliveries per thirty days, costing roughly Rs 750 month-to-month. This plan fits households with children deeply engaged in particular actions. The Property plan, our hottest, offers three merchandise at a time and three free deliveries month-to-month, averaging round Rs 1,000, catering to curious children wanting to discover new issues,” he says.
The Forest plan is good for tremendous energetic children or households with two youngsters of various age teams, providing 4 toys at a time with 5 free deliveries at a mean of about Rs 1,400 per thirty days.
‘These plans are well-defined, economical, and inexpensive, permitting clients to take pleasure in quite a lot of toys tailor-made to their preferences,” he provides.
Sourabh says that he needed to make a enterprise that caters to all. “Our intention was not solely to cater to an elite membership, making it an costly and unique service. As a substitute, we aimed to offer a chance for everybody to provide their youngsters the whole lot in a sustainable method. The worth is saved this fashion, emphasising inclusivity and accessibility for all.”
When you want to check out Sourabh’s distinctive subscription mannequin, click on right here to down the appliance.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande)
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