Can you imagine that going on a well-deserved vacation is the way to create a social enterprise, help people and make a living from it?
This is the story of Blake Mycoskie, who despite his heavy work schedule, decided to take time to take a well-deserved vacation in Argentina. It was not the first time that Blake visited the gaucho country, however, this time, he wanted to immerse himself in his culture, spend the days learning tango, playing polo and of course, drinking Malbec. He even bet on the use of “espadrilles”, a soft canvas shoe worn by polo players, peasants, students, among others.
The popularity of these shoes made him wonder why in the United States (the country where he was born and lives) this type of shoe was not on the market, if it was so popular in Argentina.
During his stay there, more facts disturbed him. One of them was a talk he had with an American woman who was volunteering for a charity. She told him about the difficulties that many children had to attend school on the border with Brazil, because they did not have shoes to wear with their school uniform; a mandatory requirement to access education in this place.
The organization she worked for collected shoes that had been donated for children in need, however the Achilles heel of this concept was its structure. Relying on donations, shoe deliveries for these children could vary in number and even when there were a few pairs to contribute, these were not the sizes that were needed.
Many more experiences and tours of the underprivileged parts of Argentina allowed Blake to come up with the idea of creating a for-profit social enterprise to help provide shoes to these children.
The idea was based on a shoe business in which for each shoe that was sold, he would donate another pair to these children; him making sure to deliver the correct sizes.
The concept is simple, sell a pair of shoes today and donate another pair tomorrow. “Tomorrow’s Shoes”, hence the name of his company, TOMS Shoes, under the motto “ONE FOR ONE”.
After a few months of its creation, the history and design of the TOMS espadrilles touched the press. The Angels Times He was the first to speak, followed by Vogue, Time, People, EITHER, elleY Teen Vogue, among others. All of them evoked the innovative idea of this business and of course its history. Thanks to this, shoe sales increased even more.
One of the reasons for the success of TOMS has been that most of the advertising comes from word of mouth. Blake argues that all of his competitors spend large amounts of money on advertising campaigns. They must invest in expensive celebrity payouts, TV commercials, and of course, a creative team. Unlike them, TOMS Shoes has the advantage of being a social enterprise and bases its advertising model on telling a story. Buyers feel proud when wearing espadrilles, which is why they recommend them to their friends and acquaintances, likewise, by incorporating a purpose to the business, it is also attractive to retain human talent.
In 2014, Toms was valued at $625 million and has generated over $1 billion in sales. This is because more and more consumers prefer to do good with their purchases instead of making donations to charities.
Thanks to this, TOMS has wanted to expand its help, this time to people with low vision, for each pair of glasses purchased, “TOMS Eyewear” has managed to restore sight to more than 275,000 people, as well as provide prescription glasses, treatment medical and/or surgery to preserve sight. In the same way, its line of bags, “TOMS Bags” provides its allies with vital materials and training needed to help provide a safer delivery. By providing clean birthing conditions and qualified personnel, nearly half a million lives can be saved.
“TOMS Roasting” offers 140 liters of drinking water to people in need for each bag of coffee sold, and it is not only that, the value chain that this initiative wants to achieve is that more people improve their health by having access to water drinking water, thereby increasing their economic opportunities, accessing education and finally accessing the world of work.
Finally, TOMS StanUp Backpack Collection will offer training to staff in schools to help prevent and manage bullying.
To close, Blake believes that the most important thing in business creation is the story you have to tell. Having a large amount of resources is not as critical in its development as it is believed, simplicity is the secret key to success and finally, as in any social enterprise, giving is the best investment you can make.
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
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