Rough Draft

Be the change you want to see in the World (Gandhi)

Abstract

Picture that you have been walking for miles on rough terrain to reach a friend’s house. You are barefoot. Intense pain trembles through your body as your feet begin to give out. Blisters and blood begin to cover your feet due to your walk. These blisters you have could develop severe infection due to the ground that is unclean and filled with bacteria. The illnesses caused by the bacteria on the ground could have you sick for weeks or even cause your death. This is what Blake Mycoskie noticed when he was traveling abroad in Argentina. This is why he developed a product called TOMS. .

Particular entrepreneurs, such as Blake Mycoskie, have taken the idea of purchasing goods to help benefit those living in poverty. These entrepreneurs have changed the idea of buying merchandise. These entrepreneurs go about the process of helping those in need in different formats. In this paper, I will investigate and report on the different ways that the company TOMS gives to those in need. This paper will focus on the TOMS movement that donates shoes, books, food, eye surgery and glasses by a process called “One for one”. If a customer buys a pair of shoes or another product, the company donates a pair of shoes or another product to a person in need. I will also present the idea of those who are against the idea of TOMS. Those who are opposed to TOMS state that if TOMS truly wanted to help people they would donate solely food and water not shoes.

Literature Review

“Start Something That Matters” by Blake Mycoskie

Blake Mycoskie may be known for his television appearance on the CBS reality program The Amazing Race but he is better known as the founder of TOMS. In 2006, Blake took some time off of his online driver education program to travel to Argentina for vacation. While he was at a local café there he met a woman who worked in a shoe drive company. The woman told him that many kids lacked shoes even in well developed countries. Due to lack of shoes, these children could be exposed to diseases. After traveling around the area, Blake could not help but notice children with blisters, sores and infections. He wanted to help these children. He knew taking money donations would only get him so far. He wanted to raise money to get the children the shoes and have those shoes be the right size for the children (Mycoskie).

Blake decided to make a for profit business to help provide shoes for these children. He believed that this solution would guarantee a constant flow of shoes rather than depending on people’s donations. Blake developed the idea of, “sell a pair of shoes today; give a pair of shoes tomorrow.” Blake thought of the idea of “Shoes for Tomorrow” which became “Tomorrow’s Shoes” then later was shortened to just TOMS. Blake had no connection to the shoe business but while he was in Argentina he discussed his ideas with his polo teacher. His polo teacher helped him find local artists to locally manufacture the shoes. Blake wanted the shoes to look like alpargatas which are the common everyday canvas material shoes in Argentina (Mycoskie).

After working with local artisans, Blake brought back 250 samples of the Argentina inspired shoes back with him to Los Angeles. Blake invited some of his best female friends to dinner when he returned home. With his female friends, he shared the store and the girls suggested what stores Blake should try and have sell TOMS. The women ended up insisting on buying a pair of shoes, which gave Blake hope that others would like them too. Blake went to American Rag to see if they would be willing to sell TOMS in their stores. He met with the shoe buyer and she was interested in the product. TOMS had its first retail customer (Mycoskie)

With TOMS being able to be bought at stores, Booth Moore, a fashion writer for the Los Angeles Times heard about the story of TOMS and loved the shoes. Booth insisted on having the first publicized interview with Blake. She interviewed Blake and wrote an article about the shoes. Not long after, TOMS was featured on the headlines of the Los Angeles Times with Booth Moore’s article. By the end of the day that the article was published in the paper, TOMS had received 2,200 orders (Mycoskie).

Blake did not have any real employees when he first started off TOMS. He required the help of family and friends when he decided to set the first goal to be 10,000 shoes sold. When 10,000 shoes were sold, he was going to go to Argentina to distribute the shoes. This is what he did, Blake and a group of family and friends went to Argentina. While they were there, they sized the children’s feet and distributed 10,000 shoes to those in need. Blake sold his driver-education business to be able to have more funds for TOMS. With these funds, he was able to hire more people who understood the shoe business. With more experienced people on board, the company could scale up operations to produce more shoes (Mycoskie)

Blake personally had a statement addressing those who were against this movement. In his book, “Start Something That Matters”, by saying that expert footwear industries were against TOMS saying that the combination of a for-profit company with a social mission would complicate and undermine both. Blake replied to this idea by saying that TOMS are more than a product, they are part of a story, a mission and a movement anyone can join.

TOMS Web Site- http://www.toms.com/our-movement

The website is the first place that goes in depth with the situation of many children in developing areas growing up barefoot. The website states that these children in these areas are in areas where diseases can be transferred by the soil. These diseases enter through their bare feet. Some people in developing areas do not realize that wearing shoes can prevent these disease and the long term physical and cognitive harm these disease cause. Shoes also prevent feet from getting cuts and sores, even though these injuries can be pretty painless, they can lead to infection through the cuts. Aside from health, the web site states that many children cannot attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. Without shoes, these children cannot receive an education and not realize their full potential without education.

“Start Something That Matters” and TOMS Web Site

The resources of Blake Mycoskie’s book “Start Something That Matters” and the TOMS web site, stated the function of TOMS. In Blake’s book he goes more in detail of how he felt about the experience and the sets out the phases that put TOMS into play. Blake goes about the steps it took to put his dream into action. On the website, they focus on the affect that TOMS has on people to display to those interested in buying the product.

TOMS Giving Report

On the TOMS web site, a customer or researcher can access something called a “Giving Report.” This breaks down the idea of TOMS and explains what the company does. The “Giving Report” was designed to answer questions that have been asked about the TOMS products. In the “Giving Report” they start off by answering a very direct question of why donate shoes to people in need. They respond by saying that the value of shoes is critical for physical health. Along with the web site they state that shoes are mandatory for attendance at some schools and there are soil-based diseases in many areas.

The “Giving Report” expresses how children growing up barefoot walk long distances to clean water, subsistence farming, their families are living on less than a dollar a day and that they are on dangerous terrain. These conditions make them vulnerable to injury and infection. These infections include hookwarm which causes anemia which stunts physical and mental development and on occasion can cause heart failure. There is also podoconiosis which causes swelling of the feet and legs due to prolonged exposure to certain types of soils. Jiggers cause severe itching and hives from bites from small mite-like organisms around the feet and ankles. The last common disease that they list is tetanus which is a potentially fatal infection caused by bacteria entering the body through cuts or openings, which cause painful muscle spasms and locked jaw. These diseases or injuries are too expensive for the people to afford to prevent from happening or treat when it does happen.

The report continues to say that shoes provide a better tomorrow for children. When children are healthy they can become better educated. The children have a chance of higher educated have a better chance of improving the future of their entire community.

The report goes on to say how TOMS works by having an approach of give sustainable, give responsibly. TOMS has worked to be “shoe-giving partners” with humanitarian organizations worldwide to have a deep experience and a long term presence in the areas where they serve. TOMS partners help recognize communities that are in need of shoes due to economic, health and educational needs. The partners also do not want local businesses to be negatively affect.

TOMS realized that children grow out of their shoes quickly. TOMS decided to aim to give repeatedly whenever possible to areas. To give new shoes to an area allowed TOMS to learn more about the needs of the community sot that they could continue to improve the way they give.

The shoes TOMS give to children are made to order. These shoes are commonly black unisex canvas slip-ons with a sturdy sole and come in the size needed for the children. As of 2010, these shoes were given in 23 countries including the United States. As of September 2010, in these 23 countries, TOMS has given away a million shoes to children in need.