TOMS One-For-One Business Model: A Case Study

“While traveling in Argentina in 2006, TOMS Founder Blake Mycoskie witnessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes.” (TOMS®, 2018). His desire to help these children inspired him to create TOMS. For every shoe purchased, the company’s mission was to donate a pair to a child in need. However, it did not end there. Blake realized he could do more to help communities in impoverished countries. “A simple idea has grown into a global movement: TOMS Shoes has provided over 60 million pairs of shoes to children since 2006, TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to over 400,000 since 2011 and TOMS Roasting Company has helped provide over 335,000 weeks of safe water since launching in 2014. In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection

However, this new way of thinking and giving back to the community helped excel the growth of TOMS by 300% annually. “We had set ourselves apart in other ways, too: A third of our revenue was coming from direct-to-consumer sales via our website, and we spent virtually nothing on traditional advertising, relying instead on our 5 million social media followers to create word-of-mouth buzz.” (Blake Mycoskie/Harvard Business Review, 2018). TOMS sets its self apart from other companies by concentrating on the “why” of what they do. By focusing on why purchasing a TOMS item helps others, it enables consumers to feel they are a part of a significant and noteworthy

Not only has he started a movement in his own company he started a movement of giving back and doing better in businesses around the world. “Lane Wood, a not-for-profit consultant who has worked with Charity: water, the well-digging NGO that is one of Toms’s partners, credits Toms with helping companies mature beyond basic corporate social responsibility. “People have seen the success of Toms and said, ‘How do I get a piece of that? '” he says. “While you’ve seen some really disingenuous campaigns, what I’m excited about is that this will become ubiquitous. Companies have to understand the effect they have on the world.” (Chu / Fast Company,