Social enterprises often take on a one-for-one approach where customers buy a product and a similar product is then donated by the company to someone in need. This type of model has been adopted by many well-known businesses such as Toms and Warby Parker.

Although this approach has worked well for Toms Shoes, the business has come under much criticism for only tackling the problem of children not having access to footwear on a surface level rather than digging deeper to the issue’s roots. This is where Warby Parker differentiates itself, by taking it a step further than Toms and actually working with people in developing countries to train them on how to become entrepreneurs and set up their own businesses. This allows a continuous cycle of jobs and investment, rather than allowing these developing countries to slip into a state of dependency on charity.

David Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal, the co-founders of Warby Parker, are convinced that businesses acting ethically and earning a profit are not negatively correlated factors but rather, can be achieved hand-in-hand. Their vision for the company is surely one that will help many people in developing countries by providing them with the opportunity to gain the skills in order to sustain their own lifestyles and is a business model that other companies can definitely learn from.