Class20 – SoleRebels versus Toms Shoes

I oppose Toms Shoes’ “one for one” business model, while supporting SoleRebels’ business model that helps people in poverty and creates eco-friendly value.

Especially, I strongly agree with the opinion of Widmer-“ To give anything is always a bad idea when you’re trying to fight poverty.” This is simply because poor people are not poor because they lack of resources. To use a statement made by Miller-“Poor people aren’t poor because they lack stuff; they’re poor because they lack the infrastructure to create wealth.” There is also an old saying in China that says “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” When you decided to give the poor things to help them, you are actually helping them in the easiest way. So, in terms of Toms Shoes’s “one for one” business model, giving stuff to help the poor has actually created more difficulties for them than benefits. From my perspective, If a company wants to reduce poverty, it needs to find a solution that can guarantee the permanence of the benefit it brought. For instance, teaching people a life-supporting skill.

On the contrary, if we are talking about an entrepreneur that starts up a business from poor areas, like SoleRebels, the circumstances are different, and so is the goal that the company is pursuing. I think companies building in relatively poor areas should be making good use of recyclable resources (free resources), and creating as much job opportunities as possible, for gaining profit. As long as those companies are not losing money, those companies are able to support local economy, and can be said to be successful.