In 2006, the founder of TOMS Shoes, Blake Mycoskie took a trip to Argentina to learn polo, practice tango and volunteer in the local community. During his stay, he saw that children in the village did not have adequate shoes to protect their feet. He was also shocked by health and poverty problems sprawling in Argentina. Soon after he went back home, he came up with the one-for-one business model – a promise for every pair of alpargata slip-on sold, a new pair of shoes would be donated to a child in need. TOMS sold 10,000 pairs of shoes during the first year in business. Since its launch, the company has donated over 115,000 shoes to impoverished children around the world.

TOMS’s socially-minded business model has generated a large amount of profits and created a positive and charitable brand image. Combining the goal of solving social issues with the objective of earning profits, social entrepreneurs demonstrate their great abilities of becoming innovators who change the traditional business world. I believe a business that can blend philanthropy into its value proposition will have a more competitive and firm stand in the market. Because many people are willing to make the world a better place and social entrepreneurship is able to satisfy this large market need.