This is how ALL dreams start, small, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
The influence of TOMS had come to Taipei. Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS is the primary speaker of the forum hosted by UDN Papers. Mycoskie spoke of the importance to keep the “starting mindset”, he’d encouraged the younger generations to get out of their comfort zones, to take that first step into the world bravely, it’d gotten the audience going, as the members of the audience started asking him questions, the entire lecture was filled with a TON of action.
The forum was hosted by the Howard Hotels Literary Foundation, and, it’d attracted the audience to fill up the entire two story auditorium, mostly were members of the younger generation, and, there were a lot of the social enterprises’ founders, a lot had on shoes from TOMS.
Mycoskie said, he’s idea for his company, TOMS came from when he’d gone to travel to Argentina, and, on a chance encountered, he’d gone on a delivery call with the volunteers, to give shoes that the volunteer group received through the donations. He was originally very happy, but later on, as he was asked about how, after the kids get older, they’d needed new shoes, or if the shoes got worn, what would happen then? “That, was when I’d thought about the afterwards problems, and that what I’m doing was NOT so amazing after all.”
Mycoskie said, later on, he’d thought about the enterprise donation method of selling one pair, donating one pair, to continue the donations of shoes, at first, he’d only started with two hundred fifty pairs for the program, and, it’d gotten a ton of commends.
“Don’t just keep your ideas inside notebooks.” Mycoskie called out to the audience, the first step is always the most important, “Just Do It.”
And, this still started, with JUST one thought, when the founder of TOMS observed how the children in Argentina were without shoes, which kick started the system of his selling a pair, donating a pair program, and, by so doing, Mycoskie was able to get the world to help out, to participate, in the efforts of putting shoes on the feet of all the children in the world.
Mycoskie: All the Other Enterprises are More than Welcome to Use TOMS’s Example, to Help Spread the Positive Beliefs Selling One Pair, Donating One Pair, Flipping the Beliefs of Capitalism
Mycoskie said, as he’d started thinking of the problems of children not having shoes to wear, at first, he’d thought about using the traditional methods, having shoes donated, but, he’d feared, that this will cause a codependence, and, if you can’t rely on the continuing of this codependence, than, the children will NOT have more shoes, and, he’d gotten an idea, why not make the shoes himself, for every pair he’d sold, he’d donate a pair, that way, he could maintain the source of shoe donations.
Mycoskie told, that as he’d started making TOMS shoes, he had NO idea about shoes. But he’d known, that if his concepts are to be put into action, the key is to make the public love his shoes, and so, he threw a party first, showed the ladies who loved shoe shopping the first of TOMS shoes, and, didn’t tell them, that he’d intended on selling them, and, the ladies felt that the shoes were great.
As he’d gained this first form of approval, he’d worked hard, to get a store to allow him to sell his shoes there, and, after a Los Angeles reporter’s interview of him, he’d gained publicity; and, after Vogue reported his story, since then, he’d become famous.
Mycoskie said, working in TOMS for nine years, he’d felt, that “when I wanted to help someone, other people would offer me their assistance without wanting anything in return from me”, for instance, a lot of the name brands like Ralph Lauren was willing to design the shoes, and, there are over ten thousands of his customers who are helping to advertise his products, and selling them for him, “The customers are the BEST salespeople.”
As TOMS grew, there were, many failed attempts, for instance, the production line couldn’t meet the needs of the customers, not knowing which factories to work with, not knowing how to control the quality of the shoes, and, there were instances of after the customers placed an order, but, the deliveries couldn’t be made on time. Mycoskie said, he could only offer his sincerest apologies to his customers, and promised them, that he’ll improve, and gladly, in the end, all the customers understood.
And, as his company started operating on a grander scale, it’d faced challenges and doubts from the outside world too. Mycoskie said, he’d never feared having other companies copy his “sell one donate one” idea, in fact, he welcomed those who wanted to duplicate his methods of giving back to the world, because this can help spread the positive thoughts forward.
And so, this man, ran his company like any other businessman would, but, because his company had set up so that for each pair of shoes sold, a pair of shoes is donated to someone who needs them, that, is why the public welcomed the thought, because, by spending their money, they not only got something they needed, they could also help someone else in need out, which, is exactly WHY TOMS is gaining the fames.
Life, the Obstacle Course 