A project on basic poverty issues and how entrepreneurs can help to fight it, using an example of Blake Mycoskie

1. BB Citizenship: Poverty
By SSG/4 Joel Lau, SSG/4 Elliot Leong, SSG/4 Quah Kian
Seong, SSG/4 Ethan Tan and SSG/4 Jonas Tan

2. Contents
1) What is poverty?
2) Details on Blake Mycoskie.
3) What did he do.
4) Challenges he overcame.
5) Learning points that have been gained from this project.

3. What is poverty and how does it affect the world?
Poverty as defined by Jo Goodwin Parker, is living without hope, better foods, medicinal
care, proper sanitation and proper education. It is like an acid that destroys pride, honour,
health and future.
Poverty is high in third world countries and even in the poorer parts of developed
countries.
Over 3 billion people on earth live on less than USD $2.50 a day, and the poorest 40% of
people account for only 5% of global income

4. Entrepreneur: Blake Mycoskie
Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS, and the person behind the idea of One
for One.
TOMS is an apparel brand that sells shoes, clothing, bags etc
One for One is an initiative by Mycoskie that will help a person in need for every
product purchased by its customers
TOMS has provided 35 million pairs of shoes to children, restored eyesight to 275
thousand people, and 67 thousand weeks of safe water since 2014

5. Beginnings
Mycoskie was traveling in Argentina when he realised how difficult it was for
children to grow up without proper footwear
Barefooted children were not allowed an education
He then bought a few hundred pairs of shoes from a local shoemaker and brought
them back home to sell both the shoes and his idea for a business plan
He created a for-profit business and built the foundation for TOMS
TOMS later expanded to selling eyewear and every pair of eyewear purchased
would restore sight to a person in need

6. Legacy
TOMS has provided 35 million pairs of shoes to children, restored eyesight to 275
thousand people, and 67 thousand weeks of safe water since 2014
Shoes that were given away helped the children’s wellbeing by preventing
exposure to foot-related diseases and helping their education

7. Challenges Encountered
Blake Mycoskie previously had several businesses before TOMS, like a laundry
business and an outdoor advertising company which he sold, and an unsuccessful
reality television show
Through this, he gained some foundation on business management and knew he
should not be starting a company that would be owned by a larger one
Setting up this shoe company was easy since he could start small and get a
decent amount of business before getting pursued by bigger companies

8. Lessons learnt
We learnt how blessed we are to have education and that we do not even have to
worry about whether we have shoes or not
We learnt about how important it is to give back to those in need with our
knowledge and finance and how we can contribute what little we have to do this
as well

9. THANK YOU!