One of the best derivatives of a modern & developed economy is the increasing confidence it gives its youth to take risks and venture out to domains which their typical risk-averse parents or forefathers wont have done years ago.
Coupled with this is an increasing surge of “social empathy” percolating the atmosphere which has resulted in a magnificently large share of these start-ups to go the “social” way.
One such example of a successful start-up is “ToF” or “Threads of Freedom” whose main objective is to reintegrate victims of Sex-Trafficking into the society by giving them meaningful employment and social support. The enterprise trains and employs rescued women in established manufacturing firms and then collaborates with these firms to produce high quality clothing. These clothes are then sold to consumers at a profit which help the owners maintain the stability of their operating model.
While they are not the only organization operating on this seemingly similar model, they are unique in the way they market themselves as a “for-profit” organization. They believe that this is a successful model which allows them to provide the rescued females with not only employment, but also on-going counselling, training & financial assistance among other comprehensive line of benefits.
Their model works to utilize its earned resources to team with nonprofits, government agencies and garment manufacturers to provide a sustainable source of income for this largely neglected section of our society. It is highly impressive since it effectively redistributes the money from their “buyers” to the many “rescued women” and it is able to do so transparently & effectively, and with profits which can be reinvested further to this cause.
This is in line with a new stream of enterprises who want to create a way for “for-profits” to enter the market with “social impact” as their main goal. The success of such models is a definite impetus to the many new businesses which want to be recognized for their “good for society outcomes” while also maintaining their for-profit status. That such a need is there is already proven with certifications like the B-Corp(Best for the World certified) gaining huge popularity among both the non-profit & for-profit space of small and big organizations. Interestingly, such a “branding” also taps into the new league of customers who want to know if their purchase is in any way impacting the world. Infact, in most cases, an average buyer is willing to pay a premium for such products. In the end, it is a win-win situation for all the involved parties.
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*To buy the “cool” ToF T-shirts & be a part of this change, visit their product website:
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