Tom's of Maine

Introduction

For many business people, the most desirable thing is the key to success. However it is impossible to reap without sowing in reality. Although there is no any formulation to promise what to do will make business people successful, at least they have to make effort on running their business and persist in the business once it falls into decline.

If the business has enough or redundant resources, the owner can consider to contribute the ethical behavior to society. Lots of well-known companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are doing so. They earned not only the money but also the support and appreciation of community since they always donate part of their revenue to community, participate in voluntary work and even start up their own charitable organization.

Background of the article

Tom’s of Maine, a three-decade business about natural health care, which start from a small firm finally become successful after coping with many obstacles. As similar as lots of new business, the first product it sold was not successful. The detergent was environmentally friendly but the cleaning power was poor. Tom knew that consumers appeared to be interested in green products. They then started to sell other natural products such as toothpaste and soap which were more successful.

The good result is not always. In 1992, Tom’s reformulated deodorant magnified the human bacteria that lead to odor in a number of its deodorant customers. 30 percent of the company’s projected profit for the year is used to compensate for this issue. After settling the incident, Tom employed a team of marketing staff and started to introduce a baking soda toothpaste that drive him into success again.

Apart from earning money, Tom put emphasis on doing charity work. He firstly donate part of his company’s profit. Then, he encourage his staff donate 5 percent of their work time to volunteer activities since he realized the respect for employees and the need for meaningful work...