Study the Amish! ... Amish businesses have an Eye-popping 95% Success rate...
 

Just happened to be researching Amish related business news...

Some interesting Food for Thought...

And they surely do a Great job in the many Food related industries...

Amongst endless other industries and ideas...

Bet there are many Specialty Amish related business ideas just waiting...

To be Re-Created and Freshened up into multiple WWW. and Localized business opportunities...

Maybe not easy Communication wise... But possible with the right Formula and Thinking... ;)

Why Amish businesses don't fail
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/04/smal...iness_success/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Succes...e/366659510893

Learn from the Amish...
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/menno.html
http://www.amishnews.com/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...&btnG=Se arch
http://www.experience-ohio-amish-cou...the-amish.html

An Amish Entrepreneur's Old-Fashioned Approach
Without electricity, a car, or a cell phone, Amos Miller turned his dad's Pennsylvania farm into a $1.8 million national food retailer...
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz...014_284280.htm

Phil

My annual trip to Lehman's.
 

The first point I want to make is this. There are many varieties of "Amish" and "Mennonites". So it is important to be careful not just to lump them all together, though they may share many basic beliefs.

That being said, I've spent a lot of time in Holmes County OH, and one of my annual, if not several times a year, trips is to LEHMAN'S The site is www.lehmans.com where you'll find all kinds of cool stuff.

When I first came on line, I told many stories about my Uncle Frank Yoder, who was one of the characters of Hartville, OH and ran a fruit and veggie stand out on Swamp Road.

My mother, a Miller of WV and my father, born in Accident MD, had a lot of contact with all sorts of Amish and Mennonites, there are sects within each group...and I grew up having respect and understanding of their "lifestyle", the ones who chose to live, as we say today, "off grid".

In my opinon, one reason for their success is, HARD WORK. And number 2 is they take great PRIDE in their work...they just won't do something that other people will use unless it is something they would use (or Eat, in the case of their many well known kitchens).

Hard Work.
Pride.
Frugal investment strategy.

Almost every Amishman that I know believes in a two tier TITHE, that is, 10% to church or community and 10% to family BEFORE they divide the rest up.

Anyhow, THANKS PHIL as always. Take a few minutes and browse LEHMAN'S store, you'll see many items which could help you manage things when the hard times hit.

Gordon Jay Alexander

This saying sums up the reason for Amish business success...
 

Hi Phil and Gordon,

Thanks for this very interesting information about the Amish and their success in business!

It sounds like the "Protestant work ethic" (as it's been called) is at play here... Hard work for its own sake, and valuing frugal living. (That means they don't wantonly spend their money on useless stuff.)

There's the old saying which summarizes this point of view...

"Idle hands do the devil's work."

(Or "Idle hands make mischief.")

The idea is that keeping busy - by working hard - is a pious act in itself.

Also, a sincere Amish person isn't going to spend their profits on the latest new-technology 3D television set, or Apple iPad. (Since they don't use electricity or other new technology.) That means they have that money available to plow back into the business.

Another thing is the Amish have a great "image". It's an image of down-to-earth honesty and hard work. People trust them because of that (and for good reason, too, I would say). I'm sure that would also help.

In addition, from what I've read, the Amish form a strong-knit community. So if one Amish is in trouble, others in the community would probably do what they can to help him. That community support could be critical, especially during hard times.

Thanks, I gained and learned a lot from your posts!

Best wishes,

Dien