Success Made Simple
An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive
1st Edition
Published on 16. April 2010
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-470-44237-1 (ISBN)
Description
The keys to better business from a thriving group of business owners-the Amish Business can be discouraging. According to US Department of Labor figures, only 44 percent of newly-opened firms will last four years. Amish firms, on the other hand, have registered a 95% survival rate over a five-year period. And in many cases, those businesses do remarkably well-as Donald Kraybill writes: "the phrase 'Amish millionaire' is no longer an oxymoron." Success Made Simple is the first practical book of Amish business success principles for the non-Amish reader. The work provides a platform of transferable principles--simple and universal enough to be applied in the non-Amish world, in a wide variety of business and management settings.
Learn how to develop profitable and fulfilling enterprises as Amish explain how to build fruitful relationships with customers and employees, prosper by playing to strengths, and create an effective marketing story
Includes interviews with over 50 Amish business owners outline the role of relationships in business and the importance of the big picture-taking in long-term goals, the welfare of others, and personal integrity
Offers ideas on practical application of Amish business practices to non-Amish businesses, with bullet summaries at the end of each chapter reviewing the most important take-away points
With a focus on relationship-building and the big picture, Success Made Simple offers business owners everywhere the tools for better, smarter, more successful enterprises.
Learn how to develop profitable and fulfilling enterprises as Amish explain how to build fruitful relationships with customers and employees, prosper by playing to strengths, and create an effective marketing story
Includes interviews with over 50 Amish business owners outline the role of relationships in business and the importance of the big picture-taking in long-term goals, the welfare of others, and personal integrity
Offers ideas on practical application of Amish business practices to non-Amish businesses, with bullet summaries at the end of each chapter reviewing the most important take-away points
With a focus on relationship-building and the big picture, Success Made Simple offers business owners everywhere the tools for better, smarter, more successful enterprises.
Reviews / Votes
"I loved Wesner's comment that the Amish 'don't need an M.B.A. to run an effective business....There's life in commerce for those more dedicated to the Golden Rule than the Golden calf.' Nonprofit managers and employees would do well to take the lessons of personal responsibility, hard work, and a cheerful attitude to heart. After all, they really do engage in work that matters." -About.com, April 11, 2010"Erik Wesner's new book, "Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive," might have been titled "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Being Amish." This fascinating and engagingly written book spells out the principles that guide Amish business owners, based on interviews with 60 Amish CEOs employing about 400 people in various enterprises."
-LancasterOnline.com, April 10, 2010
"How can a people whose preferred mode of transportation is a horse and buggy do so well in the modern marketplace? That question intrigued Erik Wesner, a former sales manager. His exploration of the Amish approach to business can be found in his fascinating book Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive. Despite the group's insular nature, Wesner was able to live and work among its members for three years. 'We're not going to become Amish,' he says, 'but I think some of the cultural values that the Amish display consistently are things that non-Amish people can adopt and incorporate.'"
-Time magazine, April 8, 2010
Articles, excerpts, slideshows, and mentions with the author also from:
-MSNBC Live with David Shuster, April 2, 2010
-Slideshow, FastCompany.com, April 1, 2010
-Michael Dresser, Business Talk Radio, March 23, 2010
-Q&A, The New York Post, March 22, 2010
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
John Wiley & Sons Inc
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
443 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-470-44237-1 (9780470442371)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2010
Jossey-Bass
€16.99
Available for download
E-Book
02/2010
Jossey-Bass
€16.99
Available for download
Persons
ERIK WESNER is an independent expert on the Amish and their business practices, and previously spent a decade as a sales manager and record-breaking salesperson at Nashville's Southwestern Company. He divides his time between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he has strong ties to the Amish community, and Poland, the country of his roots. He also writes the popular blog Amish America at amishamerica.com, covering Amish business, culture, and other topics.
Content
Foreword ix
By Donald B. Kraybill
Preface: Unearthing the Secrets xiii
A Note on Names xix
1 Eye to the horizon 1
Cultivating a Vision and Thriving Through Crisis
2 Getting smart 27
Hands-On Versus the Hallowed Halls
3 Market-bound 49
Excelling at Sales and Marketing
4 Doing unto others 75
The Crucial Customer Relationship
5 Choosing up sides 103
Getting the Right People in Place
6 Fishing lessons 127
Empowering Your Most Valuable Asset
7 Around the edges 155
Honing an Efficiency Mentality
8 The big picture 183
Getting What You Came For
conclusion 205
Barn Raising
appendix 207
Research and Interview Methodology
Bibliography 211
Acknowledgments 215
About the Author 217
Index 219
By Donald B. Kraybill
Preface: Unearthing the Secrets xiii
A Note on Names xix
1 Eye to the horizon 1
Cultivating a Vision and Thriving Through Crisis
2 Getting smart 27
Hands-On Versus the Hallowed Halls
3 Market-bound 49
Excelling at Sales and Marketing
4 Doing unto others 75
The Crucial Customer Relationship
5 Choosing up sides 103
Getting the Right People in Place
6 Fishing lessons 127
Empowering Your Most Valuable Asset
7 Around the edges 155
Honing an Efficiency Mentality
8 The big picture 183
Getting What You Came For
conclusion 205
Barn Raising
appendix 207
Research and Interview Methodology
Bibliography 211
Acknowledgments 215
About the Author 217
Index 219