amish business sucsess rate 95%

[bcguy]

I thought this was a interesting article written by cnn. Seems the amish have a general failure rate of 5% when the averable business failure rate of 50% for us businesses.

Mabey business can learn form them?

anyone have stats for LDS sucesses rates?

Why Amish businesses don't fail - May. 4, 2010

[Hemidakota]

"…qualities like hard work and cooperation"...not only that, the quality of work is beyond compare of products produced by others. As I see, they used there own terms of advertisement here, everything about the Amish says things like 'rustic,' 'traditional,' 'handmade,' this itself is a given about this group of people.

The answer is the last sentance; "Miller answers his own question in the next breath: I guess you just have to stay true to your convictions and draw your own lines and not overdo it where you lose the values and your way of life."

[MarginOfError]

I"m sure it doesn't hurt that self-employed Amish business owners are allowed to exempt themselves from paying social security.

[Guest mormonmusic]

I didn't see a lot in this article to point to their success other than they "stick with the knitting", and focus on what they know. Harvard reached the same conclusion when assessing non-Amish companies that had survived for long periods of time. One factor was they rarely went into dramatically different businesses -- if they did expand, it was into related businesses where they could leverage existing systems, assets and knowledge.

[Hemidakota]

I"m sure it doesn't hurt that self-employed Amish business owners are allowed to exempt themselves from paying social security.

Isn't this a choice by all self-employed to pay or not to pay SS?

[Traveler]

Isn't this a choice by all self-employed to pay or not to pay SS?

NO! The self employed not only have to pay SS but they must pay double what everyone else pays. In addition we get to pay our own unemployment.

The best method is to work somewhere to pay your SS then run a profitable business based from your home. This is the best of all possible worlds. You can employ your children (almost regardless of age) and get up to an additional $10,000 deduction each year for each child. Plus you can deduct any out of pocket medical. There are other things as well but you will need a very good tax accountant that cost a minimum of about $1,000 per year. But the secret is that your business must be profitable - over and above all expenses. Which means you have to work.

The Traveler

[Guest mormonmusic]

Not sure if the Amish practice this principle, but after repeated failures at small business ventures, I finally ran into some decent succcess by applying this principle:

Focus on sales and marketing at first. Get the order, the client, the revenue before you make the investment.

I bought a rental property recently and it was cashflowing positive before I even bought it. It got the tenant and the first and last rent before I bought the house.

I developed a new product and only invested in marketing materials, not any inventory, and got orders before I invested a dime in manufacturing or inventory.

Positive cashflow is everything!!!

[pam]

Could it also be the Amish have a reputation for being honest and fair people? I would do business with them if given the opportunity.

[Guest mormonmusic]

Could it also be the Amish have a reputation for being honest and fair people? I would do business with them if given the opportunity.

I think that's true, and also, they have a reputation for quality as people associate the Amish with handcrafted work.

My wife and I were talking about this, and she thinks anything they try to market is considered a "brand extension". Just as Campell's Soup has a reputation for quality, so do the Amish. So, a new business startup for the Amish isn't really a new business startup with no reputation or credibility -- they already have such credibility due to other business startups from their community. This may well help them be successful -- this already-established brand awareness.

Also, in the article, it says that they don't like the customers see that they use fax machines and email and stuff. Not necessarily because it conflicts with their values, but one Amish Entrepreneur said he didn't want his customers to see it. I think this shows the Amish know that the perception of their people as honest, rustric craftsman is part of their business model.