Figuring Out Success With the Amish

I’ve spent a lot of time with the Amish these past few years. I first encountered Amish outside of Arthur, Illinois, a rural community where the corn towers overhead and buggy traffic can outnumber the cars. I was working for a Nashville publisher, where I spent the better part of ten years in sales and management. I ended up selling a Bible product in Amish communities, a set of books called the Family Bible Library, a job which took me to over a dozen Amish communities from Pennsylvania to Iowa, and thousands of Amish homes. As I experienced my firsthand look into the culture, I came to appreciate Amish for the reasons many do—their admirably simple lifestyle, focus on the family, enduring faith. But I also couldn’t help but notice one other thing: their booming businesses. One image always sticks out in my mind: the late-model Mercedes with out-of-state plates, parked outside of a plain-looking Amish cabinet shop, one of the many which populate the Arthur area. What a contrast. Wealthy suburbanites were traveling from places like Chicago and Indianapolis—hours away—to buy furniture from modest Amish businesses—shops which, as I often found when I tried to get the attention of their owners, were busy. Clearly, the Amish were doing something right. I started to wonder if Amish businesses had any ideas to offer the non-Amish world, and thus was born the idea for my book.