The religious sect called the Amish had long been very much determined to keep away from the modern world and retain their old fashioned way of life. However, they are also trying to balance out their own values with the ever changing dynamics of the marketplace – which has prompted many of them to quit their farming jobs in favor of setting up small scale businesses.

Reasons for This Startling Amish Move

According to John Swaffer, who is the advertising manager of the company Keim Lumber located in Charm, Ohio, the intent of the Amish is not to find themselves caught up right in the middle of the modern world's hustle and bustle. Truth be told, such a move by these people were done more because of a necessity rather than a mere desire to finally keep up with the times. Over the past sixteen years, the population of the Amish people in the United States – concentrated mostly in the states of Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio – had alarmingly doubled to around two hundred and thirty thousand members, which is bad for the ever decreasing amount of farmland space as well as its high cost of upkeep and maintenance. Such figures and such a situation has forced many of these agrarian families – especially those who are part of the younger generation – to look into the possibility of the small business sector as the main source of their income.

Success in Skill Despite Academic Qualification

Such businesses of the Amish with invests on their skills in quilting, making of furniture, engaging in construction work as well as cooking, are remarkably successful. This is even despite an apparent lack of education – not even that of a high school diploma – because there are now hundreds upon hundreds of Amish workers who have built for themselves startlingly profitable businesses that are also based on Amish qualities and values. These values include hard work, integrity and high quality of product and output. One study conducted in 2004 by the Goshen College shows that the rate of failure for these Amish businesses is at a mere five percent when you compare it with the default rate of national small businesses.

According to another federal study, there are only around two thirds of start up small businesses that have been able to survive the critical first two years and very few actually make it to four whole years of operations. And of course, most of these businesses are actually partnering with the non-Amish business makers in order to sell their products to the general public. In these times of economic recession and worldwide instability, it is heartening to know that there are people like the Amish who are making things work and may serve as a model for other people who may want to pattern their lives as such and thus experience the same kind of prosperity in simplicity.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg