Dan McCarthy at the Great Leadership blog has kindly featured a guest post of mine, in which I discuss an important lesson of Amish business, taking my key from a visit to an Amish carriage shop. Here’s the beginning; follow the link to read the rest:
I recently gave the teenage son of an Amish friend a lift. Amish don’t drive of course, but generally have no problem accepting rides.
We had a big day planned: first stop was a carriage shop in the heart of the Lancaster County settlement, where “Elam” as we’ll call him, would order a new buggy. A younger brother was turning 16, which meant he’d inherit Elam’s vehicle, clearing the way for Elam to get a new one (the tab for a new buggy, in case you were wondering? Around $7-8000 or more, depending on the features—and there are more than you might think)…
Continue on to Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership blog for the rest of this post.
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I have my grandfather’s template for a large wagon for hauling grain to the mill. I lack the skills of a wheelwright. Surely there are wheelwrights in business for Amish vehicles. I would love to build one for reenacting the 100 years my family hauled freight to and around Indian Territory.
Clarence, there are several firms that make wagon wheels for the Amish and others. Try Small Farmers Journal and Rural Heritage websites for leads on these firms, or of course you can just Google “wagon wheels” or something similar to find websites.