[.uk] Longaberger: An American Success Story (ISBN 0060507780)

Amazon.com Review:
Although many businesspeople may not yet be familiar with Dave Longaberger and the hugely successful basket company that bears his name, they probably should be. The story of the man and his enterprise, as told in Longaberger: An American Success Story, is as informative and inspiring as any likely to pass their way. In fact, this plainspoken memoir--prepared with business writer Robert Shook shortly before Longaberger's death from cancer in 1999--ought to be required for all entrepreneurs who think they really know what makes the business world go round. In its pages, Longaberger candidly relates how he first learned to share and do his part as one of 12 children in a small house in tiny Dresden, Ohio--and how seemingly major drawbacks like epilepsy, stuttering, learning disabilities, and lack of a college education never deterred him. He tells how he kicked off his entrepreneurial career with a restaurant and grocery-drugstore before opening the basket company in 1973 as a part-time family affair, and how its workforce ultimately grew to 8,000 while revenues hit $1 billion. Longaberger fully explains overcoming his difficulties and learning the real secrets of business by shoveling snow and toiling in a grocery store as a youngster, and then selling baked goods and working in a factory as a young man. He also shows how this knowledge, and his penchant for the unconventional, became invaluable when he went into business for himself. The story includes Longaberger's rationale for the moves he parlayed into success, and offers his specific management principles along with advice on how and why to implement them. At its heart, though, Longaberger's message is deceptively simple. "If you remember nothing else about this book," he writes, "I hope you realize that if a small-town boy like me can make it, anyone in America who's willing to work hard should be able to earn a darn good living." --Howard Rothman

This is not a business book:
If you are looking for a book celebrating the life and times of David Longaberger, this is the book for you. If you are looking to learn more about how he built his businesses, look elsewhere. I was very disappointed in this book. Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20, not wear rose colored glasses. I'm surprised at all the ultra positive reviews here for this book, but I guess they are all "Longaberger Fans". I enjoy reading about successfully business people and looked forward to reading about how Longaberger built his unique marketing method. Ask any entrepreneur and they'll tell you that they learned far more from their failures than their successes. Either Dave Longaberger is the luckiest business person ever or he has really selective memory. The history of the Longaberger company and his earlier businesses is written as a series of successes with no discussion of any failures. The working conditions of the early basket production were horrible. Unpaid employees working in a dilapidated building without even bathroom facilities. While this may sound like something out of the turn of the century, this OSHA nightmare happened in the mid 70's. Still, Longaberger writes lovingly about it recalling his "devoted" employees, even patting himself on the back for allowing these workers flexible time. The "business tips" other reviewers have referred to are nothing new or interesting nor are the anecdotes on how practices like "listening to your employees" contributed to the success of the company. After reading this book I do understand the cult-like following that Longaberger enjoys. The selective history, overly positive attitude, and constant emphasis on a team attitude that Longaberger runs his businesses with are very similar to methods used by religious and other cult leaders.

Have you ever had a dream that was draining you dry?:
That was Mr.Longaberger's problem. He knew that handcrafted baskets had a place in Americana, but he didn't know how to make it profitable. But he never gave up. While it was running in the red, he was taking money from his business that was running in the black. Those entrepreneurs that are working full time jobs, as well,know the feeling. I picked up this book to gain perspective on how to not get discouraged in my own business. It worked. I have never had to work in a building that had no roof. I have never had to pay employees with IOUs. I have never had to go into a store and see my handmade baskets tossed in the back of a shelf collecting dusts while cheaper made, inferior baskets go whizzing by. What I took away from this book is to constantly persist and innovate. The cliche "Where there is a will there is a way" readily applied to Mr.Longaberger. He gained my utmost admiration as a businessman and as a philanthroper. From day one he shared is wealth, with his employees, with his community, and with strangers. I am shopping around to purchase one of his baskets, solely as an inspiration piece, and if you do the same, after reading this book, you will find out what I found out, they are expensive and you have stiff competition among the collectors. He created a $7billion company from an abandon building. Could you do the same. Do you have what it takes to get through your hard times, up beat, to really see your business blossom? I do. I look forward to seeing you at the top.

Not A Very Helpful Book!:
As stated by another reviewer, this is a book for "Longaberger fans" (pretty much a waste of time and money for anybody else). The wholesome, made-in America image that the Longaberger family is trying to convey seems ironic to me now, since the company is outsourcing a large amount of their products in China. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except the die-hard Longaberger enthusiast!

Wonderful Business Tips If you are a real businessman:
If a book's name is success story it will not be a business textbook to explain business strategy or corporate finance. In this book you can see the optimism (which we need right now), persuasion(every entreprenuer needs), and a soft touch to people ( key element to create successful business). So as you understand this book do not make you understand hard business issues but make you understand that the realization of dreams are not restricted to business educated people... It shows you a person who has learning disabilities can create a company of 1 billion dollar worth... it shows you the importance of caring customers and touching customers and caring their families... So people who needs business books they need to go text books not success stories... ... if i need a screwdriver and if i get a hammer, hammer will be useless for me but this does not change the effectiveness of the hammer for the person who needs it... so only problem is the person who selects it... thanks

Longaberger - An American Success:
This is such a great book. If owners and managers of companies had the same knowledge that Dave had with no college education, there would be a lot more people with better morale in the workplace. His techniques prove to be successful. This was a very touching book too. He went from nothing to something.