Longaberger: An American Success Story

One of 12 children of a basket-factory worker in a small Ohio town, Dave Longaberger came naturally to people oriented business practices long before the days of the management gurus. This engaging memoir explores his life and his unorthodox business sense, which created a solid base for the success of his company. Taking readers through the process of becoming an entrepreneur, Longaberger outlines specific practices, such as managerial evaluation and a mandatory shorter work day, that not only contributed to the strength of the Longaberger enterprise, but can make any business run more profitably. Today, the Longaberger Company is the largest basket manufacturer in the United States and the creator of the fourth largest line of "collectibles" in America. An affirmation of American values of independence, hard work, and morality, this personal story is as inspirational as it is informative. The Longaberger Company has been featured in People, George, and Profit magazines, and cited in Forbes, Working 1Wotker, and Ohio magazines. The Longaberger Company boasts 60,000 independent sales associates nationwide, who market and sell the company's products through home shows.

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

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