Can passion=success? Most of the time, other ingredients are required such as marketability, a congruent executive team, supply, demand, and patience are required.
But at the top of any entrepreneur’s list must be passion. Without a passion for the company, its employees, the market or the product, a company will never break out and survive let alone lead.
Longaberger Basket Company is passionate. Take a look at their corporate headquarters at the bottom of this article to see the proof of their passion.
I mean this guy REALLY likes baskets!
Can you imagine a more passionate representation of your company? I don’t think that commitment or passion is an issue with the Longaberger Basket Company; do you?
In the early 1970s, Dave Longaberger noticed that baskets were becoming very popular, and he also noticed that many department stores were beginning to sell imported baskets. Dave wondered if people would appreciate baskets like the fine handcrafted ones his father used to make. So he asked his father, a master basket weaver, to make a dozen baskets, and then took them to a nearby town. They sold immediately and the shop requested more! His father made several dozen more baskets and they sold quickly, as well. Sadly, however, J.W. died at the age of 71, just as the family trade of basket weaving was being renewed.
Dave opened J.W.’s Hand-woven Baskets™ in 1976 in Dresden. Interest in these beautiful handmade baskets continued to grow and his company opened up its own manufacturing facility in vacant woolen mill.
Dave became increasingly convinced that American consumers wanted the handmade craftsmanship and quality of Longaberger baskets. He tried different ways to sell baskets at malls, department stores and other retail outlets, with varying degrees of success. In 1978, Dave discovered that the most effective way to sell the company’s baskets was not through retail outlets but through home shows, where an educated home consultant could show Longaberger baskets and share the history and explain the craftsmanship that each basket holds. The Longaberger Company’s direct sales organization was born. In 1984, Dave’s daughter, Tami, joined the company full-time after her graduation from The Ohio State University. Tami worked in virtually every area of the company, and in 1994 Dave appointed her president. Working side by side until Dave’s death in 1999, Tami learned her father’s management principles first-hand. Clearly cut from the same visionary cloth as her father, she used her own extraordinary gifts to diversify the company into other home lifestyle areas, which now account for nearly half of the company’s revenues.
With their solid wood tops, creative designs and MLM compensation plan, there is no doubt that the Longaberger legacy will live on and be the best place to not only enjoy a premium basket or gift, but be a respectable and long-term business for anyone who wishes to join their team. At the very least, you’ll have zero competition!
You will have to build a business, of course, and that requires a steady stream of leads. Be sure to register for our accountability book by registering on the right.
Here’s proof that the basket building is real…what a hoot!
