Oct 3, 2010

Vision for Amish store near Lamoni bucks economic oddsBy David ElbertDesMoinesRegister.com

Lamoni, IA – Bette Sellars is what might be called an accidental entrepreneur.

Two years ago, she took on the task of finding a location where local Amish families could sell their wares and produce.

It led to the opening of the Amish Country Store in February 2009 at the Lamoni exit on Interstate Highway 35.

That was a low point for the economy and, in theory, a poor time to start a business, especially one that depends on consumer spending.

But Sellars went ahead, even though she never had a formal business plan, which is something experts say entrepreneurs should never do.

“You’d be surprised how often people do these things on the fly, and often they succeed,” said Georgeanne Artz, a retail economist at Iowa State University.

Read complete article.