Guide to Business

At a conference many years ago in Boston, timber-frame guru Tedd Benson gave a talk to a standing-room-only crowd. All the craftsmen in the room were eager to hear what the guy who had revived their craft had to say. When Benson told them that day that he was going to talk to them about business there was an audible groan. These guys wanted to hear about beams and bents and tenons, not tax receipts and collectibles.

But Benson's message hit home as solidly as a trenail: If you don't learn the business side of the business, soon you won't have any, and then you won't be able to do the craft side, which is the part you really enjoy.

The scope of the articles collected here is not inclusive, but there is lots of great information -- some of the most popular, if not controversial, ever published in Fine Homebuilding. Just like laying out stair stringers or hanging a door, business is something you absolutely have to get good at. And remember what Benson said at the close of his lecture:  "Business is not a dirty word."