For small builders who need to improve the business side
of their companies, Dorn Fowler's Basic Business
Management: A Guide for Small-Volume Home Builders ($60,
Home Builder Press, 1201 15th St. NW, Washington, DC
20005; 800/223-2665; www.builderbooks.
com) can help light the way.
Fowler keeps the book easy to use by
organizing it into eight sections —
management, sales, legal issues, estimating
and scheduling, supervision,
accounting, financing, and
warranties — with subsections that
clearly lead you through the topics.
Financing, for example, begins with
financial planning and analysis,
then moves to cash management,
and ends by exploring banking options. At the end of the book,
there is a useful sample chart of accounts as well as a