I believe it’s rare for tradespeople to think of themselves explicitly as business owners, and I’m not an exception.  We see ourselves as makers of things, and we grudgingly accept the business side as the necessity that allows us to keep making.  For example, in the past when people asked me about my business model, I used to fumble for a coherent answer.   I’ve gradually come to realize that I do have a business model, though it’s been implicit for much of my company’s existence:  We can succeed if we provide products and services that can’t be replicated in a factory.  We’re based in Boston, where wages and expenses are very high, and we rarely make the same thing twice.  This is not…