New American Tradesman™
New American Tradesman
The trades are short on people. The office is emptying out. That's an opportunity for the tradesman who can bridge both worlds.
New American Tradesman is the business-side publication for the trades - for owners running the business, and for anyone leaving a desk to build one. Pricing, crew management, marketing, cash flow, leadership. Not how to do the trade. How to run it.
Price the job right · Run the crew tight · Get paid on time · Keep more of it
Latest Articles
Hiring & Retention
How to Train a New Hire Without Slowing Down Jobs
The sink-or-swim method feels fast. It's costing you rework, callbacks, and the guy you just hired.
Workforce & Immigration Compliance
What It Actually Costs to Knowingly Hire an Unauthorized Worker
The fines scale by offense, the audits are climbing, and a profitable shop is a bigger target than a struggling one.
Hiring & Retention
How to Keep Good Workers From Leaving for a Competitor
Your best people already have offers. What actually keeps them isn't what most owners think.
Business Setup & Legal
How to Get a Plumber License in Texas
The ladder, the hours, and the fees, laid out for someone starting from zero
Cost Volatility & Risk Management
What to Do When Material Costs Jump Mid Job
The invoice came in higher than your bid. Here's how to keep the difference from coming out of your own pocket.
Workforce & Immigration Compliance
How to Verify Work Eligibility Without Getting Sued for Discrimination
The paperwork that protects you from one federal agency can expose you to another. Here's how to run the I-9 process clean.
Tools
Break-Even Calculator
A fixed-cost tracker, break-even calculator, profit margin calculator, and pricing target tool — built for pricing real jobs, not spreadsheets.
Open Break-Even Calculator→Labor Burden Calculator
Find the true fully-loaded hourly cost of an employee: payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits, and non-billable time, not just the wage on their paycheck.
Open Labor Burden Calculator→Bid Margin Calculator
Check a proposed bid against your target margin before you send it: your actual margin at that price, the minimum price that hits your target, and the dollar gap if it falls short.
Open Bid Margin Calculator→Tradesman Interview Guide
A 30-minute structured interview framework for hiring tradespeople: what to ask, how to score answers, and where candidates commonly slip. Pick a trade below for role-specific technical questions and red flags.
Open Tradesman Interview Guide→