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WE WILL BE CLOSED SATURDAY, 7/4 FOR JULY 4TH

Check Out Our Upcoming Workshops Here!

A Boston Building Resources workshop series

Building Successful Businesses

A 7-part series on bringing your business practices to the same level of craft as your building practices. Led by Paul Eldrenkamp.

Sept 24 – Dec 17, 2026 Thursdays, 6:00–7:30 PM BBR Co-op + Online
Sign up today See the sessions

Similar programs cost $1,900+

Only $330

Plus: membership discounts and scholarships available.

Seven Thursdays, one better business

The Sessions

Your instructor

Meet Paul Eldrenkamp

Paul Eldrenkamp, instructor of the Building Successful Businesses series Paul Eldrenkamp

Paul Eldrenkamp knows what it takes to build a remodeling business that lasts, because he did it. In 1983 he founded Byggmeister, a design-build firm in Newton dedicated to the careful stewardship of Greater Boston's older homes. He led the company for nearly four decades before handing it off to the people who helped him build it: in 2021, Byggmeister's employees purchased the firm and became worker-owners.

Not many people get to run a company for 40 years. Fewer still leave it strong enough to carry on without them.

These days Paul works as a business consultant and coach with HELM Construction Solutions, helping builders and remodelers run companies that are as sound as the work they put out. He was among the first Certified Passive House Consultants in New England, has chaired the BuildingEnergy conference, and his writing on the craft and business of building has appeared in the Journal of Light Construction and Fine Homebuilding.

In this series, Paul brings all of it to the table: the estimating systems, the client handoffs, the budgets, and the hard-won lessons about being the kind of boss people want to work for.

In person sessions meet at the BBR Co-op

Find Us

Good questions

Before You Sign Up

Who is this series for?

Contractors, remodelers, tradespeople, and anyone running (or hoping to run) a small building business. If you are great at the work but the estimating, budgeting, and hiring side feels like guesswork, this series is for you.

Do I have to attend every session?

The sessions build on each other, so we recommend the full series. Life happens, though. If you miss a week, reach out and we will help you catch up.

Which sessions are in person and which are online?

Sessions 1, 3, 5, and 7 meet in person at the BBR Co-op at 100 Terrace Street. Sessions 2, 4, and 6 are online. Every session runs Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.

How do the membership discount and scholarships work?

BBR members register at a discounted rate. If the cost would keep you from attending, scholarships are available. Call the Reuse Center at (617) 442-2262 and ask about the Building Successful Businesses series. No long applications, just a conversation.

You already build things that last. Your business should be one of them.

Seven sessions. $330. Starts September 24.

Sign up today