08/22/2026
**“Why is that so expensive? It only takes you a few hours to build it.”**
I hear versions of that question from time to time.
And the answer is actually pretty simple:
**Because building the product is only a fraction of what it takes to build the company that produces it.**
This week alone, I have spent approximately **83 hours** working on Southern Yankee Woodworking.
Not 83 hours standing in the shop building furniture.
**83 hours building and operating the business.**
I have no corporate office behind me. No IT department. No marketing department. No shipping department. No purchasing department. No e-commerce team. No wholesale department. No customer-service department. No operations manager sitting down the hall.
Right now, those departments are me.
This week included work on our Shopify storefront, hundreds of product SKUs, shipping and freight systems, checkout testing, wholesale and B2B infrastructure, dealer programs, product data, government-contracting opportunities, marketing, SEO, customer communication, policies, agreements, operating procedures, and the systems that hopefully allow this company to continue growing.
And somewhere in between all of that...
**I still have to actually build the products.**
I'm not saying this to brag, and I'm certainly not complaining. I chose entrepreneurship, and I love what I am building.
I'm sharing it because I think it offers some perspective—especially for people who have spent most of their careers working a traditional 9-to-5.
When you work for a larger company, there are usually dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people behind the product or service you purchase.
In a small business, sometimes **one person is doing the work of an entire organization.**
So when you buy a handmade table, swing, sign, piece of furniture, or any other product from a small business, you aren't simply paying for the few hours it took to physically make that item.
You're paying for the years it took to learn the craft.
You're paying for the equipment.
The software.
The insurance.
The website.
The packaging.
The shipping infrastructure.
The bookkeeping.
The mistakes that taught us how to do it better.
The systems that make sure your order gets processed correctly.
The time spent answering questions when something goes wrong.
And yes—you are paying for the hours required to actually build your product.
**Small businesses should not be expected to be cheaper simply because they're small.**
We have to pay for materials from many of the same suppliers. We pay for software. We pay processing fees. We pay taxes. We pay for equipment. We pay for insurance. We pay for shipping. We pay for advertising.
And unlike a giant corporation, we don't have millions of units over which to spread those costs.
When you support a small business, you're not paying some mysterious “small-business premium.”
**You're paying the real cost of creating something sustainably, professionally, and with accountability.**
I don't expect anyone to buy from a small business simply because it is small.
I believe we still have to earn your business.
We have to provide quality.
We have to provide value.
We have to stand behind what we sell.
And we have to compete.
But we should also be allowed to make a profit.
Because profit isn't greed.
**Profit is what allows a craftsman to become a company.
Profit is what eventually allows one person to hire a second.
Profit is what turns 83-hour weeks into jobs for other people.
And profit is what allows a small American business to still be here tomorrow.**
So the next time you see something handmade and think:
*“Why does that cost so much? It only took a few hours to make.”*
Remember:
**You saw the few hours it took to build the product.**
**You didn't see the thousands of hours it took to build the business capable of making it.**
— Southern Yankee Woodworking, LLC
**Handmade to the Nation.**
