Facebook is a great tool for getting started with a small business. I just started with my page (very small so far, stained glass), and most of my sales are word of mouth and friend-of-friends. So far, it’s working great!
I don’t like Timeline either, but not complaining!
I agree—FB can be great for staying in touch with widely-dispersed friends and family, sharing pictures and experiences. It’s also GREAT for marketing a small business. A lot of small businesses, like mine, use it in addition to or alongside a website. You can stay in touch with customers or potential customers and be very responsive, putting up new products without having to talk to a webmaster or have fistfights with HTML. Potential customers are on FB already, so why not contact them that way? It works for me.