August 28, 2024
Check Your Bottom Line, It Could Be a Staffing Issue Jack Spratt operates the McLean Funeral Home which does about 150 calls a year. Yes, the names are fictitious, but the funeral home is real. Most of his calls are still traditional funerals including casket, visitation, funeral service, and cemetery burial, but his cremation rate is about 40%. His prices are in line with his competition and the rest of his service area. He is still purchasing the business from his father-in-law, but the payments are reasonable for the size of business. His collections are reasonably good. He said his staff is hardworking, if not overworked, and yet he said he isn’t making money and he wants to know what to do. A quick glance at his profit and loss statement reveals his problem. While you would expect a funeral […]
July 30, 2024
The number one reason to make a single change to your website. Funeral home websites are surprisingly similar. Pick one at random, check the pull-down tabs and you’ll probably find pictures of the lobby, chapel and grounds; current and past obituaries; and a virtual register book. You will likely also find an “About Us” tab that might include a short history of the firm and pictures of the staff. Elsewhere, you’ll find informational pages on funerals, burial and cremation, and possibly some on caskets and urns. You will most likely also find information on preneed, including a form consumers can fill out if they wish to be contacted about making prearrangements. In most cases, however, the information most critical to funeral planning – pricing – is conspicuously absent. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted research and found that […]
May 29, 2024
Across the ages, we’ve come up with some very creative ways to dispose of our dead. Yet to be answered for the future is what part funeral service will play in the circle of life. “In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19 NKJV According to the Book of Genesis, God’s curse upon mankind for eating the forbidden fruit was a life of labor and that all would die and return to the earth. The Christian burial rite expresses it as, “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The opening song of The Lion King, composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice, calls it the Circle of Life […]
April 28, 2024
Did the DOL Make It Any Easier to Decide? Most employers are at least aware of the issue of independent contractor versus employee. But making the determination has never been clear. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule clarifying the standard for independent contractor versus employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That may sound encouraging, but it is doubtful that the actual rule and background information consisting of more than 1,200 pages makes the designation any easier. The rule only clarified the factors to consider that are still open to interpretation. Why does this designation matter? There is a financial incentive to declare a worker an independent contractor. But declaring that designation does not make it so under the law. If a worker is deemed to be an independent contractor, the employer is not […]
February 29, 2024
If you ask business owners to make a list of things they dread, having to fire an employee probably ranks right up there with an IRS audit. Both can keep you up at night and make you wish you didn’t own the place. But as much as they might dread it, eventually, most business owners are faced with having to terminate an employee. This article is intended to help when you are faced with that decision. First, I believe that no employee should be fired by surprise. They may be shocked when you actually do it, but they should already know that their performance (or lack thereof) has not been acceptable and that their job was at risk before they are terminated. I recommend that you conduct periodic job reviews and/ or have a progressive discipline policy. By reviewing performance […]