September 28, 2021
Published by 
Dan Isard on September 28, 2021
Dan Isard on September 28, 2021NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey Commentary Complementary consumer surveys show three strong cultural trends for which you may need to adjust your business. Imagine you answer the phone and the voice says, “I have data compiled independently that will tell you what consumers are saying about funeral service and what they expect from a funeral provider.” You might cautiously ask, “Well, that’s all well and good, but how recent is this data?” The mysterious salesperson responds, “It is all from within the past year, tracking consumer changes since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Not wanting to seem too easy a sell, your next question would probably be, “Well, how much is this data?” To which the shadowy huckster replies, “It’s about $250,000, payable in one easy payment.” At that moment, you have an involuntary muscle spasm and hang […]
August 23, 2021
Published by Dan Isard on August 23, 2021
Dan Isard on August 23, 2021This month, I’m going to rely on a basic statistic: 99% of all privately owned funeral home businesses do not have a business plan.* I know this because I’ve worked with more than a thousand funeral home owners over the past 35-plus years, and every time I ask for a copy of their business plan, I’m met with a crinkled-up forehead and an oral lesson starting with the words, “Dan, you don’t understand…” So, here is what I do understand: A business plan is a written document listing goals for the year and instructions on how to get to those goals. A business plan should be reviewed at least quarterly to see how the business is performing relative to the stated objectives. A business plan for a funeral home should cover the next year, the intermediate period and the long […]
July 21, 2021
Published by Dan Isard on July 21, 2021
Dan Isard on July 21, 2021OK, you do not know if it is the right time to sell, let alone who to sell to and at what price and terms. Here are the three steps: Determine the When to Sell. Long before it is a need to act, the first step is to create a Financial Preparedness Plan. A Financial Preparedness Plan (“FPP”) starts with a calculation of how much money you need to be independent of your business. The business value, your savings and any investment assets under your control are added to the government benefits outside of your control. Then those are compared to the amount of your need. The need computation is a function of your, Life Expectancy, Assumed Investment Return, Assumed Inflation Rate and the amount of After-Tax Annual Income. The need computation must be an estimated calculation. For example, if […]
July 20, 2021
Published by Dan Isard on July 20, 2021
Dan Isard on July 20, 2021How long will this peril haunt funeral service businesses? If you measure funeral service by universal crises, the crisis echoing in the 1980s was the FTC’s Funeral Rule. In the ’90s, the crisis was heralded as The Rise of the Acquisition Companies. Ironically, the crisis of the 2000s was The Fall of the Acquisition Companies (although it seems that everyone who hated them then somehow loved their money when they were ready to get out later, and now the market has crashed). Anyway, I would label the challenge of the 2010s The Cremation Crisis, as a 50% cremation rate became a reality in the United States. What about the 2020s? While it’s still early, I believe that for those of us who survived a pandemic and now progress from looking day by day to longer term, this span’s awakening peril […]
June 23, 2021
Published by Dan Isard on June 23, 2021
Dan Isard on June 23, 2021I got the following letter about a year ago: I have been a successful business owner and was asked by my local cemetery to come onto their board almost 20 years ago. In the past few years, I was made the president of the board. I can see that we need to be more than a graveyard but so many of my fellow board members do not take an interest. They show up to our quarterly meetings just for the free lunch we provide. As president I am paid a salary and have the day to day responsibilities for the nearly 400 interments we provide and the care of our 80 acres. Yet, I cannot get board approval for any of the changes we need to make to provide for the future. Am I alone in having a bored board? […]