October 9, 2018
Published by 
Dan Isard on October 9, 2018
Dan Isard on October 9, 2018Cemeterians who don’t face up early to rising cremation rates sooner or later will be facing difficult financial choices. Dear Dan, My cemetery is in the heart of an 80 percent cremation area. Over the past decade, my sales have gone from 800 graves a year to about 100 graves a year (at-need and advance sale). My fixed costs of operation have continued to rise, due to increased water and labor costs. My sales team is down to one person from three a decade ago. My cash position is half of what it was a decade ago. I have run negative cash flow for each of the past four years. What options do I have for the near and long term? Along the I-5 to Bankruptcy Dear I-5, Your situation is not a desperate one now. It was desperate […]
October 9, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on October 9, 2018
Dan Isard on October 9, 2018Running your business is like going on a long-distance drive. Long-distance, multiple-day driving trips take planning. Today we have mapping via GPS, rather than a paper map that requires refolding at 70 mph. Planning for daily hotels and where to stop for food can be done easily now. Forty-five years ago, I did a cross-country drive – from Philly to L.A. – with some high school friends. To plan, three weeks prior we went to a nationwide auto club, and they put together a TripTik. The problem was, within three hours of departure, we discovered that the highway we were to travel upon was under extreme construction. We had to deviate to the south for six hours. Our entire plan outlining our seven-day, 2,200-mile-trip was now obsolete. We had a paper map of the U.S. but no hotel reservations, no […]
October 1, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on October 1, 2018
Dan Isard on October 1, 2018While too many marketing acronyms can make your head spin, strategic relationships should be your focal point for increasing your firm’s market share. Dear Dan, I recently attended a two-day seminar led by “some of the brightest marketing minds.” Between the registration, travel and paying staff to cover my tasks for my time away, this seminar cost me several thousand dollars. I heard about organic marketing, online remarketing and strategic relationships, along with I don’t know how many different phrases that were just random acronyms to me, including BR (bounce rate), BANT (budget authority need timeline), CR (conversion rate) and SEO (search engine optimization). When I returned home, I created my own acronym – WOT, for waste of time. I have two questions: Does any of this stuff work in building a larger market share in the funeral profession, and […]
October 1, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on October 1, 2018
Dan Isard on October 1, 2018Ideas for financial stability, operations and marketing require implementation. We operate in a profession where “slow to change” is worn like a badge of honor even though this resistance is an impairment to your business and your profit. Those who propagate new ideas are often ridiculed with the famous phrase, “My families won’t go for that,” which translates to, “I’m uncomfortable with change and I’m not going to try anything new.” The funeral profession is experiencing a steady decline in profitability, and the pressure to be successful is greater than ever before. Interestingly, most notable ideas presented to the funeral profession in recent years have come from suppliers and are product driven. Convention floors are packed with makeover caskets (same thing, different color), expensive autos (which are in decline as much as caskets), urns (buy two, get one free) and widgets that […]
September 17, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on September 17, 2018
Dan Isard on September 17, 2018When it’s time to sell your business, do it the right way. Dear Dan, In 2010, I was ready to sell my business, and my accountant did a valuation for me. I had two key people working for me for a decade, and they were honorable, hardworking and trustworthy. They wanted to buy. I wanted to sell. It seemed so simple. The accountant said the business was worth $2 million – $1 million for the real estate and $1 million for the business. So I told my key people that I would carry back the note on the $1 million business purchase agreement over 10 years at 8% interest. They would pay me $150,000 a year for 10 years. I also agreed to lease them the building for $100,000 per year. Once they paid off the purchase agreement, they could […]