June 27, 2023
Published by 
Gabriel Ngo on June 27, 2023
Gabriel Ngo on June 27, 2023Legal Reality Check: Case Study #5 Scenario: Peter Smith is a third-generation owner-operator of P. R. Smith & Sons Funeral Home & Crematory in northeast Florida. He’s in his first few years leading his firm, following in the footsteps of his father, Mark, and uncle, John, who had followed in their father, Paul’s, footsteps. Through the pandemic-heavy years of 2020 and 2021, Peter’s progressive thinking and technology-forward approach allowed the family funeral home to thrive and gain market share throughout the communities they serve. Investing in a complete website redesign in 2019 is one decision Peter attributes to his early success. It transformed the website into a topnotch, “front door” virtual site that truly informs the consumer of the business’ unique designations, options, features and value proposition. The site presents the funeral home’s pricing strategically and transparently. The website also […]
December 19, 2022
Published by Gabriel Ngo on December 19, 2022
Gabriel Ngo on December 19, 2022Scenario: Laura Laney is a third-generation owner-operator of Laney Funeral Home & Crematory in mid-Eastern Texas. Her family’s business has seen its share of trials and tribulations but has weathered them all and continues to thrive and grow. Laura’s business is just close enough to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to benefit from the bustling growth yet far enough away to have experienced a comparatively slower rise in cremation rates – which has allowed Laura (and her father, Lynn, before her) to educate the community and families she serves on the value and importance of services and gatherings being no different than burial when families select cremation as an option. Throughout COVID, Laney Funeral Home & Crematory found legal ways around restrictions in order to provide full burial and cremation services to appreciative families as often as they could. Over the […]
November 21, 2022
Published by Gabriel Ngo on November 21, 2022
Gabriel Ngo on November 21, 2022Pricing is always a hot topic. When it comes to vendors setting pricing for items such as caskets, do you have to accept their price structure, or can you make changes as you see fit? Gabe Ngo provides his insights on this important topic. Question: Do I have to accept the prices the casket vendor set? Gabe Ngo: The short answer is no, you do not have to accept the casket vendor’s pricing they set. There are so very many angles in answering this question, but I will keep it grounded and simple. Often times historically, owner-operators have not always made pricing changes to reflect the “October 1st” pricing changes that have typically come from Batesville or Matthews annually. However, over the past fifteen to eighteen months or so, funeral home owner-operators have seen a variety of “temporary surcharges” (which […]
July 24, 2022
Published by Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022
Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022EI, the biggest workplace performance predictor and strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence, begins with you. “Let us all be the leaders we wish we had.”– Simon Sinek, Author and Inspirational Speaker While there is no “I” in TEAM, the winning team you build (or currently have) must start somewhere, and that somewhere begins with you, Mr./Ms. Owner-Operator. By default, and regardless of whether you wanted to be a leader or not, your team looks to you to be captain of your ship. Throughout my career, I have worked for others and found myself wishing that this leader was more “this way” and that leader more “that way.” However, none of us is ever complete and perfect. I have always found myself learning what I should do under past managers and leaders, but just as importantly, I have learned […]
July 24, 2022
Published by Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022
Gabriel Ngo on July 24, 2022E-commerce Is What Families Are Expecting Serve future customers. Is that not what all businesses set out to do? Substitute “customers” with “families” and replace “stores” with “funeral homes” and the quote below from the CEO of Walmart could have easily come from Tom Ryan (SCI), Mel Payne (Carriage), Brad Green (Park Lawn), or any other CEO for companies in the funeral, cemetery, and cremation profession. Or replace “customers” with “patients” and “stores” with “hospitals” and this quote can easily apply to hospitals/healthcare as well (and make no mistake about it folks, hospitals are businesses, with the majority of them being for profit). However, the part of the quote that I would like to focus on is “e-commerce” (before tying it all back to the rest of the quote and what it all means to you). So, what is e-commerce? […]