Jared Tanke

It’s as valuable to you and your successors as it is to your customers. There is a moment, somewhere between the first phone call and the final goodbye, when grieving family members decide whether they feel truly taken care of. You don’t get a survey response from them in that moment. You don’t get a second chance to change their answer, either. The funeral service profession has long prided itself on compassion and professionalism. And in many ways, that reputation holds. The 2026 Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study (FCCBS), which surveyed more than 5,000 consumers and 1,100 industry professionals, confirmed that our people are perceived as professional, comforting and responsive. Those are real strengths. But this same study, now conducted for seven consecutive years, also revealed a more complicated picture beneath the surface. Consumers want more. And the operators […]

Featured in American Funeral Director by Kates-Boylston Publications Tom wasn’t just an employee. He was deeply involved in day-to-day operations, trusted by staff and known to families, and already functioning as the operational backbone of the business. He was the clearest choice for an internal business sale. However, Eli wanted clarity. What was the business worth? What would each path cost? What would the transition realistically look like? We completed a valuation, walked through deal structures, and laid out what each scenario meant. At the time, the business was consistently serving more than 300 families per year. Revenue was strong, and cash flow was reliable. The valuation supported a number north of $4 million. For Eli, buying out his uncle would cost him at least $2 million. And that’s when Eli hit pause. The price felt high. The commitment felt […]

Marty Blackwood, age 75, had spent his life doing what few others could: running a small-town funeral home operation in the rural South nearly single-handedly. A lifelong servant of his community, Marty had built a reputation as both dependable and deeply personal in his care for families. Over the years he had expanded his single location into a three-rooftop business. Together his funeral homes served just over 100 families a year, a manageable volume for decades, but now the demands of middle-of-the-night calls and increasingly complex operations were wearing him down. Marty knew it was time to plan his exit. The challenge was understanding what his business was actually worth. One of his longtime advisors suggested a $2.5 million valuation, a number that sounded good, perhaps too good. The business produced about $300,000 in annual cash flow, meaning that figure […]

I’ve always been fascinated by how much business success comes down to the things you can’t immediately see in a spreadsheet. Sure, numbers are important—revenue, profit margins, and market share all matter—but what separates a truly valuable funeral home from the rest often lies beyond those metrics. It’s the things you invest in today, the ones that don’t show up as line items, that can make all the difference when it’s time to transition your business. Here are some of the key areas operators should focus on to build not just a profitable funeral home, but one that stands out to potential buyers when it’s time to sell. Build a Strong Team and Foster the Right Culture Think about your team. Are they just employees, or are they the heart and soul of your funeral home? When we at Foresight […]