Matt Blackwell

When funeral home owners begin thinking about a sale, the focus often turns to valuation multiples and market timing. In reality, buyers start somewhere else. They start with risk. Every buyer, whether a regional operator, public consolidator, or private equity backed group, is trying to mitigate downside. Red flags are simply indicators of risk. Not every issue will kill a transaction, but almost every red flag affects price, structure, or terms. More importantly, surprises during diligence damage credibility and shift leverage to the buyer. Call volume quality is one of the first areas buyers analyze. Unexplained declines or volatility raise concerns about lost relationships, service quality, or competitive pressure. Market share trends matter. So does concentration risk. Heavy reliance on a single church, hospital, or municipality may inflate current performance but create meaningful downside if that relationship changes. Revenue quality […]

Why Most Funeral Homes Feel Financially Tighter Than They Actually Are Most funeral home owners do not view themselves as poor financial managers. In fact, many are quite capable. The business pays its bills, employees are taken care of, and families continue to be served well. Revenue may not be growing meaningfully, but it is not collapsing either. And yet, the stress is still there. It usually shows up in the same places. Payroll never feels fully comfortable. Capital projects get pushed back again and again. Pricing changes feel risky, even when costs are clearly rising. Over time, that feeling becomes familiar enough that owners assume it is simply part of running a funeral home. In our experience at Foresight, that tension is rarely caused by declining performance. More often, it comes from a lack of financial structure. Pricing is […]

A sale is one of the most significant moments you can experience in your career as a business owner in this profession. So many factors are important when it comes time to sell, including the final purchase price. But for so many owners, it’s not the only thing. Reputation, legacy, and the relationships built in the community matter just as much, often times more. In fact, the 2023 NFDA Member Succession Study found that only 13% of owners said price was the most important thing to consider when selling or transferring the business. Leading that poll was “Maintaining Presence in the Community”, and “Family Legacy” at 30.8% and 26.6% respectively. This study shows that a successful transition is not just a financial decision, but also about protecting your name on the side of the building. At Foresight, we view every […]

If you’re an independent funeral home or cemetery owner, tracking public company performance might seem like something only Wall Street cares about. But the truth is, these companies influence the entire profession, especially when it comes to how buyers think, how valuations are framed, and what success looks like in today’s market. At Foresight, we maintain a quarterly model that tracks the two dominant public players in the funeral profession: Service Corporation International (SCI) and Carriage Services (CSV). We analyze their financials, monitor their growth, and benchmark their performance against trends we see across the country. The goal isn’t to mimic every move they make. It’s to study what’s working, what’s not, and use it as a reference point for private business owners who want to grow, transition, or better understand their own value. What the Data Reveals We track […]