Market Research

When looking to purchase another firm, a SWOT analysis is a critical step in evaluating your firm’s and your market’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Dear Dan, I recently bought a funeral home in the next town. I think I did everything right. For years, I clipped your articles, and they helped prepare me for the big purchase. I got a business valuation (from a competitor of yours), secured financing by using my existing real estate and the new real estate, and got a Covenant Not to Compete (CNC) with the owner. I assigned the key man who had been there to a CNC as part of his employment agreement and am paying him an extra $10,000 a year for 10 years to promise not to compete. Everything was locked up tight at closing. Since the closing, however, a new […]

To successfully move their firms to a secure future, owners must have clarity of vision. Begin by answering these four important questions. Being a successful business owner requires vision, and the clarity of that vision will provide the best chance of success into the future. You must see – or predict – the future and be prepared to address its issues sooner rather than later. You also must communicate your vision for the future to the many stakeholders who rely on your decision-making, some of which are more reliant on your prognostication than others. Your community, employees, lenders/investors and family all have a vested interest in your ability to make good decisions. Of course, you rely on your decision-making as well. Experience is one of the best teachers; it shows you what can happen and the kinds of decisions you […]

Dear Dan, About 20 years ago my wife and decided to start a cemetery with two other couples. We knew nothing about the cemetery business before this venture began. We found land and a landscape architect. We hired companies to build some above-ground crypts and niches. We invested some of our cash and borrowed heavily from a local bank. We invested $2 million in 50 acres of land, but due to local ordinances, we can only develop half of our total space. We have 25 acres of land for cemetery use and 25 acres that must be left in its natural condition. From the beginning of this business venture, we have been losing money and sleep. We have not been cash-flow positive in any year. Now, all six of us are retiring and we don’t want the hemorrhaging of cash […]

Do you understand why your business has a profit? It is simple math. Revenue, minus Cost of Goods Sold, minus Operating Expenses equals Profit. If profit is as simple as a 3 entry math equation, then why have profits declined 60% or more during the past 30 years of the funeral profession? The simple reason is: profit is simple math but analyzing how to maximize profit is complex. OGR has enlisted Dan Isard’s The Foresight Companies to help its members with The Strategic Business Analysis (“SBA”) that requires heavy analysis. The average profit margin of a funeral home is less than 7%. The average Foresight client profit is anywhere from 28% to 32%. The reason is our deductive intelligent tools that help clients understand their operating metrics, set prices and manage their operations to a revenue and profit goal. Now, […]

Relationships and reputation are the keys to convincing undecided consumers to choose your funeral home. Make sure your marketing is based on that fact. Funeral service professionals continue to face challenges as consumers shift away from “traditional funerals.” In fact, “traditional funeral” is jargon specific to funeral directors which often evokes misty eyes and wistful thoughts of yesteryear. The reality is that a “traditional funeral” is becoming as extinct as those who continue to use the jargon. Positioning a funeral home in today’s market and educating consumers requires a multifaceted marketing approach. Like it or not, services and products are for sale; there is a price for each and a consumer must choose to make a purchase. Creating the message to attract “buyers” is more important now than ever before. Even though most consumers understand that funeral homes care for […]