Ask the Analyst

Most funeral home owners carry a number in the back of their mind. Maybe it’s a multiple of revenue they heard from a peer at a conference, or what a competitor down the road supposedly sold for. Over time, that number quietly becomes what they believe the business is worth. That’s why the moment a valuation comes back can carry a lot of weight. After decades of building the business, the owner is ready to see that number confirmed. Sometimes it is. Other times, the result comes in lower than they hoped. That experience is more common than most owners realize, and it’s understandably personal. But a valuation isn’t a verdict on the business you’ve built. It’s a snapshot of how the business looks to an outsider today, and snapshots change. To know what to do next, understand what drives […]

Funeral service is still one of the most economically durable businesses in America. Dealmaking around funeral service is a different story. I get some version of the same question in nearly every conversation I have with an owner thinking about an exit: Is now still a good time to sell? The honest answer starts with separating two things people usually treat as one. The business is fine. The transaction market around it has gotten harder. Confusing those two facts is how owners get blindsided halfway through a process, when a lender they were counting on steps back, financing takes longer than expected, or the assumptions behind a buyer’s offer change because the cost of capital changed. That’s the market we’re dealing with in 2026. Recession-Resistant Doesn’t Mean Perfectly Predictable Funeral service has earned its reputation as one of the most […]

Selling a funeral home is one of the most significant decisions you’ll ever make – not just financially, but personally. The business you’ve built, the families you’ve served, and the reputation you’ve earned in your community represent decades of work. Maximizing what you receive for that work in a sale doesn’t start when a buyer makes an offer. It starts long before the first call is ever made. At Foresight, we’ve guided funeral home and cemetery owners through every stage of a sale process, and we’ve seen firsthand what separates deals that close at a premium from deals that sit on the market or fall apart in diligence. More often than not, the difference comes down to preparation. The first thing every seller should have ready is a detailed financial statements. Buyers will look at your tax returns, your P&L, […]

The Real Picture, Part 3: The Price of Certainty Two buyers walk into the same funeral home. Same building, same equipment, same call volume, same staff. One offers six times earnings. The other offers seven and a half. The owner does the only reasonable thing a person can do with a gap that size. He asks his CPA what he’s missing. Nothing, usually. The earnings are the earnings, and the financial statements are the financial statements. What’s different isn’t the business. It’s the buyer standing in front of it. By now you’ve read two articles on how to actually read this business. The balance sheet tells you whether it has room to breathe. The income statement tells you how it earns, and whether that engine is sound or borrowed against a good year that won’t repeat. Neither one, on its […]

What happens when a consumer tells you they don’t want a traditional funeral chapel, don’t want cremation, and don’t want a conventional burial, but still want something meaningful? It’s a question the profession can’t afford to ignore. Green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, direct cremation providers, and online-only platforms aren’t fringe concepts anymore. And while some of these aren’t moving the needle on volume just yet, they matter less for what they’re doing today and more for what they’re revealing about where consumer preferences are heading. It’s Not About the Method — It’s About the Feeling When families ask about green burial or online arrangements, they’re rarely leading with the method. They’re leading with a feeling — they want something honest, personal, affordable, and guided. The 2025 NFDA data backs this up: 56% of recent customers cited transparent pricing […]