July 27, 2023
Published by 
Gabriel Ngo on July 27, 2023
Gabriel Ngo on July 27, 2023Putting together a winning team employing hourly workers and part-timers as a solid foundation. “Culture is defined and created from the top down, but it comes to life from the bottom up.” – Mike Smith, former Atlanta Falcons head coach and 2008 NFL coach of the year You’re probably already thinking that this quote is all well and good, but who has time for culture when your business is short a li-censed staffer or two (if you operate a larger business) and the other licensed staff is on vacation this week? I get it. Businesses across all professions and industries have been battling staffing shortages and talent retention challenges. To that extent, funeral home businesses are no exception. They are not only part of the rule but also have licensing requirement issues (in some states, dual licensing) to contend with […]
July 27, 2023
Published by Gabriel Ngo on July 27, 2023
Gabriel Ngo on July 27, 2023Upping Your Game as a Virtual Business “HARD CONVERSATIONS” and “NORMALIZING DISCOMFORT” are two concepts that funeral, cremation, and cemetery professionals handle and deal with daily. We all recognize the ideal of “being your best on the family’s worst day,” or something very similar, and take it as a rule in serving the families who come to us. Certainly, we all have been called on and have exemplified this in person through various aspects of serving families who need our services. But how do we continue to do this (much less do it better) in a “brave new world” where more and more consumers depend on the internet—whether it be in educating themselves before deciding or by reading reviews from other client families when deciding about choosing your firm? I published an article on e-commerce in the July 2022 issue […]
July 27, 2023
Published by 
Jared Tanke on July 27, 2023
Jared Tanke on July 27, 2023One of the important steps to take when considering selling your business is to review your financial health. Part of this is to review any addbacks or adjustments to your EBITDA Figure. As this is of high importance to potential buyers of your funeral home or cemetery, we asked Jared Tanke to walk us through some examples. Question: I am reviewing my 2023 information to prepare for a potential sale. What expenses can be added back to my financials? Jared Tanke: When it comes to evaluating the financial health of a funeral business for potential acquisition, one key metric that buyers often consider is EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). However, it is important to understand that EBITDA alone may not always provide a complete picture of a company’s profitability. To accurately assess the true financial performance, buyers […]
July 27, 2023
Published by 
Dan Isard on July 27, 2023
Dan Isard on July 27, 2023Being born into the deathcare business is the way that most of the owners and leaders of cemeteries and funeral homes chose their careers before 1970. Almost 75% of cemeteries or funeral homes were transferred from family member to family member. Families that wanted to increase the odds that the next generation would take over the business had large families. But family or not, those who chose to come into the cemetery business started in one of three career paths: outside, administration, or sales. If you were a kid who didn’t like sales, then it was either wear the outdoor uniform or sharpen your pencil. In thinking about the future, I am going to focus on the path to working with a cemetery more than on the path to working in the funeral services business. That said, it should be […]
July 27, 2023
Published by Dan Isard on July 27, 2023
Dan Isard on July 27, 2023As I explained in last month’s column, key performance indicators (KPI) are simple mathematic equations that can help you run your business. When calculating these analysis points, the results are usually shown as a fraction, but if you divide the numerator (the top number) by the denominator (the bottom number) and multiply it by 100, you end up with a percentage. For example, let’s say you want to determine what percentage of your revenue your auto expenses take up. If your total auto expenses are $50,000, and your revenue is $1,000,000, then that fraction is written as 50,000/1,000,000. If you divide the numerator by the denominator (50,000 ÷ 1,000,000) and multiply the result by 100, the percentage is 5%. Now, knowing whether 5% is good or bad business-wise is another story. That takes a frame of reference, and I have […]