January 22, 2021
Published by 
Dan Isard on January 22, 2021
Dan Isard on January 22, 2021Dear readers: Since 2006, you have endured my monthly column, Finance 101, and worked hard to read each installment without moving your lips, perform math without pencil and paper, and avoid laughing out loud as you read the column in the back of church during a service. (Cue Pomp and Circumstance background music.) Well, congratulations and move your tassel to the other side because we’re now going to take things to the next level and enter the realm of Finance 201! So, what’s the difference between 101 and 201? Like any good professor, you spoon-feed the freshmen and then exasperate the sophomores (i.e., it’s your time to be exasperated). Finance 201 will not look at your business but rather at the businesses of others. This column will also feel more “interview-ish” as we learn from those who are doing things […]
January 22, 2021
Published by Dan Isard on January 22, 2021
Dan Isard on January 22, 2021“Dan, I own a 45-acre cemetery that has about 10 acres sold. We sell about 100 graves a year. We are interning about 10 urns a year. We have no above-ground crypts or niches as that takes a substantial investment. At this rate, it could take 350 years to use up all this land. Can I take some of it out of the cemetery trust and sell it off?” –Tom in Small Town, Minnesota Dear Small Town Tom, First, your math is wrong. You have much more than 350 years of inventory! I am assuming you are multiplying the 35 acres of undeveloped land by 1,000 graves an acre (35,000 potential graves) and then dividing that by a consumption of 100 graves a year. The mathematical result is about 350 years. This is a case of the math being right […]
December 21, 2020
Published by 
John McQueen on December 21, 2020
John McQueen on December 21, 2020In funeral service, it’s all about that dirty word. Businesses and families alike have all been faced with major challenges in 2020, largely in part due to COVID-19 and the devastating effects it has had on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which includes financial independence. Funeral service is no different … or is it? If you have been in the profession for any significant length of time, you have heard someone say to you, “Well, at least your business is recession proof, because people are always going to die.” Although this may be a true statement in many ways, we have seen the effects of what happens when family and friends cannot come together to honor, celebrate and remember a life well lived. In many instances during the pandemic, we have seen our business shift to one of […]
December 21, 2020
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on December 21, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on December 21, 2020Scenario: Meyer-Landis Funeral & Cremation Service has been serving families in the northern United States since the late 1800s. Currently the business is owned by Brian and Jackie Landis. They pride themselves on excellent service to their families and train all their employees to adhere to their credo, “Our community and the families we serve are our first priority and deserve to be treated as we would treat a member of our own family.” As COVID-19 became a reality earlier this year, this motto became a talisman for Brian and Jackie as they have experienced a fair number of COVID cases. At the request of their more vulnerable employees, they have limited those individuals’ exposure by adjusting their schedules or responsibilities. In fact, one of their senior licensed funeral directors elected to retire, and they have not yet been able […]
December 21, 2020
Published by Dan Isard on December 21, 2020
Dan Isard on December 21, 2020 The Changing Landscape of the Deathcare Industry My first entry into the funeral business came through the pet business, at about age 5! One of my friends had a bird die, and we kids wanted to have a funeral. We used a shoe box as a casket. My mother had just dug a garden with rose bushes, so we placed the shoebox beneath one of the rose bushes. A few days later, a kid had a turtle die and we went at it again. We were enjoying ourselves while my mother could not figure out what or who was digging up her garden. Then Herby’s gerbil got sick. We got another shoe box and prepared to bury that gerbil. But when my mother came to investigate, the gerbil escaped; and I was never allowed in her garden again! The pet […]