September 25, 2025
Published by 
Nicole Vullo on September 25, 2025
Nicole Vullo on September 25, 2025Written By Jen Graziano, Attorney, Licensed Funeral Director NY/CT Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home Independent funeral home owners are facing unprecedented challenges which can force their hands into a premature exit. Labor shortages coupled with declining service revenue margins and increasing overhead costs cause many owners to ponder whether it’s time to hang their hat. Another contributing factor is the decline of generational continuity in the family business. After all, our children have watched us leave the dinner table far too many times to take a death call. The decision to not enter the funeral business has subconsciously been made for them. There is a collective frustration that has permeated the headspace of so many funeral home owners. Repeat families that call upon us often fail to repeat their prior service and merchandise selections. The rising generation of funeral planners […]
September 25, 2025
Published by 
Taylor Weber on September 25, 2025
Taylor Weber on September 25, 2025What Sellers Need to Know Before the Deal When it comes to selling a funeral home or cemetery business, the letter of intent (LOI) may feel like the finish line but in reality, it’s just the starting point for one of the most critical phases of the transaction: buyer due diligence. At Foresight, we recently gathered our team for an internal training session focused on navigating the diligence process from both the buyer’s and seller’s perspectives. Here are some key insights from that discussion and why early, thorough preparation is the best way to protect value and close with confidence. Why Buyer Due Diligence Matters Due diligence is how a buyer verifies that what they think they’re buying is what they’re actually getting. Diligence reduces risk and uncertainty, impacting everything from valuation and deal structure to timing and close. It’s […]
September 25, 2025
Published by 
Jarod Bernat on September 25, 2025
Jarod Bernat on September 25, 2025Scenario: Paul Gibson, age 63, was the owner and operator of Gibson Funeral Home, a small-town funeral home in a micropolitan area of the Midwest. Paul had built a reputation over decades as a dependable figure in his community, serving approximately 140 families per year. With a lean operation staffed by only himself and another funeral director (also nearing retirement and uninterested in ownership), Paul found himself at a crossroads. After decades of running the funeral home, Paul was ready to retire. He had a two-year horizon before he planned to fully step away and become eligible for Medicare. Willing to consult for a buyer during that transition, Paul envisioned exiting the business gracefully. In 2023, he put the business on the market hoping to achieve a $3 million sale price, a figure based on inflated financials during the COVID-19 […]
September 25, 2025
Published by 
Chris Cruger on September 25, 2025
Chris Cruger on September 25, 2025Why ongoing education is funeral service’s secret weapon, and six actionable steps you should take. If you remember the era of the “after-school special,” you’ll probably recall that these television shows weren’t just entertainment – they were designed to teach life lessons. The programs aimed to leave a meaningful impression and often tackled important topics through storylines that helped the audience reflect, learn and grow. The funeral service profession could benefit from this sentiment regarding lifelong learning. Today, the profession finds itself at a point where education – education for your teams and the families you serve – has become more important than ever. As consumer expectations shift and the complexity of your services increases, your ability to inform must grow in tandem. The Education Disconnect Now in its sixth year, the 2025 “Funeral & Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study” (FCCBS), […]
August 28, 2025
Published by Nicole Vullo on August 28, 2025
Nicole Vullo on August 28, 2025Written By Jen Graziano, Attorney, Licensed Funeral Director NY/CT Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home Recent headlines were made in the State of Indiana regarding a “death doula” and a question of her infringement on the stringent rules and regulations that govern the death care industry. As funeral directors are aware that we are bound by both federal and state regulatory guidelines that affect our ability to discuss funeral arrangements with families. The mere mention of “cost” or “price” trigger a cold and callous passage of price menu into the client’s hands. (That’s a conversation for another day). Despite the federal and state confines we’ve long been placed under, which dictate how we charge, what we can charge for and how we can present said charges, in comes the “doula” with free-flowing discussions on these same topics. It’s a quandary, but […]