September 11, 2017
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on September 11, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on September 11, 2017Last year many funeral business employers were frantically attempting to address the potential change to their payroll based on implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime Rule which was anticipated to go into effect on December 1, 2016. The enactment of this rule was stalled by a Texas District Court judge issuing a nationwide injunction in November. Then President Trump paused, via a presidential memorandum, all proposed federal regulations that had not yet taken effect. Does that mean that the FLSA Overtime Rule is dead? What about other new or proposed employment regulations that might impact funeral business owners? For employers, the environment under which they try to operate a business is often caught up in the ever-changing waves of new employment laws or regulations at both the state and federal levels. At mid-way through 2017, let us take […]
September 11, 2017
Published by 
Dan Isard on September 11, 2017
Dan Isard on September 11, 2017Cemetery Impossible How can you tell if a cemetery is priced right? by Daniel M. Isard, MSFS Dear Cemetery Impossible, I own a small cemetery in a two-cemetery town. The other cemetery is larger, and I am very familiar with it. About a decade ago, it was bought by someone and then acquired by another company, then was acquired by another company, and so on. I asked the current manager of the property to let me know if his company ever wants to sell it. Well, I recently received an offering memo, with financial data, from the company. It turns out that they own hundreds of cemeteries and funeral homes. I thought the asking price looked reasonable, so I took it to my accountant and lawyer. They both agreed that it was a great deal. I then took it to […]
August 31, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on August 31, 2017
Dan Isard on August 31, 2017The funeral profession is approaching an era unlike we have experienced thus far. With the average age of a funeral home owner approaching sixty-six years old, over the next several years there will be an increase in the business transfer activity in our profession. When I describe a transfer of a business, I’m speaking about funeral homes that will be sold, follow a family succession plan, merge, or close their doors. Funeral home owners have the following questions to ponder: When should I sell my business? How much is my business worth? To whom should I sell my business? What are my options if I can’t sell my business? Let’s address the questions above to initiate fodder for thought about a ginormous (big deal) life event. I have been around the profession a while, and even though I cannot predict […]
August 16, 2017
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on August 16, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on August 16, 2017As a business owner or manager, there are times when you’re faced with employee performance issues. These employees are usually not your worst employee or brightest star. They did not commit fraud or anything that would lead you to move to immediate termination. They just don’t seem to be the most comfortable fit. Owners and managers eventually reach a point where they feel they must make a difficult decision. Should they let an employee go and find a replacement or should they keep them on and hope to help them improve their less than stellar performance? Well-known quotes and proverbs may start racing through your mind such as “roll the dice and hope for the best” or “the devil you know is better than the one you don’t know” when faced with this type of situation. The bottom line is […]
August 16, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on August 16, 2017
Dan Isard on August 16, 2017Most do not know the history of cremation. If we don’t understand the history, we are ill-equipped to deal with the results of the past. While the roots of cremation go back more than 5,000 years, we began the modern age of cremation in the 1870s. Before the modern world of cremation, bodies were cremated in outdoor pyres or within outdoor cremation pits. Cremation became “modern” in the 1870s, when an Italian professor named Ludovico Brunetti invented the first commercial cremation chamber. Brunetti demonstrated his cremation “furnace” at the Vienna Exposition in 1873. An improved commercial retort was demonstrated at the World’s Fair in 1876 in Philadelphia. Cremation had been a part of the culture of many eastern religions as well as other Christian religions that were starting anew in the 1600s. In Great Britain, the modern cremation movement was […]