Blog

As I look at the past and future of the death-care profession from my perch of 30 years, there are only a few obvious conclusions. These conclusions deal with the past and project the direction of the future. The most obvious of all is this: The cemetery and mortuary combination is the most powerful marketing entity within this business. If you wonder how that applies to your business, let me demonstrate by writing about four different examples. I will show how this one absolute axiom applies to your business. The Single Location Funeral Home without a Cemetery You own a funeral home. You do not own a cemetery. You have a tough road ahead. Every time you bring a burial family through the gates of a cemetery, you are promoting that cemetery. That cemetery serves only two types of families: […]

I am honored to have the opportunity to share information with my fellow Southerners in order to demystify how to make educated decisions when it comes to selling your funeral home. I will proceed in simple terms and speak (with a Southern flair of course). Most funeral home owners are as busy as moths in a mitten and don’t have time for the distraction of thinking about the future. The decision for a funeral home owner to sell their business comes from different angles and the funeral industry is wrought with misinformation about this subject. Some owners decide to sell when seeking retirement. After years of serving families, late nights, and missed events, the thought of living out life at a much slower pace is attractive. Others desire to “take their hands off the wheel” allowing either children or key […]

MANAGEMENT/MAUSOLEUMS Having a family who wants to build a private mausoleum can be a daunting prospect if you don’t already have a section for private family estates. There are a lot of things to consider before you give the go-ahead. Dear Cemetery Impossible, I have a family who wants to build a private mausoleum on our cemetery property. Currently, we do not have a section within my cemetery that is set aside for a private family mausoleum. The footprint of their desired design would cover eight gravesites. I thought I could sell the rights to build the six-person mausoleum using the eight plots at the current price per plot. Can I also charge a fee for our consulting work in meeting, designing and building of the structure? I have so many questions about doing this. Can you help me? Dear […]

Dear Dan, I have been an owner for 20 years. As an owner, I have hired and fired employees. Part of my job at the end of each year is to decide what bonus, if any, to give to my staff and how much of a raise to give them as well. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, I now provide benefits for my staff as well. These benefits are not cheap. When employees question their salary, bonus or raise, I am tempted to show them their full compensation, including benefits. What can I include in the compensation figures to relay to them our investment in them as employees? Guilty Employer in Glitter Gulch Dear Guilty, This is a great question. We already know that, as a service business, funeral firms need people to provide the many services […]

When separate businesses share the same employees, how should overtime pay be handled?  Stephanie Ramsey discusses the rules and options in this recent article for American Funeral Director.