Over the weekend I noticed two newspaper articles from small town newspapers that involved two separate funeral homes of different size and history.  However, in reading the articles and doing a little research by going to the websites of the companies, I noticed something in common.

What I noticed in common, quite frankly, has to do with American entrepreneurism and the desire and opportunity to better ourselves through believing in ourselves.  It occurred to me, that while we like to look at what the big companies are doing, there are entrepreneurs  out there every day who believe in their ideas and how they can be good for the communities that they serve.

The first article deals with the Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming, Georgia.  From all indications from their web-site which you can access here, they have a history of service to their community for 91 years and are owned and operated by a veteran in the industry, Jack Allen.  From this article here you can see that Ingram Funeral Home announced that they had acquired the Byars Funeral Home and Cremation Services from the same community.  And, Mr. Byars will come to work for Ingram’s for at least some period of time.

So, what I can tell of that transaction is that the Ingram Funeral Home is the larger of the two and, according to the article, the Byars facility will be closed and all services will be done at the Ingram Funeral Home in the future.  It is a typical road map for bringing more revenue (and profits) to an existing dominant location in the community and has been done hundreds of times by funeral directors all over the country.

At the same time, it probably gives the Byars family a chance to exit the business with the opportunity to still work in the funeral profession in the community.  This type of transaction can be a win-win for all people involved in the situation.  I had an exactly similar acquisition in my career and it worked out wonderful.  The biggest question mark for the purchasing funeral home is do the clients of, in this case, Byars, want to be told to come to the new place (Ingram’s) or will they look for a different funeral home altogether.  The continuation of the Byars staff in working for some period of time will probably eliminate this issue.

The second article that I read over the weekend truly put music to my ears.  I love when young people believe in themselves enough to put a plan together, put in the hard work to make that plan come true, and can start building a business of their own.  As a matter of fact, I own a building with small rental units in it that I rent at below market rates to young people interested in starting a business of their own and growing.  I always tell new tenants that I hope they are not with me very long. . . . not because of failure, but because I want them to grow out of the space.  Those spaces have been incubators for engineering firms, architectural firms, a one man insurance agency that is now an agency with offices all over the state.  Quite frankly, I don’t know who gets more out of it — the tenants with low rents or me – who has the opportunity to visit these young people every day.

So, while I regressed to my incubators, here is the article on Ms. Kate Cheman.  Ms. Cheman is a young funeral professional , only five years of experience in the funeral profession, but someone who knew she wanted to own her own funeral home.

She found a funeral business in a smaller community that had been closed, made an offer on the building, got a loan, and with the help of her parents, spent the last year preparing for business in the community of Donora, Pennsylvania.  According to her own words, “It took a year for my family and I to complete the remodeling. . . . I personally painted every inch.”

After a year of preparation, Ms. Cheman is now open for business but has not received a call yet.  But, she is going to have an open house for the community on November 10 and from what I read in the article and from her funeral home website which you can access here, there is no doubt she will give service that puts her on the road to success.

Funeral Director Daily take:  Funeral service certainly comes in all sizes. . . a larger firm buys out a smaller firm.  . . or a brand new entrant into the field who has never had a call under the new banner opens shop.  But, what I see is people who want to make a difference in their world and are willing to put time, sweat, and finances on the line to make that happen in their community.

That entrepreneurism is the American way.

We cannot forget that.  It is funeral professionals – and those that help and supply funeral professionals —  all over the country. . . and the world who believe that they can make a difference in the lives of those they serve.

Sometimes we can get a little negative in what is happening in funeral service.  However, let’s just give those who see the opportunities ahead the time to bring their skills to the field which will let us see the sunshine of the new morning.

[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]