Business
Last April Mount Ida College decided to close its doors for good. Most students from the college were able to find continuing studies when the University of Massachusetts – Amherst acquired the campus. However, that school does not have a mortuary science program and those students from Mount Ida College with partially completed degrees, in…
It seems to me that in this day and age of declining revenues per case in the funeral business, that every ancillary service a funeral home/crematory can secure can be a god-send for business. Many funeral homes will try to sell a better casket or urn, or will push cremation jewelry or an urn vault…
The Cremation Association of North America just wrapped up its weeklong gathering of cremation professionals at CANA2018. While I did not attend, I have kept up with some of the issues that were discussed and saw a quote come out of the convention that I wanted to discuss further. The quote I am referring to…
When I was younger the election night banter we always heard was as the title of this article, “As Maine Goes. . . So Goes the Nation”. What it meant under those circumstances was that the State of Maine had an uncanny history of always selecting the Presidential candidate correctly, so the commentators pointed out…
One of the advantages of getting older, grayer, and more experienced in business is that you get a lot of time to reflect on the many things that have happened in the past and then can try to understand how you can put that knowledge into today’s society. One of the terms I thought about…
My wife’s 85 year old father died suddenly last February. He and his wife had lived in the small – under 3000 person – community that they were both born in for all of his years. Life in a community like that revolves around community activities that many times are centered around families – not…
I noticed a couple of articles in the last couple of days about ownership at single proprietor funeral homes that are changing hands. What struck me about the articles is that as you go through living your life, you really need to be ready to answer the door when an opportunity knocks. The first article…
In my opinion, when I look for something to invest in, I gauge the safety of the investment as well as the possible return and then make a decision if the balance is there between the two. I also look at two sides of an equity investment as the potential for growth (as defined by…
