Business

Labor Day 2025 — Some news you can use

By Funeral Director Daily / September 1, 2025 /

    Today is the holiday Americans celebrate as Labor Day.  And while many of us reflect on the ceremonial “End of Summer” others in the Death Care profession are busy tending to the needs of the bereaved.   It’s a day when Funeral Director Daily does not want to bore you with some long…

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Will “Recurring Revenue” come to Death Care?

By Funeral Director Daily / August 29, 2025 /

  It’s a staple fact that “Death” only occurs once for each human being.  And, in the business world of “Death Care” that’s a fact we have had to live with.  A recurring or repeat client is defined by a returning “family” not by repeat business of one individual.   Does that mean that “Recurring…

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Funeral Homes: Evolution thins the Herd

By Funeral Director Daily / August 28, 2025 /

    Businesses commission research studies when there are unexplained difficulties with the business; primarily “business is down and we don’t know why”.  Over four decades funeral businesses commissioned hundreds of studies to explain the causes of declining business.  During the 1980’s and 90’s many funeral businesses in New York city metro area experienced declining…

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So. . . . What’s the “Average size” funeral home in the United States?

By Funeral Director Daily / August 25, 2025 /

  Every so often when I am researching for articles I stumble across something that really fascinates me.  Well, it happened last week and I enjoyed using the information to decipher what the “Average Size” of a funeral home is/was in the United States according to data compiled in 2023 which means that most of…

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Leadership makes all the difference

By Funeral Director Daily / August 22, 2025 /

  Funeral homes are a great study on this subject.  With many being “Generational” in nature, have you ever wondered why some generational funeral homes stay “status quo” as the next generation takes over and other funeral homes either decline or grow in success with the same generation leadership changes?   I think it is…

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Are your prices on trend to be profitable?

By Funeral Director Daily / August 18, 2025 /

    A recent survey found “mixed cost and price trends in the funeral sector”.  The survey conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of Great Britain probably has some correlation with the same trends happening in the USA.   The regulatory authority (CMA) concluded that profitability for large funeral directors fell between 2015…

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SCI’s Executive VP and CFO Eric Tanzberger: “. . we’re going to invest capital to the highest return.”

By Funeral Director Daily / August 15, 2025 /

    Service Corporation International (SCI) conducted their 2nd Quarter 2025 Earnings Call where they answered questions from investment experts about two weeks ago.  You can access a copy of the transcript here.   During the Question and Answer session of that call SCI’s Executive Vice-President and CFO Eric Tansberger responded to a question about…

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Funeral Women Lead is defining the path for the changing face of funeral service

By Funeral Director Daily / August 14, 2025 /

  I graduated from high school in 1976.  The that time period around the 200th anniversary of our nation brought about profound thought change of women in the workplace.   It was about that time, as you can see by the graphic below, that females caught and eventually passed males in college enrollment.  Up until…

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Pension funds investment in Cremation is an interesting development

By Funeral Director Daily / August 13, 2025 /

    Pension funds and endowments have the responsibility of shepherding for safety, growth, and income their assets into a multitude of investments.  I’ve learned that most of those types of investors invest in bonds and private debt for income and stocks for short-term growth.  Some will invest up to 5% of the assets into…

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The crisis in health care coverage costs

By Funeral Director Daily / August 6, 2025 /

    The stock of major health care insurer United Health has dropped from $594 per share in April 2025 to Friday’s close at $237 per share.  That’s about a 60% drop in value in a little over 3 months.  And, from the trends that I’ve been watching and some recent announcements I don’t think…

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