Business
Sometimes I find my inspiration for these writings in the oddest of places. . . Yet, I seem to have this ability to relate things that I see in everyday life to the funeral profession and funeral business. It happened again this past weekend. On Friday I received a phone call from…
Last week Funeral Director Daily published this article titled “Know your customer — How’s their credit”. That article delved into the American consumer credit profiles and why, before extending credit, you needed to know the consumer you are dealing with. . . and how difficult that is in today’s market. The article…
I received an unsolicited e-mail the other day about taking a course that would lead me to become a “Certified Funeral Celebrant”. I’m not interested in that but, more and more, I see greater numbers of the consumer public shedding the idea of using formal clergy in the memorialization of their loved ones.…
The American economy keeps spending, yet we hear that families are getting squeezed by the combination of high prices and high interest rates. We also hear that high interest rates don’t seem to be stopping the consumer which in turn would put a turn-down on the economy making a reason for lowering interest…
A week ago today I woke up to the news of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor. It wasn’t so long ago that I was in Baltimore for the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention in October 2022. I was in awe of being in proximity to…
We are blessed to live in a country which allows for religious freedom. And, when you work as a funeral director helping those who have lost loved ones to death, it’s a privilege to help even when those client families don’t believe as you do. However, have you ever thought about…
I was reminded this week that many times “Discretion is the choice over Valor”. In writing today’s column, which will eventually get down to the Death Care business, I’m going to share a little of my weekend and how I came to write this for today. If you read Funeral Director Daily…
Back when I was a child there was a soap opera daily on television that carried the slogan, “Like sands through an hourglass, so go the Days of our Lives”. I thought of that today when researching an article about demographic movements and how they may affect funeral homes in the future. .…
The business news last week was centered on the Producer’s Price Index (PPI) rising 0.6% in the month February, which equates to an annual 7.2% inflationary rate. That reading, after being lower and even negative for a couple of months prior, has caused many pundits to opine that getting rid of inflation in…
Friday was March 15 or the “Ides of March”. And, it appears that Friday, March 15, 2024, was a better day for funeral service than Friday, March 15, 44 BC was for Julius Caesar. Funeral service has been hit with a lot of bad publicity lately about certain funeral providers not always…
