Business

The Heart of America

By Funeral Director Daily / May 27, 2022 /

We are coming up on Memorial Day weekend.  For me it is always a time for reflection on the good that America has done over the years on the world stage and a time to honor and respect those that were willing to put their lives on the line for others.  That duty has always…

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Here’s a benefit that you didn’t see coming

By Funeral Director Daily / May 25, 2022 /

I operated a funeral home business for over 33 years.  When I started in 1980 the only benefits offered were health insurance and paid vacation.  Over the next 33 years we changed with the times and I came to approve benefits that included not only health care and paid vacation, but also a 401k -like…

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Is a Pet Crematory in your future?

By Funeral Director Daily / May 23, 2022 /

Every week as I’m looking researching through death care articles looking for topics to write on for Funeral Director Daily I will come across an article from some United States newspaper announcing that the local funeral home has just added pet cremation services to its line of service offerings. I’ve also seen, as this article…

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Recognizing the “cusp of change”

By Funeral Director Daily / May 20, 2022 /

I’m always on the look out for whatever I can find that puts me at the front edge of “change” in the death care profession.  Change in our profession used to happen pretty slow. . . . from home visitations to funeral homes, from wood caskets to metal caskets, to the slow methodical march of…

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Are we “Turning the Corner?”

By Funeral Director Daily / May 18, 2022 /

In the last few weeks I have heard and seen a lot about about staffing issues in the death care world.  For instance, I recently had a discussion with Ryan Thogmartin of Connecting Directors and he told me that their surveys from owners and managers indicate that staffing, employee issues, and just simply getting enough…

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An “Address” that resonated with me

By Funeral Director Daily / May 17, 2022 /

I read this article in the Metropolis (IL) Planet the other day.  And, quite frankly, it really resonated with me.  Part of the reason is that when I researched Metropolis it seemed much like the community that I grew up in. The article revolves around Metropolis funeral home owner and mortician Emily Farmer Loftus and…

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The Cost of Cremation

By Funeral Director Daily / May 13, 2022 /

Earlier this week I came across this article on how the State of Hawaii is now poised to become the 22nd state of the United States that will legalize alkaline hydrolysis.  I’ve said before that even though it has been since 2003 that the first state in the country legalized alkaline hydrolysis — that’s almost…

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The pandemic, health insurance and the effects on your business’ future

By Funeral Director Daily / May 12, 2022 /

I’m one that always tries to gather information from whatever source(s) I can when I analyze anything.  As we’ve moved through the Covid-19 pandemic that has been a frustrating proposition, because from my point of view, I have seen analysis and decisions all become too political in nature and I have a hard time deciphering…

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Poverty level funerals. . . whose responsibility to pay

By Funeral Director Daily / May 9, 2022 /

“Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” It is something that always seems to be around the nexus of free enterprise and government intervention or regulation when it comes to the death care services of those poverty level citizens of our communities.  The “It” is the debate about the value of what…

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Warren Buffet on “How to beat inflation”. . .it will work for your funeral home

By Funeral Director Daily / May 5, 2022 /

After two years of absence because of the pandemic, the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting was once again held in person last weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.  91-year old Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett again presided over the meeting and, as usual, gave sage advice on many aspects of business. In responding to a question about what…

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