Business
I’ve written before about Peter Lynch’s 1989 best-seller “One up on Wall Street”. It was a learning book for me and one where I had a coming of age introduction to different types of investing. One of Lynch’s topics in the book was the death care company Service Corporation International (SCI). He likened the company…
Over the weekend I conflated two situations and tried to make the argument that one situation could actually help the other. What happened is that I have noticed that almost all funeral homes of a larger case volume seem to be short professional staff. And, it’s not just in the United States — InvoCare in…
We are in the final week of the award winning musical “Fun Home” playing at the Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia. The play, which you can see a 30-second trailer of here, collected five Tony awards seven years ago when is played on Broadway. This article in Australia’s Pursuit magazine is entitled “How popular culture…
I’ve been an entrepreneur and started new companies so I know the drive and dedication behind one who does so. And, to invent a new industry, which in some cases may include legislative law changes, to start the company in that environment is an even tougher hill to climb. That’s why I’m such a fan…
If you have been on the front lines of funeral service for any time period you probably have some of the same thoughts that I do. When I would serve a family there was period of about 7 days from my first connection to the family after the death through a few days after the…
We are now two years into this pandemic. I remember late February and March of 2020 very well. In February of that year Angie and I flew home from a couple of weeks in the Hawaiian Islands, and while there were no masks present on our trans-pacific flight, we did take the precaution to “wipe”…
Writing this blog I hear from all kinds of people. Lately I’ve heard from funeral home owners/employers who tell me it is difficult to find qualified funeral directors to work for them in this day and age. I also hear from employed funeral directors who are down on the profession, or simply their current owner,…
I recently read an article from the Watertown (South Dakota) Public Opinion newspaper and it reminded me of how we marketed our funeral home in the days prior to internet and digital marketing. We always looked for anywhere where we would have a chance to visit with people — especially on a one-on-one basis —…
Next Monday residents of the United States will celebrate President’s Day. Just so you know, when I was young, and until changed by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971, this day was known as Washington’s Birthday holiday since 1879 and celebrated on President George Washington’s birthday, February 22. When I was young, many states…
Since I started this blog in 2017 and continuously look for interesting topics for the readers, I’ve come to anticipate the annual research paper from Sun Life entitled the Sun Life Cost of Dying Report. While it comes out of Great Britain it is a great resource for me and what I have come to…
