“Managing thru it”

I was proof reading an article for Funeral Director Daily the other day and an odd thought hit me.  I operated and managed our family owned funeral home for over 33 years and every day I went to work I did what had to be done and made many decisions.  From time to time I also sat down and mapped out longer term plans we tried to follow for long-term success of the business.

During that time period, I never really thought of the different phases our American economy was in,  and that I had to “Manage through it” to get to a more regular business moving forward.  But, during my tenure, life was pretty stable in the United States.  It’s not always that way.

The other day during the proofreading process with that article that dealt somewhat with margin compression in the funeral home business caused, in general, by inflation, supply chain issues, and consumer choices of lower priced services, I mentioned that funeral home owners will just have to “Manage thru it”.

Okay, I do believe that decisions to get through this current margin compression environment will be manageable and funeral home owners and operators will “Get thru it” and bring their funeral homes out on the other side. . . . but what will be thrown at funeral home operators next?  I don’t think it will be just “business as usual”. . . because in management, it never is.  . there is always an issue lurking.

For instance, not long ago funeral home operators were “managing thru” the Covid pandemic.  In the early stages courageous funeral directors were just doing their jobs when they were asked to make removals of those that had died with Covid.  Not a lot was known about the disease yet and there were no vaccines available. . . masks and gloves were the basic protection.  Those remains were removed and cared for and then we “managed thru” no or limited attendance funeral services. . . and much of our service income was reduced because of the social gathering rules.

Funeral homes “managed thru it” with increased online services and online arrangements. . sometimes through Zoom or Skype.  Whatever was thrown at these funeral home operators. . . they “managed thru it”.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Today this issue is that of costs and how much does a funeral home charge in this recent era of cost increases.  Can we raise prices without sacrificing some of our service sales to lower priced consumer options.  That’s the question that we are currently “managing thru”.

And, what issue will be coming next that funeral home operators have to “manage thru”.  My guess is that once we “manage thru” this inflationary time, things won’t immediately settle back to “normal” — because I’ve come to believe that there is never a “normal” in management.

From all the indications I have seen, the employment of trained staff may well be the next issue to “manage thru”.  It appears that the crisis of lack of enough trained funeral professionals will continue to be with us. . . .inflation may hit salary expectations at the same time that growth of lower priced services is being chosen by the consumer public.  The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) recently released a study showing that new funeral service professionals expect to be paid about $59,000 upon starting and funeral home operators expect to pay these same hires about $42,000 to start.  That gap will have to be bridged or we will lose some potential personnel.

What could very well be an outgrowth of the inflationary times we are in — inflationary prices in the death care sector could be a  reason for families to move to lower priced service options.  If that is the case, in a world where deaths are a finite number, that may make wage increases much more difficult. . . .and could lead some who are thinking of a funeral service career into a more lucrative occupation.  Another issue to “manage thru”.

Just thinking about this “Managing thru it” ability of funeral home owners and operators gives one a sense of how resilient they are.  Much like I did for those 33 plus years, the owner/manager goes into the office and “manages thru it” without ever realizing he is “managing thru it”.  He or she is just going into work and doing what he or she has to do to serve his community while keeping the lights burning in the business in order to be open for those that need a place to turn at the time of a death.

I’m pretty certain that whatever that next issue may be, that the funeral home owners, operators, and managers, will find a way to “Manage thru it” because they have been doing that for the past 150 or so years.

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