Getting people to know about you and know what you have available is a big part of any new business.  Some businesses may track a “promotional cost per sale” or look at something they call “customer acquisition cost” which is really the same thing. . . . It tracks the amount of money that you spend on advertising and promotion and divides it by the number of customers or sales that you make.  In today’s business world it is a “quantifiable” data point.

 

And, while quite obvious, the less that it costs to acquire a customer means that the margin you make on the sale can be spent in other categories. . . . or creating a larger profit point.

 

That’s what I find so interesting about the new funeral home being started in Trimont, Minnesota, by owner Ean Sinn. Sinn’s remodeled building, when complete, will go from 4,700 square feet to 9,000 square feet according to this article in the Fairmont Sentinel.

 

And a big part of that new square footage will consist of a gathering space that not only will be used for death care events such as visitations, funerals, and memorial services, but will be offered to the community to be used for other events such as graduation parties and bridal showers.  According to the article “Sinn believes an additional gathering space is needed in the community and he’s more than willing to open up his business and let people use it for get togethers”.

 

Sinn added another community activity is already lined up for the space, “We’re having the Trimont Farmers Market here once a month in the winter, starting Jan. 12.” he is quoted as saying in the article.

 

Sinn’s new business will be known as the Sinn Family Celebration of Life Center.  You can see the company website here.

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  It is really just common sense to get as many people as you can to use your facility.  Whether it is for funeral services or other events the familiarity one might find with a facility could be the reason that facility is called at the time of death or even thought of at the time a family decides to prearrange.  It doesn’t seem like rocket science to have that belief, but I’ve known many a funeral director who never open their doors for anything but death care events.

 

If you are a new business. . . or even an old business, you need customers to survive and thrive.  Finding a function for useable space at vacant times can be one way of doing so.

 

Related — This 2022 article from Indiana’s Current about Flanner & Buchanan’s Indianapolis Event center the Prairie Waters Event Center has this quote from Bruce Buchanan , “For a funeral company to basically become an event center has been an evolution for us, and what I’m very proud of is how we’ve taken the celebration of life concept and applied that beyond just a traditional funeral and really, we’ve almost flipped it.  We’ve become an event business that does funerals instead of a funeral home that maybe just tries to do events. . . ” 

 

Here is the website for the Prairie Waters Event Center.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• A different childhood:  Growing up in the funeral home.  Ozark County Times (AR)
• Creating a Sustainable Legacy.  The Natural Path Sanctuary.  (WI)
• Could cemeteries be a new hotspot for crime?  WREG – Memphis (TN)

 

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