Trust your instincts, don’t always follow the herd with business decisions

December 22, 2025/Business/

If you own, operate, or manage a funeral home or cemetery you get lots of advice — including from Funeral Director Daily at times. However, I’ve also learned over 40+ years of business ownership in various enterprises, that while it it good to consider all the advice you get, it is most of the time best to “trust your own instincts on business decisions”.

With most family funeral homes and cemeteries the owners “live” the business. Even when they are at home or somewhere else, “the business” is usually top of mind. Because of that situation, nobody should know your business better than you. . . . . and when it comes to “big decisions” nobody should be more trusted to make them than you.

I thought of that the other day while I was running on the treadmill and watching a business channel on the TV. This information about Ford Motor Company came across the screen. The information was that Ford was “retreating from the EV (electrical vehicle) market and taking a write-down of $19.5 billion including an $8.5 billion charge for cancelled EV models.”

This quote came from the article, “Ford said it will pivot hard into gas and hybrid models, and eventually hire thousands of workers, even though there will be some layoffs at a jointly owned Kentucky battery plant in the near term. The company expects its global mix of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs to reach 50% by 2030, from 17% today.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: I thought of the “instinct and decision” issue while on the treadmill because I wondered how much Ford was influenced by the “Green movement” of one presidential administration to get so heavy on the way to building EV cars and trucks. And, on the “Fossil fuel movement” of another presidential adminsitration to now get out of it — or at least tone down the movement.

It reminded me of when I operated our funeral home and had all kinds of advice from client families, clergy, business friends, and many other people who meant very well. . . . . . However, as helpful as they wanted to be, they didn’t understand the Death Care business. I’m guessing that if I had acted on much of the advice they gave, I would have had to pivot from those decisions as well.

So, listen to advice — that is only being respectful, but make sure that you make decisions firmly on the data you have in place and on your own instincts.

It’s very difficult to compare Ford Motor Company to our funeral businesses, but I question how much Ford listened to the correct data and consumers and followed their instincts or if they simply got caught up in a “following the herd” mentality when the herd was going in the wrong direction.

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