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

May 5, 2022/Business/

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 to invest in amid a climate of price increases for goods and services, according to this article, Bufett answered with the following, “The best thing you can do is to be exceptionally good at something“.

Buffett went on to explain his answer in more detail with this statement, “If you’re the best doctor in town, if you’re the best lawyer in town, if you’re the best whatever it may be… [people] are going to give you some of what they produce in exchange for what you deliver.”

Again, according to the article, Buffet stated, “Figure out what makes you good and what you sort of naturally bring to the game. . .”

Funeral Director Daily take: These answers by Buffett are short and succinct and I don’t believe they are what the questioner was expecting. I think the questioner was asking for stock tips. However, Buffett’s answers are probably a good thing for all of us in the death care profession to take notice of.

I think that there is a lot to be said for “Being the best in your market at what you do“. If you are the best funeral home, or best cremation business, or best cemetery, you will reap some benefit from that distinction. And, even going a step farther, if you have to raise prices to pay the bills and produce a profit, but you continue to be the best in your community. . . .my guess is that you will continue to do the business because price is not always the number one issue for consumers.

It is also interesting that Buffet notes to – paraphrasing here – “Figure out what you do good and bring that to the game“. I think that rationale really helped me in my business. In my opinion, my strengths were on the public relations side of the business and the business planning for the business. I could have spent 24/7 being in the preparation room and still been below average in that skill department.

I was fortunate enough, however, to have highly skilled people in the preparation room that made our funeral home look really good with that skill.. . . . .and, it is certainly one skill that a top brand funeral home has to have.

So, my advice to owners and managers is to know what you do well and what you don’t make sure that you can find the proper team members with that skill set. If you lack a “skill set” for one of the variable skills needed in the death care business you will never be that “Top brand” in your market.

I find it very interesting that a veteran businessman like Buffett, when asked about how to defend against rising prices and inflation, gave an answer on “skill sets” rather than finances, price increases, and interest rates. It goes a long way in showing what his attitude about what works for and makes a business successful.

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