I noticed a couple of articles in the last couple of days about ownership at single proprietor funeral homes that are changing hands.  What struck me about the articles is that as you go through living your life, you really need to be ready to answer the door when an opportunity knocks.

The first article that you can read here is more typical about how an employee funeral director can get into the business of owning his own funeral home.  The article comes from the Beloit Daily News and tells the story of Jarod Williams who received his degree in mortuary science in 1998 and recently announced his purchase of the Rosman Uehling Kinzer Funeral Home in Beloit after working at various funeral homes since his licensing.  Five years ago he went out on his own and started a trade  service that connected him with area funeral homes and probably led to his knowledge that Rosman Uehling Kinzer FH was for sale.  The dream of now owning his own funeral business is something he wants to turn into a family business as his oldest son is already an apprentice funeral director.

The second article that you can read here is about Kyle Sharp and his recent purchase of the Lansing Funeral Home in Lansing, New York.  Mr. Sharp recently was married and has worked at a funeral home in Syracuse since 2015.  The article, from the Lansing Star, indicates that Mr. Sharp’s father was visiting with the Lansing Funeral Home owner and he mentioned that at some point in time, his son would like to have the opportunity to own his own funeral home.  She joked, according to the article, that he should call her.  The next day he did and within a couple of months he closed on the funeral home and is now a new husband and a new business owner.

Funeral Director Daily take:  It is interesting how businesses get bought and sold.  These are just two of the many examples of how it can happen.  However, I tell people all the time, you can dream about ownership, however, if you take no action and are not willing to risk time and money, it will never happen to you.

My own story is that I was a 19 year old liberal arts student at the University of Minnesota when my father died.  He operated, as a 3rd generation funeral director, a small funeral home in my hometown.  About a month after his death my mother asked me to go to dad’s attorney’s office with her.  The attorney said, “Tom, have you ever thought about going into the funeral business?”  He then explained that my mother, who was now a 49-year old widow, had two options with the funeral business — 1) sell it to someone else and try to live off the sale proceeds until she got Social Security or 2) offer to sell it to me if I wanted to pursue the business.  My hand went up – more out of family commitment than any sense of wanting to own a funeral home – and I changed my major to Mortuary Science, worked summers and weekends, and began a life of being a funeral director.

It turned out to be a great choice for me.  I loved being a funeral director, think I was somewhat good at what I did, and my community grew from a small community to a regional center and the number of deaths grew also giving me great growth opportunities.

I now spend a lot of time mentoring young prospective business owners in my home community.  I have never witnessed a person who was willing to put in the time and work hard not make a go of it.  I counsel all the time, though, if you want to own your own business make sure your spouse is on board with the time commitment it will take.  Also, understand for the first few years you will work longer hours and take home less pay than you do as an employee – and probably not get a vacation.  However, the hard work will pay off and at some point you will turn the corner and see yourself as a successful business owner.

Be ready when your opportunity knocks.

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