IN THE INDUSTRY different operating a funeral home from the outside than it is being there day to day, everyday, like an owner operator. It was difficult for me to give up ownership of the family business. I feel tremendous allegiance to my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father who served before I did. I had plenty of talks with them at the cemetery during the time we were contemplating the sale of the business. However, I also know that my great-grandfather came across the Atlantic Ocean to America in 1872 not knowing what it would bring to him and his young bride. He was skilled in the cabinet trade and that led to building coffins. . . . .and we grew from there. And, I’m pretty sure he would rest easy if he knew the business he started provided business opportunities for his descendants spanning parts of three centuries. I’m happy, my boys are happy in their careers and our funeral home continues to serve families in our community with compassion. That’s a win for all of us. Yes. . . the consolidators, whether on a regional or national scale, will continue to grow as there are more owners who find themselves in the situation that I found myself in. They do, however, have to make a profit to keep providing that service. My hope is that they operate their businesses with compassion for the families they serve while offering opportunities for their employees for advancement in a way that many family-owned funeral homes never can. Industry Calendar Listed below are dates of selected state and national events important to the deathcare industry. If you have additions to suggest,please send them to info@cfsaa.org. The most up-to-date calendar information can always be found at CFSAA.org. January 30-February 1, 2023: South Carolina Funeral Directors Association Mid-Winter Conference & Expo February 8-10, 2023: CANA’s 2023 Cremation Symposium FAMIC’s consumer education campaign, Have the Talk of a Lifetime, has started conversation among families and friends - people in your community - about their lives and how they want to be remembered after they die. Visit FAMIC.org to learn more about the program and access a variety of tools you can easily incorporate into your business today. Click HERE for the newest CST Company’s Bulletin of Collections CFSA Insider | Page 13 I also believe that while the regional or national consolidators have a leg-up on acquiring the heritage firms that go to market, there is a tremendous opportunity for young funeral directors in the niche side of the profession. It’s not always about finding the cash to buy the current operator out. It may be about operating a cremation only business, or an alkaline hydrolysis only business, or a green funeral home. In my opinion there is the same opportunity in the new ways of human disposition that built the cremation only operators back in the 1970’s. Quite frankly, like the cremation operations in the 1970’s, I believe that this time period may offer generational potential in what are now niche death care businesses. I also believe that in a lot of communities scrapping the necessary amount needed to do that from family and friends may in the end. . . twenty or thirty years down the road. . . be a much more prosperous venture than getting a huge loan or bringing in an equity partner to buy out the big guy in town who is doing business in the traditional way. . . . And this may be especially true if it turns out to be that private equity and the big players raise the death-care costs to consumers. The opportunities are still out there in this profession. Those that search them out and work hard will probably find them.
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