Why I Am Not A Funeral Home Broker Jack B. Stalk has a special goose. His goose lays a single golden egg every year. That annual egg has enabled Jack to live in a nice home, drive a luxury car, take nice vacations, eat well, put his four kids through college and be a [...]
I love the story of two little boys fighting over the last piece of cake. Mom comes into the kitchen as they are pushing and shoving and with "Solomon - like" wisdom says, "Johnny, Billy, there is enough for both of you. Johnny I want you to cut the cake into two pieces and Billy [...]
Sociologists have discovered there is a saying in every culture that is best illustrated by the title to this article (which is the Chinese version). Basically, it refers to the lowly peasant who works hard to break out of the rice paddy life by starting a business which he then passes on to his heirs. [...]
There are 3 Universal requirements for a successful family business transfer: A competent successor The Business is ready The owner is ready Part 1 - A Competent Successor A successor is competent when they have demonstrated both the ability and willingness to run the business. For most small businesses however this is a major challenge. Yes [...]
You're here...NOW WHAT! There are more ways to transition a business than just selling to a consolidator. You can transition fast and you can transition slow. You can plan to have your kids succeed you or your employees or another funeral home operator. But the one entity you want to protect yourself from is the [...]
It was between sessions at an NFDA convention and busy in the bathroom. An older gentleman approached me and asked brusquely, "Are you Alan Creedy?" Given his demeanour, for a moment, I wasn't sure whether to say yes or run. I finally said yes. What he said next made me wish he had chosen [...]
I read a lot and sometimes I preorder new books. This Winter I preordered "THE REINVENTORS, How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change" By Jason Jennings. I started reading it last week and when I turned to page 60 lo and behold what did I see? My friend Bill McQueen as one of the case [...]
When Growth Stalls, How it happens, why you’re stuck and what to do about it. By Steve McKee, Jossey-Bass 2009 “when growth stalls, everything begins to break down. Confidence wanes, and it can be difficult to tell which problems are cause and which are effect.” This simple statement hits too close to home in an industry [...]
Selling a business is a highly practical exercise wrapped in a thick emotional blanket. Much like the grief cycle we know so well in DeathCare there are stages that are common and, if you know about them, you can prepare. The more prepared you are the better you will be able to negotiate what you [...]
In order to properly determine EBITDA you first have to present your financial statements correctly. If you are not using an accounting service that specializes in the funeral or cemetery industry then it is highly likely that your financial statements are not presented in a manner that makes ratio analysis meaningful. For instance: the way [...]
