Newsletters

Spring Newsletter 2023

LeapTie Richard May 5, 2023

It is spring in most parts of our country. This season is of my favorite times of the year as the birds are building their nests, the trees are budding and the flowers are pushing up, even in the snow, to show us their beauty.

I also think of spring as a time of new beginnings. Time to get outside and take big breaths and walk in the sun and the rain too. The earth is being refreshed as we have spring showers to give us water, the snow begins to melt, and lakes begin to thaw.

Spring can also be a time of cleaning out things that are no longer working for us. Perhaps there are some old items or ways of being that are no longer working for you. Or there are challenges you have experienced that has been accumulated over the winter and have been in your closets for too long and you feel a need to rid them from your life.

TO SELL OR NOT TO SELL: SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU TAKE ACTION

Written by John Schmitz, CPA

CFO/Financial Consultant

JohnSchmitzCPA@Gmail.com

The decision to sell your funeral home or cemetery is one of the most significant decisions you will ever make in your life. Whether you are looking to retire fully, partially, or stay involved while cashing out equity, the decision will significantly influence your retirement funding. Unfortunately, many owners have not established an alternative source of retirement funds, making the decision to sell even more critical.

To determine the best course of action, it is crucial to consider your retirement plans and what you envision your retirement to look like. Do you wish to stay in the community and still be seen as the face of the firm? Is there anyone in the firm you could sell to? Are there multiple owners or corporate buy/sell agreements that need to be resolved before going out to market?

CONSIDERING RETIREMENT AND A SALE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Written by Lisa Baue, Owner, Your Funeral Coach

Lisa@YourFuneralCoach.com

www.YourFuneralCoach.com

If you are considering retirement, I suggest a great book to read before you decide written by Ernie J. Zelinski. It is recommended that you read this between 5-10 years before you make a decision to retire. If you find yourself ready now, it’s still a great read. Enjoy!

I always suggest to clients that are considering selling or acquiring another firm to carefully research any broker/consultant firms before they sign an agreement with them to help you.

WEBSITE CLEANING

Written by Sean Fagan, Owner, Leap Tie, Inc.

Sean@LeapTie.com

www.LeapTie.com

It’s Spring! Have you ever thought of giving your website a Spring cleaning? This information is a good reference whether your website is several years old or was just launched a few days ago.

1. Compare to Your Competitor: If you are using the same website provider as a competitor you lose a lot of your ability to communicate clear differences.

2. User-Friendly Design: Funeral home websites should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, and provide a seamless user experience. The design should be clean, visually appealing, and uncluttered.

3. Sticky Header: The navigation and phone number should always be visible when a user scrolls a page.

SPRING CLEANING

Written by Scott Newton

President, Graystone Associates

www.GraystoneAssociates.com

Spring Fever. This idiom is a way of describing that feeling of restlessness and eagerness to get on with things that often accompany the close of winter and the onset of spring. Reading between the lines, it also insinuates a desire to take action and move forward with some level of excitement and freshness.

The question begs how much of a sense of urgency do you have as a business owner or manager to drive change now vs. allowing circumstances to evolve in their natural course of action. Here we are 13 months, really, post any pandemic related volume surge that gave us carte blanche (rightly so to an extent) to drown in the daily minutia of running the business rather than focusing on more strategic issues that will impact us for years to come. Staff recruiting and retention, workplace organizational health, proactive financial management of increasing expenses, creative pricing ideas and growth opportunities likely have not received as much attention as they have – at least proactively.