Table of Content
Starting Funeral home business plan
Are you looking for how to open funeral home? A funeral home business mortician and burial services for the deceased. The services may include funeral planning, body preparation, transportation, burial, or cremation.
Funeral homes have been in demand from always. However, these days the demand for funeral services has increased due to the sudden rise in death rate because of coronavirus.
While it’s true that the funeral home business is profitable, it’s also correct that running such a business is not easy. You will have to procure protective kits, chemicals, and a lot of other mortuary items on daily basis. Moreover, you will need to ensure that strict protocols and safety rules are being followed throughout the process.
To ensure the successful running of your business, it is essential to first create a business plan. If you don’t know the components of a comprehensive business plan, you can take help from this business plan for a funeral home startup, James Funeral Home.
Executive Summary
2.1 The Business
James Funeral Home will be a licensed and registered funeral home based in San Antonio. The business will aim at performing all the funeral rituals including bathing and enshrouding, burial, cremation, etc. Moreover, the business will also provide catering services and transportation.
2.2 Management of Funeral home
Opening a funeral home is a relatively difficult venture. The funeral process needs to be carried out with great care and attention. Therefore, there must be efficient management and supervision to ensure that all of the sensitive tasks are taken care of properly.
Before exploring how to start a funeral home business you should keep in mind that it is a tough business. Running a funeral home means you have to be on call 365 days a year. Whether it’s Christmas or your wedding anniversary, you’ll have to arrange for the presence at the funeral home. In this sample plan on how to set up a funeral business we will be listing the details of how James Funeral Home will be managed and administered.
2.3 Customers of Funeral home
In your startup business plan for a funeral home, you should identify your customers. So that you can design your services accordingly. The customers of a funeral home are usually families of the deceased. However, in some cases, alive people also plan their funerals before dying.
2.4 Business Target
Our target is to become the number one choice of people of our city whenever they need funeral services. Moreover, we aim at boosting our net profit margin to $24k per month by the end of the three years.
Company Summary
3.1 Company Owner
James Ben will be the owner of James Funeral Home. James holds a BS in Mortuary Science from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. He has also worked as an embalmer for two years.
3.2 Why the funeral home is being started
After working as an embalmer for two years, James decided to start a funeral home of his own. He entered the business world as he wanted to use his potential to the fullest. And to earn large profits while serving people on a wider scale.
3.3 How the funeral home will be started
Step1: Make Your Business Plan
James had good management skills. However, he didn’t possess the skill set required to make a crematorium business plan. He studied several funeral home business plan examples but eventually decided to hire a professional for it. The marketing analysis, sales strategy, and financial planning done by his business consultant are given in this sample funeral home business plan.
Step2: Get Identified
The next step is to establish a physical basis for your business and define your business’ services and aims. After this, your customers will start recognizing your presence and the distinct features of yours as compared to your competitors.
Step3: Recruitments
The hiring process is actually a part of the step in which you set up your physical presence. In this phase, you have to organize tests and interviews to find the most skillful and responsible employees for your business.
Step4: A Strong Web Presence
Along with other operations of your funeral home business, it is really important to focus on web development too. Through a website, you will be able to reach a wider audience and leave a positive image of yourself before even interacting with people.
Start-up Expenses | |
Legal | $252,400 |
Consultants | $0 |
Insurance | $32,000 |
Rent | $35,000 |
Research and Development | $25,000 |
Expensed Equipment | $53,000 |
Signs | $4,000 |
TOTAL START-UP EXPENSES | $401,400 |
Start-up Assets | $311,900 |
Cash Required | $339,000 |
Start-up Inventory | $48,000 |
Other Current Assets | $218,000 |
Long-term Assets | $238,000 |
TOTAL ASSETS | $1,154,900 |
Total Requirements | $1,556,300 |
START-UP FUNDING | |
Start-up Expenses to Fund | $401,400 |
Start-up Assets to Fund | $1,154,900 |
TOTAL FUNDING REQUIRED | $1,556,300 |
Assets | |
Non-cash Assets from Start-up | $1,514,800 |
Cash Requirements from Start-up | $356,000 |
Additional Cash Raised | $47,800 |
Cash Balance on Starting Date | $31,000 |
TOTAL ASSETS | $1,949,600 |
Liabilities and Capital | |
Liabilities | $26,000 |
Current Borrowing | $0 |
Long-term Liabilities | $0 |
Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) | $43,000 |
Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) | $0 |
TOTAL LIABILITIES | $69,000 |
Capital | |
Planned Investment | $1,556,300 |
Investor 1 | $0 |
Investor 2 | $0 |
Other | $0 |
Additional Investment Requirement | $0 |
TOTAL PLANNED INVESTMENT | $1,556,300 |
Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses) | $324,300 |
TOTAL CAPITAL | $1,880,600 |
TOTAL CAPITAL AND LIABILITIES | $1,949,600 |
Total Funding | $1,556,300 |
Services
Before owning a funeral home, it is essential to decide your services. Through this practice, you can make arrangements for equipment and space accordingly. In this business plan template for funeral home, we’re listing the services that James Funeral Home will provide.
- Funeral Planning
Our primary service will be providing funeral plans. These days, many people have started to purchase funeral plans. So that their families don’t have to stress over their funeral charges after their death. In this service, we’ll also be responsible for informing all the friends/ relatives of the deceased about the death.
- Body Preparation
We will prepare the dead body to be buried or cremated. This service will include all the relevant tasks such as bathing the deceased, enshrouding, etc. The paperwork required for burial will also be completed by us.
- Burial/ Cremation
We will provide space for performing eulogies and brief prayers for the dead. Moreover, we’ll also be responsible for burying the dead body. Since in some religions, there is a ritual of cremating the deceased. Thus we’ll be offering cremation services too.
- Transportation
We’ll also transport dead bodies from one place to another in specialized refrigerated vehicles.
- Catered Meal
We’ll offer plated dinner to the mourners in a location other than our funeral home. Since funeral homes are generally prohibited to offer food in the same building, we decided to offer it in another building located nearby.
Marketing Analysis of Funeral Home
Accurate marketing analysis is the key to get prominent in the market as soon as you get launched. For doing so it is essential to know the market, direct and indirect competitors, stakeholders, and market fluctuations. An accurate market analysis will enable you
- To recognize the potential customers
- To identify the needs and expectations of your target customers
- To decide a pricing strategy for the business plan that would allow you to meet financial goals while drawing more customers than your competitors
James studied several funeral home business plans to identify potential customers and market trends. However, he ended up realizing that hiring a professional market analyst would be better for him. As that will make him achieve a greater level of accuracy.
Business plan for investors
5.1 Market Trends
Funeral homes are high in demand especially after the surge in deaths due to coronavirus. According to IBISWorld, there are more than 28k funeral homes running in the United States. Moreover, Statista predicts that the cremation rate in the U.S. would rise to 79.1 percent by 2035 – resulting in a need for more funeral homes.
Thus, it is evident that opening a funeral home will not run you into a loss. You only need to do efficient planning before starting funeral home to ensure success for your business.
5.2 Marketing Segmentation
The detailed marketing segmentation of our target audience is as follows:
5.2.1 Families of Deceased
Our primary customers will be the families of late. We expect them to avail of our body preparation, burial, and catering services. In San Antonio, the population is quite large and so the death rate. Therefore, we expect to get a considerable number of customers.
Our business values are based on customer care. We totally empathize with the families of the deceased. And therefore, to help the grievers in their misery we are offering body preparation and burial services at relatively lower prices.
5.2.2 Funeral Planners
Our second group of target customers will comprise alive people who purchase funeral planners before they die. These days, many adults and seniors have started to buy funeral plans so that their families and friends do not have to arrange money for their funerals.
5.2.3 Old Homes for Elder Orphans
The third category of our target customers will include the organizations that shelter elder orphans. Elder orphans are the senior people who do not have any friends or family to look after them. The funeral charges of such people are often paid by shelter homes. Thus, we expect them to contact us for our services too.
Market Analysis | |||||||
Potential Customers | Growth | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | CAGR |
Families of Deceased | 49% | 51,000 | 53,000 | 56,000 | 60,000 | 63,000 | 9.00% |
Funeral Planners | 35% | 39,000 | 42,000 | 43,000 | 44,000 | 47,000 | 10.00% |
Old Homes for Elder Orphans | 16% | 16,000 | 17,000 | 18,000 | 19,000 | 21,000 | 10.00% |
Total | 100% | 106,000 | 112,000 | 117,000 | 123,000 | 131,000 | 10% |
5.3 Business Target
Setting financial and customers’ related goals before starting a business is a good practice. It allows the business owners to direct the energy and resources towards the company’s goals.
Note
And it is important because how much do funeral home owners make is entirely dependent on how well they could manage their assets.
Our business targets are:
- To earn a profit margin of $24k per month by the end of the third year
- To maintain a CSAT score of above 85%
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5.4 Product Pricing
The prices of our funeral plans and catered foods are a little higher as compared to our competitors. However, our other services could be availed at lower rates than those of our competitors.
Marketing Strategy
Sales strategy is another component that can decide the future of your business. This part enables you to reach out to your target customers and increase your sales on a monthly and yearly basis.
In this marketing plan for funeral home, we’re providing the sales strategy of James Funeral Home.
6.1 Competitive Analysis
James studied several funeral business ideas to find out the areas where his competitors were lacking. After that analysis, he decided to come up with the following competitive aspects:
- James Funeral Home will have a user-friendly app so that people can connect to it remotely and conveniently.
- Secondly, it’s the only funeral home in the whole city that is providing catering meals to the mourners in a separate location.
- Third, it has extremely responsible employees who’ll always adhere to SOPs and strict protocols.
6.2 Sales Strategy
- We’ll promote our startup through Google Local ads and local magazines
- We’ll offer a 50% discount to the first 100 purchasers of our funeral plans
- We’ll offer a 30% discount on our transport and catered meal services for the first two months of our launch
6.3 Sales Monthly
6.4 Sales Yearly
6.5 Sales Forecast
Sales Forecast | |||
Unit Sales | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Funeral Planning | 32,000 | 33,920 | 35,955 |
Body Preparation/ Transportation | 46,000 | 48,760 | 51,686 |
Burial/ Cremation | 40,000 | 42,400 | 44,944 |
Catered Meal | 24,000 | 25,440 | 26,966 |
TOTAL UNIT SALES | 142,000 | 150,520 | 159,551 |
Unit Prices | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Funeral Planning | $56.00 | $64.96 | $75.35 |
Body Preparation/ Transportation | $47.00 | $54.52 | $63.24 |
Burial/ Cremation | $51.00 | $59.16 | $68.63 |
Catered Meal | $40.00 | $46.40 | $53.82 |
Sales | |||
Funeral Planning | $1,792,000.00 | $2,203,443.20 | $2,709,353.76 |
Body Preparation/ Transportation | $2,162,000.00 | $2,658,395.20 | $3,268,762.74 |
Burial/ Cremation | $2,040,000.00 | $2,508,384.00 | $3,084,308.97 |
Catered Meal | $960,000.00 | $1,180,416.00 | $1,451,439.51 |
TOTAL SALES | $6,954,000.00 | $8,550,638.40 | $10,513,864.98 |
Direct Unit Costs | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Funeral Planning | $52.00 | $58.00 | $67.00 |
Body Preparation/ Transportation | $46.00 | $51.00 | $60.00 |
Burial/ Cremation | $48.00 | $56.00 | $64.00 |
Catered Meal | $37.00 | $42.00 | $48.00 |
Direct Cost of Sales | |||
Funeral Planning | $1,664,000.00 | $1,967,360.00 | $2,408,998.40 |
Body Preparation/ Transportation | $2,116,000.00 | $2,486,760.00 | $3,101,136.00 |
Burial/ Cremation | $1,920,000.00 | $2,374,400.00 | $2,876,416.00 |
Catered Meal | $888,000.00 | $1,068,480.00 | $1,294,387.20 |
Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales | $6,588,000.00 | $7,897,000.00 | $9,680,937.60 |
Personnel plan
Before starting a funeral parlor business you should make a list of employees you will need along with their job descriptions.
7.1 Company Staff
James will be the CEO himself. However, he’ll hire the following staff
- 2 Supervisors to help manage the operations
- 1 Accountant to maintain financial records
- 1 Front Desk Officer
- 8 Morticians to perform funerals
- 3 Cooks to prepare food
- 2 Waiters to serve food
- 8 Cleaners to maintain the facilities
- 3 General Assistants for routine tasks and paperwork
- 1 Sales Executive to promote the company
- 1 Web developer/ App Developer to manage the company’s website and app
- 2 Drivers to transport dead bodies
7.2 Average Salary of Employees
Personnel Plan | |||
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
Supervisors | $20,000 | $22,000 | $24,200 |
Accountant | $9,000 | $9,900 | $10,890 |
Morticians | $55,000 | $60,500 | $66,550 |
Cooks | $24,000 | $26,400 | $29,040 |
Waiters | $14,000 | $15,400 | $16,940 |
Cleaners | $49,000 | $53,900 | $59,290 |
General Assistants | $21,000 | $23,100 | $25,410 |
Sales Executive | $8,000 | $8,800 | $9,680 |
Drivers | $14,000 | $15,400 | $16,940 |
Front Desk Officer | $6,500 | $7,150 | $7,865 |
Web Developer | $13,000 | $14,300 | $15,730 |
Total Salaries | $233,500 | $256,850 | $282,535 |
Financial Plan
Financial planning for a funeral home business is a little complicated. Firstly, because you’ll need to buy and discard certain materials and protective kits off and on. And secondly due to the complexity involved in setting prices of funeral plans. When you sell a funeral plan to a person you don’t know the inflation rate that will prevail at the time of their death. The period may be shorter or longer – resulting in unpredictable losses or profits.
However, there are still many areas through which you can control the financial trajectory of your business. In this build a funeral home business plan, we’re providing the financial plan developed for James Funeral Home. So that you can have an idea of the cash flows, gross margins, and business ratios for this business.
8.1 Important Assumptions
General Assumptions | |||
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
Plan Month | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Current Interest Rate | 8.01% | 8.09% | 8.13% |
Long-term Interest Rate | 8.17% | 8.24% | 8.29% |
Tax Rate | 23.98% | 24.03% | 24.11% |
Other | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8.2 Brake-even Analysis
Brake-Even Analysis | |
Monthly Units Break-even | 5403 |
Monthly Revenue Break-even | $136,750 |
Assumptions: | |
Average Per-Unit Revenue | $232.00 |
Average Per-Unit Variable Cost | $0.65 |
Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost | $162,000 |
8.3 Projected Profit and Loss
Pro Forma Profit And Loss | |||
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
Sales | $6,954,000 | $8,550,638 | $10,513,865 |
Direct Cost of Sales | $6,588,000 | $7,897,000 | $9,680,938 |
Other | $0 | $0 | $0 |
TOTAL COST OF SALES | $6,588,000 | $7,897,000 | $9,680,938 |
Gross Margin | $366,000 | $653,638 | $832,927 |
Gross Margin % | 5.26% | 7.64% | 7.92% |
Expenses | |||
Payroll | $233,500 | $256,850 | $282,535 |
Sales and Marketing and Other Expenses | $125,000 | $128,000 | $133,000 |
Depreciation | $2,100 | $2,180 | $2,260 |
Leased Equipment | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Utilities | $2,700 | $2,900 | $3,200 |
Insurance | $2,000 | $2,100 | $2,195 |
Rent | $3,400 | $3,500 | $3,600 |
Payroll Taxes | $36,000 | $38,000 | $40,000 |
Other | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Total Operating Expenses | $404,700 | $433,530 | $466,790 |
Profit Before Interest and Taxes | ($38,700) | $220,108 | $366,137 |
EBITDA | ($38,700) | $220,108 | $366,137 |
Interest Expense | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Taxes Incurred | ($7,740) | $44,022 | $73,227 |
Net Profit | ($30,960) | $176,087 | $292,910 |
Net Profit/Sales | -0.45% | 2.06% | 2.79% |
8.3.1 Profit Monthly
8.3.2 Profit Yearly
8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly
8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly
8.4 Projected Cash Flow
Pro Forma Cash Flow | |||
Cash Received | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Cash from Operations | |||
Cash Sales | $53,000 | $57,240 | $61,819 |
Cash from Receivables | $15,400 | $16,632 | $17,963 |
SUBTOTAL CASH FROM OPERATIONS | $69,000 | $75,210 | $81,227 |
Additional Cash Received | |||
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Received | $0 | $0 | $0 |
New Current Borrowing | $0 | $0 | $0 |
New Other Liabilities (interest-free) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
New Long-term Liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Sales of Other Current Assets | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Sales of Long-term Assets | $0 | $0 | $0 |
New Investment Received | $0 | $0 | $0 |
SUBTOTAL CASH RECEIVED | $70,000 | $76,000 | $82,000 |
Expenditures | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Expenditures from Operations | |||
Cash Spending | $31,000 | $34,000 | $37,000 |
Bill Payments | $21,000 | $22,000 | $23,000 |
SUBTOTAL SPENT ON OPERATIONS | $52,000 | $56,000 | $60,000 |
Additional Cash Spent | |||
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Paid Out | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Principal Repayment of Current Borrowing | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Other Liabilities Principal Repayment | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Long-term Liabilities Principal Repayment | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Purchase Other Current Assets | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Purchase Long-term Assets | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Dividends | $0 | $0 | $0 |
SUBTOTAL CASH SPENT | $52,600 | $56,808 | $61,353 |
Net Cash Flow | $15,300 | $16,400 | $17,200 |
Cash Balance | $24,000 | $25,900 | $27,300 |
8.5 Projected Balance Sheet
Pro Forma Balance Sheet | |||
Assets | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
Current Assets | |||
Cash | $278,000 | $311,360 | $342,496 |
Accounts Receivable | $25,200 | $28,224 | $31,724 |
Inventory | $5,000 | $5,600 | $6,294 |
Other Current Assets | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS | $291,000 | $325,920 | $366,334 |
Long-term Assets | |||
Long-term Assets | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
Accumulated Depreciation | $16,940 | $18,973 | $21,344 |
TOTAL LONG-TERM ASSETS | $20,800 | $23,296 | $26,208 |
TOTAL ASSETS | $296,000 | $331,520 | $372,960 |
Liabilities and Capital | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
Current Liabilities | |||
Accounts Payable | $17,500 | $19,600 | $22,030 |
Current Borrowing | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Other Current Liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 |
SUBTOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES | $14,800 | $16,576 | $18,631 |
Long-term Liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 |
TOTAL LIABILITIES | $15,000 | $16,800 | $18,883 |
Paid-in Capital | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 |
Retained Earnings | $54,800 | $59,732 | $65,705 |
Earnings | $202,600 | $220,834 | $242,917 |
TOTAL CAPITAL | $272,200 | $296,698 | $326,368 |
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL | $287,200 | $331,520 | $372,960 |
Net Worth | $272,200 | $296,698 | $326,368 |
8.6 Business Ratios
Ratio Analysis | ||||
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | INDUSTRY PROFILE | |
Sales Growth | 7.39% | 8.19% | 9.07% | 3.00% |
Percent of Total Assets | ||||
Accounts Receivable | 9.31% | 10.32% | 11.43% | 9.80% |
Inventory | 5.44% | 6.03% | 6.68% | 9.90% |
Other Current Assets | 2.16% | 2.39% | 2.65% | 2.40% |
Total Current Assets | 151.00% | 151.00% | 152.00% | 158.00% |
Long-term Assets | 11.61% | 11.70% | 11.82% | 12.00% |
TOTAL ASSETS | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Current Liabilities | 4.65% | 4.69% | 4.73% | 4.34% |
Long-term Liabilities | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Total Liabilities | 7.22% | 7.28% | 7.34% | 7.38% |
NET WORTH | 100.10% | 100.90% | 101.83% | 110.00% |
Percent of Sales | ||||
Sales | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Gross Margin | 94.87% | 97.43% | 100.16% | 99.00% |
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses | 92.94% | 95.45% | 98.12% | 97.80% |
Advertising Expenses | 1.53% | 1.57% | 1.62% | 1.40% |
Profit Before Interest and Taxes | 40.98% | 42.09% | 43.26% | 33.90% |
Main Ratios | ||||
Current | 37 | 37.9 | 38.5 | 32 |
Quick | 33 | 35 | 35.875 | 33 |
Total Debt to Total Assets | 0.18% | 0.19% | 0.18% | 0.40% |
Pre-tax Return on Net Worth | 74.66% | 75.30% | 76.50% | 75.00% |
Pre-tax Return on Assets | 95.20% | 99.96% | 104.96% | 112.00% |
Additional Ratios | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
Net Profit Margin | 31.40% | 32.37% | 33.38% | N.A. |
Return on Equity | 55.70% | 57.43% | 59.21% | N.A. |
Activity Ratios | ||||
Accounts Receivable Turnover | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | N.A. |
Collection Days | 100 | 100 | 100 | N.A. |
Inventory Turnover | 33 | 34.65 | 35 | N.A. |
Accounts Payable Turnover | 16.3 | 16.9 | 17.5 | N.A. |
Payment Days | 27 | 27 | 27 | N.A. |
Total Asset Turnover | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | N.A. |
Debt Ratios | ||||
Debt to Net Worth | -0.03 | -0.04 | -0.04 | N.A. |
Current Liab. to Liab. | 1 | 1 | 1 | N.A. |
Liquidity Ratios | ||||
Net Working Capital | $228,700 | $241,507 | $255,032 | N.A. |
Interest Coverage | 0 | 0 | 0 | N.A. |
Additional Ratios | ||||
Assets to Sales | 0.86 | 0.87 | 0.89 | N.A. |
Current Debt/Total Assets | 1% | 0% | 0% | N.A. |
Acid Test | 28.01 | 28.5 | 28.93 | N.A. |
Sales/Net Worth | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | N.A. |
Dividend Payout | 0 | 0 | 0 | N.A. |
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