If I told you that the average family owned and operated funeral home squanders at least $10,000 or more in unnecessary expenses each year, would you believe me? I certainly hope so because, according to the financials of funeral homes I have personally assisted in 2013, it’s a reality. This level of financial waste is especially hard on small volume funeral homes of 100 cases a year or less. This is money that could have (and should have) gone back into the business as additional profit.
Given what I have ascertained in my research, I have embarked on a campaign to share with funeral home owners proven ways they can keep more of their hard earned money in their pocket.
Your employees are oftentimes your highest single expense. Knowing how to save money on your employee-related expenses can go a long way towards helping you be more profitable.
Some funeral homes overload themselves with employee benefits because they feel they need to offer them in order to compete for the top talent in the industry. But this approach could be counterproductive, because rarely are all of the benefits used. Instead of offering so many benefits, be smarter in your approach, and only offer those that make the most sense financially for your business. Or, you can set aside a certain amount of money per employee, and then have them pick and choose the benefits they would like. This keeps your benefits on budget, and your employees can still get the benefits that mean the most to them.
Being in close touch with what is going on in your funeral home will help you identify when you need to grow, and when to hold steady. It is important to evaluate your business needs regularly. Do you have existing employees who can handle additional tasks? If so, by assigning additional duties to capable employees, you may be able to reduce your need for hiring another employee. This will help you avoid having to let someone go when business slows back down again. Practice in-house promotion, and when you need to fill a temporary position that cannot be handled by your current employees, consider bringing in a temp or an intern, over outright hiring a new employee. By doing this, you can keep your employee-related costs to a minimum.
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) may be able to help reduce the time and money spent on administrative and human resource responsibilities, because they pool the employees of all of their clients together in order to get better prices on benefit packages from providers. A PEO also works to help ensure their clients are in full compliance with current employer laws and regulations, while minimizing HR risks, and improving employment practices.
Many health insurance companies offer a variety of incentives that can bring the overall cost of health insurance plans down. The employers who encourage their employees to use such lifestyle choices can help in getting their overall cost down. Employers should motivate their employees to participate in programs that can offer a healthier lifestyle and help the company in reducing the payout for health insurance.
Offering electronic paychecks – direct deposit – to your employees will save your company time and money, and give your employees a benefit that will make their lives a little bit easier. According to The Electronic Payments Association (NACHA), companies can save up to $3.15 per payment by using direct deposit instead of paper checks. Those savings come in the form of reduced administrative and processing costs, as you won't need to spend hours working on the books and cutting regular paychecks. You can use software payment programs, payroll processors or even your financial institution to help reduce the time your employees spend on payroll issues. Direct deposit is a win for employees, too. According to a Consumer Federation of America survey, three out of four employees who have this benefit available would use it. Plus, your employees won't have to leave work to deposit their paychecks during banking hours. Workers who deposit paper checks spend up to three work days a year at the bank, a NACHA study said.
You can save big bucks by buying in bulk. Keep track of which supplies you use the most, and try to order these in large quantities. Bulk orders provide you with a double discount: you will likely benefit from lower prices and diminished shipping costs. Just make sure to order wisely, or you may find yourself with a great supply of something you do not need. Avoid ordering bulk quantities of reusable supplies, such as paper clips and binders.
To make sure you do not end up losing money on lower-quality supplies, test out a small sample of the generic brand items before making a big purchase. For example, you may find that the generic pencils keep breaking, so paying the higher premium for a trusted brand may be worth the cost.
Every staff member have their own personal stapler and scissors? Why?? Set up a supply station in your funeral home. A supply station set may encourage employees to share supplies. Designate a spot with a hole puncher, stapler and any other supplies you may wish to distribute. For example, keeping boxes of pens in the station means employees can take a pen whenever they need one, without keeping a whole box of unused pens in a desk drawer. If one station is getting congested, you can always create more.
Stop wasting paper. Print on the back side of old memos and paper to save trees and expenses. Reuse supplies, such as binders, folders, rubber bands, paper clips and even boxes or bubble mailers.
Between the heavy price of ink and rapid use of paper, printing costs can really add up quickly. A few smart computer settings can cut down on the costs. Printers usually have an economy setting that will print documents using less ink. Note that the image and text quality will be slightly lower, but you may not need anything fancy for most of your printing purposes. Other ways of cutting printing costs include double-sided printing, using scrap paper and focusing on electronic communication.
While at the service station, inflate your tires properly and check them often for uneven wear. Steer clear of those stickier wider performance tires, which increase road friction and can sap mileage per gallon. Instead, opt for eco-focused tires, which reduce rolling resistance. Poor alignment not only causes tires to wear out more quickly, but also forces your engine to work harder. Align your tires, and save up to 10%. More than one-quarter of vehicles are driving on deflated tires. The average under-inflation of 7.5 pounds causes a loss of 2.8% in fuel efficiency.
Check Your Air Filter – Nearly one in four vehicles on the road today need an air filter replacement. A clean air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10%.
Lighten your load. For every 100 extra pounds carried around, your vehicle loses 1 to 2% in fuel efficiency. Do you really need to carry around all that extra weight in your funeral home vehicles all the time?
Learn where to find the cheap gas - In most regions, you will find the cheapest gas prices in the same areas. In major metro areas, this seems to be outlying suburbs. It is best to avoid affluent areas when looking for a cheap fill. People in these areas are less price sensitive, and the gas stations realize this fact. Not only that, the gas stations are located on more valuable land, and land taxes will be higher. They pass on these higher costs to customers. Gas stations, near major freeway exits, can be more expensive that stations further away. Smartphone users can locate the best gas price in the area, by downloading and always using GasBuddy. Go to www.GasBuddy.com.