Unfortunately, no one has yet come up with a recipe for the elixir of eternal life. Sooner or later people die, so the income of organizations providing funeral services is stable. A well-established funeral business can bring quite a good income. First of all, you should evaluate your strengths and attitude towards the provision of this type of service. Many people seriously believe that this type of business is unethical. But the need for funeral services is dictated by life itself. Without funeral services, people would have a much harder time, since in a moment of despair, when death overtakes a loved one, it is unrealistic to think about organizing a funeral.
So, if your prejudices about the provision of this type of service have been successfully dispelled, you can move on to the main part of the article - a detailed business plan for a standard funeral service bureau.
Nuances of the funeral business
Until 2004, the provision of funeral services was considered a licensed activity, however, at the moment, control over the activities of funeral homes is only of a notification nature. Today, almost anyone can engage in funeral services. At the same time, at the initial stage you do not need to worry about the farewell hall and transport. All this can be rented. The most difficult task for funeral home owners is “searching for the deceased.” The procedure for searching for a deceased person is complicated by the fact that holding a funeral can actually be called a one-time service. In other words, you won't build a customer base over time.
The lowest segment of the funeral market is funerals with a minimum set of services. The average cost of such a funeral will be approximately 15,000 rubles. A cheap funeral will not give your business the opportunity to grow. Having many orders with a minimum package of services will only allow you to stay afloat. Therefore, the only way to expand this activity is to diversify services. Funeral agencies can provide the following types of services:
- Production of coffins and monuments;
- Organizing your own morgue;
- Embalming the deceased;
- Cosmetology services for the deceased and selection of clothing;
- Cremation;
- Disinfection of the premises where the deceased was located;
- Delivery of wreaths;
- Hiring workers who will prepare the grave;
- Band for a funeral procession;
- Transporting the body of the deceased and his friends and relatives to the cemetery.
After compiling a detailed list of services provided, you will need to start looking for premises where your agency’s office will be located.
Selecting a room
The premises must be located in a place with good transport links. As for the area of the premises, it directly depends on the list of services provided. For a funeral home that provides a number of additional services, the premises should be divided into four separate rooms:
- Morgue;
- A room for displaying wreaths, ribbons, coffins and other ritual paraphernalia;
- Staff room;
- Hall for family and friends.
Also, in addition to the office, a parking lot should be provided, where there are several buses for transporting relatives and hearses.
Advertising of funeral services
There is a lot of competition in this type of service, so it will be quite difficult to get promoted without a solid advertising budget. Choose a name that will fit the activity, but don't use any names. Please note that the advertising campaign should be unobtrusive. It is enough to place several advertisements in local newspapers and on the Internet. In addition to advertising, to organize a people search system, your business plan must include a budget for concluding contracts with hospitals and ambulance services that will provide you with information about potential clients.
Recruitment
Be very responsible when choosing employees for your agency. Funeral home employees must be able to communicate well with people. One of the main criteria for choosing staff is psychological stability, since visitors are usually very irritable and sometimes react inappropriately to completely harmless little things. One of the most important employees of a funeral home is the person answering the telephone. Considering the peculiarity of this situation, it is better to hire a girl with a quiet, pleasant and calm voice to handle phone calls, who can understand the needs of the customer and accept his grief.
The second most important employee will be the funeral agent, whose job is to visit clients to determine the list of services. An experienced lawyer should handle the preparation of death certificates. If the body of the deceased needs to be brought into appropriate shape, you will need a makeup artist and an embalmer. Also worry about finding orchestra workers, drivers and general workers in advance.
How much money does it take to open a funeral home?
To open a funeral home you will need a budget of 800,000 rubles.
- Rent of premises - 50,000 rubles;
- Hall decoration - 60,000 rubles;
- Embalmer services - 50,000 rubles;
- Purchase of goods - 500,000 rubles;
- Salary for additional personnel - 30,000 rubles;
- Advertising - 50,000 rubles;
- Additional expenses - 20,000 rubles.
Individually calculated and included in the invoice in the form of an advance: car rental, priest services, musical accompaniment.
How much can you earn from funeral services?
The profitability of this type of business is beyond doubt. The average monthly profit, subject to the provision of additional services and the sale of ritual paraphernalia, will be approximately 400,000 rubles. Taking into account fixed expenses, the net monthly income will be 150,000 rubles. Annual - 1,800,000 rub. The payback period for a funeral business, according to experts, is at least 6 months.
Step-by-step business plan: where to start
Before you open a funeral business, you need to take into account all its nuances. The most important thing here is the ability to work with people, since you will have to deal with relatives of the deceased. In this case, status means a lot for business - that is, your income will increase or decrease in proportion to how good the reputation of your bureau is. When starting to organize a business, you need to draw up a clear business plan, which must include: searching for suitable premises, purchasing necessary materials, searching for employees, advertising campaign, and calculating the return on business.
What documents are needed
A license for a funeral business is currently not required. But only a form such as LLC is suitable for registration, for which you need to collect a standard package of documents. When registering, you can indicate the main OKVED code 93.03 - “Organization of funerals and provision of related services.” OKVED code 52.48.34 only includes the sale of funeral supplies. You can choose a simplified tax system.
Features of technologies for manufacturing ritual accessories
The simplest thing in the funeral business is the production of coffins. Coffins are made in two types: wooden and metal. For wooden ones, you can simply purchase components and assemble them. The production of metal coffins is a more complex task. To do this, you need a punching press, with the help of which the necessary parts are cut out from individual sheets. Particular attention should be paid to transporting coffins. To avoid damaging the surface, they need to be wrapped in wrapping paper, pre-sealing the corners. The coffin is then placed in plastic packaging and only then in cellophane. You can also make wreaths and monuments. The latest trend in the modern funeral business is a singumator, designed to smoothly lower the coffin into the grave, which is in great demand at funerals with an average price and above.
To organize a funeral quickly, taking into account all the details and paperwork, the easiest way is to contact a funeral agency. There are specialists working there who know exactly the procedure, will offer to organize a funeral dinner, book a place in the cemetery, transport relatives, select a coffin and wreaths, and prepare the body of the deceased. This is precisely the opinion formed by ordinary people who, in grief, turn to professionals for help.
But if you look at the situation from the other side, is it so difficult to organize a funeral business? And how soon can you receive income? If these questions interest you, then you will be interested in reading the business plan for a standard funeral home. The starting investment will be 1,920,000 rubles. It is planned to receive these funds on credit. Full payback of the business is expected within 24 months. Payment of interest on the loan will be made from the first month of operation. Repayment of loan funds will also be paid monthly from the date of opening. During this time, the business will reach a stable level and make a profit.
Possible risks
- When planning the organization of your agency, you should not focus on the economical option. The most budget burial will cost around 6-8 thousand rubles. This amount includes a minimum range of services. Such a plan of action will lead to minimal profits, which will allow paying the salaries of a few employees, rent and will not allow the business to develop in the future.
- When recruiting staff, special attention will need to be paid to mental stability and the ability to communicate with inadequate clients. People who have lost loved ones or relatives behave somewhat unusually and require special attention. If personnel are selected incorrectly or are not trained, there will be staff turnover, which will ultimately have a negative impact on operations.
The business will be able to make a profit if clients are offered additional services, such as the production of monuments, wreaths, coffins, photographs, funeral dinners, etc. If, in the process of work, the bureau can independently provide the full range of these services, then the need to contact there will be no need for competitors. Which will ultimately increase profits.
An interesting discussion of the realities of the funeral business in Russia can be seen in the video:
Pre-opening plan
Preparing for the opening may take one to two months. During this time, it is necessary to resolve financial, organizational and personnel issues.
You need to start with . You can choose a form (simplified taxation system) with an interest rate of 6% of annual profit. By registering with the state registrar, registering with the tax office and reporting your activities to the administration, you can begin your activities. It is worth considering that an LLC, as a legal entity, must have letterheads and seals. Without them, it will be impossible to conclude an agreement with the client.
| № | Event name | Completion time (number of days) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Entry into the state register, registration with the tax and administration | 30 |
| 2. | Getting a loan | 1-30 |
| 3. | Finding suitable premises, concluding a lease agreement | 1-30 |
| 4. | Room design | 40 |
| 5. | Search and training of personnel | 45 |
| 6. | Purchase of equipment and consumables | 30 |
| 7. | Equipment installation | 10 |
| 8. | Conducting a marketing campaign | 20 |
Selecting a location
After registration begins, you should begin searching for a suitable premises. In a city with a population of about 700,000 inhabitants, it is better to look a place near a cemetery or morgue. If this segment is busy, pay attention to the central part of the city. A detached building with an area of at least 200 square meters is suitable. m. In this space it is necessary to equip an office, a showroom, a farewell room for the deceased, and a room for preparing the body.
The premises must comply with sanitary and fire standards, must be equipped with communications and a good ventilation system. The building must be located at a distance of 50 m from residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, etc.
It will be convenient if there is a small parking lot nearby that can accommodate clients’ cars or a hearse.
Financial plan
It is planned that the bureau will provide services for organizing funerals and selling its own products, such as coffins, wreaths and monuments. The average number of services provided per month in a city with a population of 700,000 inhabitants will be within 100 units.
The cost of services provided in the second year of the project will be slightly higher than in the first year. This is due to the promotion of the enterprise, the expansion of the list of services, as well as the natural increase in market prices for consumables.
| Project implementation time | Name of services | Cost (RUB) | Number of services per month | Amount (rub.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result for 2 years: | 35 491 392 | |||
| 1 year | Funeral arrangements | 8000 | 100 | 800 000 |
| Sale of funeral items | 1000 | 100 | 100 000 | |
| Gross income for the year: | 900 000*12=10 800 000 | |||
| Income including taxes (6%) | 10 152 000 | |||
| 2 year | Organization of funerals, provision of hearse services | 10720 | 120 | 1 286 400 |
| Sales of coffins and monuments of our own production | 8000 | 120 | 960 000 | |
| Gross income for the year: | 2 246 400*12=26 956 800 | |||
| Income including taxes (6%) | 25 339 392 | |||
Start-up costs
To start a business, you need an amount of 1,920,000 rubles, which is planned to be spent on purchasing equipment, renting premises and other organizational events:
| Expense item | Quantity | Cost (RUB) |
|---|---|---|
| Total: | 1 920 000 | |
| Rent of premises 200 sq. m. | 1 building | 50 000 |
| Deposit for rent for 1 month. | - | 50 000 |
| Room design | 2 rooms | 400 000 |
| Paperwork | - | 10 000 |
| Purchase of equipment | 10 pcs. | 1 370 000 |
| - | 150 000 | |
| Website development, hosting payment | 1 piece | 50 000 |
| Purchasing a hearse | 1 piece | 313 000 |
| Payment for fuel and lubricants | 200 l | 7000 |
| Other expenses | - | 20 000 |
Fixed expenses
Loan repayments will be made from the first month of operation of the bureau and will be the same for 24 months. The amount of the monthly contribution will be 101,512.51 rubles, for a year 1,218,150.12 rubles will be paid, for two years 2,436,300.24 rubles. The overpayment of interest will be 516,300.16 rubles.
Also, a constant cost item will be the payment of salaries to 10 employees, which with insurance contributions will amount to 390 thousand rubles. per month. In total, fixed expenses for the year will amount to 8,345.35 thousand rubles.
| Expense item | Per month (RUB) | per year (rub.) | for 2 years (rub.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total: | 8 345 350,12 | 16 683 700,24 | |
| Loan payment | 101 512,51 | 1 218 150,12 | 2 436 300,24 |
| Payroll 10 employees | 390 000 | 4 680 000 | 9 360 000 |
| Including insurance contributions on wages | 103 350 | 1 240 200 | 2 480 400 |
| Payment for rent of premises | 50 000 | 600 000 | 1 200 000 |
| Purchasing consumables | 50 000 | 600 000 | 1 200 000 |
| Purchase of fuels and lubricants | 7000 | 7000 | 7000 |
Equipment
It is planned that the bureau will provide the following services:
- organization of burial of the deceased;
- production of wreaths;
- preparing the body of the deceased for burial;
- production of coffins (second year of operation of the bureau);
- provision of hearse services;
- digging a grave and installing a monument;
- organization of musical accompaniment and funeral dinner.
Services such as the funeral dinner and the work of musicians will be paid for according to the contract for the work performed. The production of coffins is planned to be established in the second year of operation, wreaths will be produced from the first year.
1,370,000 rubles will be spent on the purchase of furniture and special equipment.
To produce wreaths, you will need to purchase the following equipment:
- breaking machine;
- winding machine;
- irons;
- scissors, needles, awl.
The list of standard equipment will include office furniture, air conditioners, tables, and bayonet shovels. There are also plans to buy your own hearse. Bus rental will be paid separately and included in the total amount of the order.
To organize a workshop for the production of coffins, you will need to buy carpentry tools and agree on the supply of materials.
If the business expands, it will be necessary to rent another premises to organize a workshop for the production of monuments and tombstones. This option is possible after achieving self-sufficiency and two years of profitable operation of the bureau. Purchasing specialized equipment for making granite and concrete monuments will be quite expensive.
Personnel
Recruitment will be carried out without the involvement of specialists. The staff will include 10 people:
- account Manager;
- lawyer;
- accountant;
- general workers - 4 people;
- driver;
- carpenter;
- turner.
The monthly wage fund will be 390 thousand rubles.
Project Summary
Start-up costs amounted to 1,920,000 rubles and were obtained on a loan at 24% per annum. The loan will be repaid within two years and the total with interest will be 2,436,300.24. The loan repayment is included in fixed monthly expenses, which over two years amounted to 16,683,700.24 rubles. Total 18,603,700.24 rubles will be spent on organizing and running a business over 2 years.
The profit received over two years, taking into account taxes, will be 35,491,392 rubles. Taking into account all expenses net profit for two years will be 16,887,691.76 rubles. This amount will allow us to expand the bureau's fleet of vehicles, as well as purchase new equipment for making monuments.
The topic of death is avoided in conversation, spat over the left shoulder and knocked on wood. And only in the civil registry book does it rightfully occupy its allotted place. Just like that, honestly and without emotion, he was born, married, and died. It’s a rare case when boring statistics speak louder than any words. For example, in Moscow last year, about 11 thousand people were born, four thousand social cells were formed and about 9 thousand deaths were registered. And that’s half the wedding, just the funeral. Let's find out how much they cost nowadays. And how much do those for whom death is work earn?
The question of where to start a funeral business is asked by many. This way of earning money can bring a good and stable income. Such a business will always be in demand and relevant. Even despite the crisis, people are willing to pay a lot of money for a place in a cemetery and a burial ceremony. This problem is especially acute in megacities, where burial costs are very high.
Pros and cons of the funeral business
First of all, of course, I want to note the clear advantages of this field of activity.
Demand for services. The ritual business is a way of earning money that will always be relevant. It’s unfortunate, but all people are mortal, sooner or later we all face the same thing. Relatives always want to properly send the deceased on his last journey. Therefore, there is a need for the existence of agencies that undertake to organize a funeral procession. It is always difficult for us to say goodbye to loved ones, so on this mournful day we want to spend as much time as possible with them, and not fuss and be distracted by organizational issues.
Stable income. Despite the great competition, the ritual business brings quite a lot of profit to entrepreneurs. Therefore, if you are looking for stability, then this field of activity guarantees it for you.
Disadvantages of the funeral business
- Specific work. Agree that the thought of death terrifies many people and makes them involuntarily nervous. Therefore, this business should be built only by people with strong nerves and a clear mind, who are not susceptible to depression and melancholy.
- Competition. In big cities, competition in the funeral business is quite high. Therefore, before opening your own business, analyze the profitability of the business idea and only after that make decisions about organizing a business in the field of funeral services.
- Big investment. This field of activity involves quite large financial investments. Therefore, it will be difficult for newcomers to gain a strong foothold in the market in a short time. You will have to work hard to achieve success and earn a good income.
Funeral services: business plan
Before you start implementing your idea, you must draw up a competent and clear business plan that will help you navigate and properly manage your start-up capital. The business plan should reflect such important points as the profitability of the idea, financial investments, payback periods and business profits.
How to open funeral services?
In order to start a business in the funeral industry, you need to take into account many nuances, prepare and execute the necessary package of documents, rent premises, develop an advertising concept to attract clients, etc.
Renting a place to open a funeral service bureau
The room must be large enough and consist of at least two separate rooms. In one of the rooms it is necessary to equip a reception area for clients and staff. Another room will house a sales area for displaying coffins, wreaths and other related products.
Location. It is best for the office to be located in the city center or in a crowded part of it. The number of clients and, accordingly, profit will depend on the location.
Business registration
In addition to organizational issues, it is also worth considering legal aspects. Before you start your business, you must register as an LLC and register with the tax authorities.Personnel search
You need to take the search for personnel very seriously. Emotionally stable people should work in a funeral agency, because their main responsibilities will be communication with the relatives of the deceased. Demonstration of tact, literacy and attention are the main criteria when communicating with clients. Your employees should be well versed in the range and list of services provided, as well as be familiar with the specifics of organizing a funeral procession.
List of services provided
The funeral home provides many services. You can start providing only the most popular ones or offer your clients a wide range of various additional opportunities.
Popular services of funeral agencies
- Finding a place in the cemetery for burial;
- Grave digging services;
- Sales and delivery of goods for funerals: coffins, wreaths, crosses;
- Orchestra accompaniment;
- Transport services for transporting the deceased and a cortege for mourners.
In addition to basic services, you can offer a number of additional ones. For example, you can make wreaths, crosses, coffins, provide sanitary treatment services, cosmetology, selection of clothes for a deceased person, etc.
The cost of coffins and monuments varies. It all depends on the material and design:
- A coffin upholstered with acetate fabric or chintz usually costs from 1,500–3,000 rubles in funeral stores;
- A domestically produced lacquer coffin will cost from 6,000-30,000 rubles. For fittings from France or Italy you will have to pay an additional 4 thousand rubles;
- Imported coffins made of valuable wood cost from 50,000 rubles and above;
- Of all the ritual purchases, a monument is not the most urgent. It is usually done for two weeks;
- A rectangular marble monument will cost you about 4,000–15,000 rubles;
- Figured cross or carved slab - from 25 thousand rubles;
- Prices for complex sculptural compositions range from 60,000 and above, depending on the complexity of the work.
Farewell to the last journey can be inexpensive, but it must be solemn, even if the hero of the occasion no longer cares. The results of the mournful calculation are as follows: an average funeral in Moscow costs about 60,000 rubles. Thus, we can conclude that the funeral business is a fairly profitable field of activity that will provide you with a stable income and high profits.
One of the types of business that is considered “eternal” is funeral, since people are mortal and will always remain in this sad quality. However, when starting even such a seemingly a priori profitable business, it is necessary to draw up a clear business plan of action. It is based on the fact that the agency involved in organizing the sad rite must wage a fiercely competitive and not always ethical struggle with several other organizations of a similar profile in its city.
Preparatory steps
A funeral home is a very high-cost business. At the same time, the plan for its opening and operation must take into account the possible complete lack of profit in the early stages of development. Therefore, before opening a funeral agency, you need to carefully consider what services, in what quantity and quality you plan to provide, creating the company’s reputation. And to do this, it is necessary to research the local market in order to identify what exactly will be in demand.
The organizer of the funeral home must take into account that the grief-stricken relatives of the deceased will not run around to different companies in search of what they need, which means they need to think through a basic list of services provided. A possible list is presented in the table:
The business plan of a funeral services agency assumes that if the bureau is engaged only in this type of activity, large start-up investments will not be required. However, as it develops, the list of services simply needs to be supplemented with new ones. Ideally, you need to master the independent production of coffins, gravestones, fences and other things. A funeral agency must provide services for dressing and processing the body, so it is advisable to have its own premises for “working” with bodies.
Procedure for opening an office
The business plan for a funeral enterprise includes a description of the required premises. The main requirement is an area of at least 100 square meters. m., so that it is possible to distinguish three departments. In addition to the room for working with customers (30 sq. m.), a trade and exhibition hall (50 sq. m.) and a morgue (20 sq. m.) are required. The business plan of a funeral service bureau states that it is advisable to provide premises for a morgue in a separate building.
The ideal location of the office is near the cemetery. But this place must have good transport accessibility. A successful business plan also takes into account the fact that today most cemeteries are located outside the city. In this case, it is rational to open the main office in the center and a small retail outlet near the cemetery.
When choosing a location for a funeral service agency, it is worth thinking about the organizational and legal form of the enterprise. For such a company, lawyers recommend opening an LLC and interacting with the tax authorities on the basis of the simplified tax system.
Nuances of personnel selection
It is fundamentally wrong to think that the funeral business is “rough” enough to hire qualified personnel. People working in an office should be able not only to help with the choice of a rather specific product, but also to be a kind of psychologists. After all, your clients will be people crushed by recent grief. In a number of large cities of the Russian Federation, schools for funeral agents have begun to open, so it is advisable to hire people who have been trained in such institutions.
In general, the hiring plan should include the following specialists:
Since this matter requires maximum investment of time and effort, the place of director of the funeral agency is taken by the founder of the LLC. In addition to the above-mentioned specialists, there may be a need for the services of others (for example, drivers). But since they will not be in demand every day, it makes sense to establish connections and enter into agreements with third-party specialized enterprises (vehicle fleets, etc.).
Methods of finding clients and working with them
Let’s say right away that most of them are quite expensive. Firstly, this is the conclusion of agreements with ambulance stations and hospitals. Secondly, work with the registry office. You can try placing “regular” notices on hospital information desks or posting “regular” notices near cemeteries. Clients will be referred to you by employees of organizations that record the fact of death. Such a search for clients will save your company from the reputation of an “intrusive office”, and your agents from ethical scruples when they are forced to go door to door on their own and offer citizens to “buy” funeral services.
Of course, good profits can only be obtained if a number of conditions are met, the most important of which is the constant expansion of the range of goods and services offered. It is worth paying attention to such a direction as funeral paraphernalia. Making it yourself is quite expensive, but don’t forget that 70% of your clients will want to buy everything they need for a turnkey funeral in one place. Therefore, if you can provide such services to a client, your profit will increase several times.
High-margin areas of activity
These in the funeral business include the production of coffins and ritual textiles. Both require specialists on staff and are quite expensive. But considering that, in fact, the main funeral attributes are produced, expansion in this direction is quite justified.
A specialist who makes coffins first prepares the base (fastens the planed boards), then decorates the surfaces with red, blue or gold fabric, after which he decorates the product. The cost of a coffin is determined largely by the type of wood, so the owner of a funeral home needs to find reliable suppliers of the required types of wood in advance.
A significant part of the price of a coffin is its decoration with cotton, silk or satin fittings. It makes sense to hire one specialist designer to “finish” the coffins, as well as to make mourning ribbons, wreaths, and flower baskets.
Ritual textiles primarily mean the clothing of the deceased. A specialist involved in this area of the ritual business must know the cultural characteristics and ritual traditions in order to fulfill the will of the relatives of the deceased as clearly as possible.
As noted above, the costs of entering the funeral business are quite high. Together with the registration of an LLC and the payment of authorized capital, they can reach 1 million rubles. When providing a minimum set of services and, accordingly, a small estimated number of clients, the ratio of monthly expenses and income may look like this:
| Expenses | Amount, rub. | Income | Amount, rub. |
| 1. Rent of head office and production premises + utilities | 70000 | 1. Performing funeral services by the organization’s employees | 190000 |
| 2. Salary to the team, including bonuses and contributions to the Pension Fund of Russia | 155000 | 2. Performing funeral services by third-party organizations (mediation) | 75000 |
| 3. Taxes | 26700 | 3. Sale of ritual supplies and accessories | 180000 |
| 4. Equipment purchase | 60000 | ||
| 5. Purchase of materials | 70000 | ||
| 6. Unforeseen expenses | 8000 |
Thus, the net profit will be just over 55 thousand rubles per month. Accordingly, the payback period for the enterprise under the most favorable conditions will be one and a half years. On average, a funeral home pays for itself in 2-3 years.
To summarize, we note that not everyone can start a funeral business. In addition to substantial initial investments and the need to overcome serious competition, it brings with it many ethical and aesthetic issues that not every businessman will be able to respond to adequately. Those who, having calculated their strength, began to act in this area, are guaranteed a good income, provided they invest the maximum of their strength.
Funeral services are always in demand, especially in large populated areas. The funeral business is distinguished not only by stability, but also by a vast field of activity, the ability to start work with relatively small capital and good profitability. However, with a careless approach, entrepreneurs face significant difficulties, so it is important to develop a detailed project implementation plan and take into account what will have to be dealt with in the process of organization and development. The features of the funeral service system and where to start a funeral business are discussed later in the article.
Specifics of the funeral business
Before opening a funeral service bureau, you need to familiarize yourself with the important features of this field of activity. Since in the process of work the organizer will have to deal not only with the deceased, but also with relatives and friends who, for obvious reasons, may be in a state of shock and experience grief, it is necessary to always remember delicacy and not apply pressure.
The most profitable business will be one that includes comprehensive funeral arrangements. In other words, clients contacting a funeral bureau must receive a full range of services, and the company must offer not only the appropriate goods, but also transport for transporting the coffin and body, legal support, organization of the funeral process, burial, wake and other services.
Funeral services are an area in which competition is well developed, therefore, in order to carve out your niche in the business, it makes sense to offer not only standard, but also original services: from making urns of unusual shapes to organizing a ritual burial for pets.
The greatest profits in such a business are made by companies that take care of their reputation in the first place.
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Registration of activities
To get started, you need to register funeral services as a business with the tax service. The suitable legal form for enterprises carrying out such activities is an individual entrepreneur (IP) or a limited liability company (LLC). It is useful to read about.
According to the latest edition of the OKVED classifier, the code suitable for the provision of funeral services is 96.03 - “Organization of funerals and the provision of related services.” It is this that needs to be entered in the column of the registration application intended for the code of the type of main activity of the enterprise (see).
In addition to registering an enterprise and choosing a method of paying taxes, you will need to obtain permits (conclusions on the compliance of working conditions with sanitary and fire safety requirements) from local authorities of Rospotrebnadzor and the fire service. This will be enough to start doing business.
Areas of activity
Among the services that a funeral agency can provide, the most popular are the following:
- comprehensive organization of the funeral process, from preparing the deceased to installing monuments and tombstones;
- selection and design of a burial site;
- earthworks (digging a grave, burying after burial, preparing the soil for installing a fence and monument);
- production or purchase and subsequent sale of goods for organizing funerals. This includes coffins (see), monuments, fences, steles, crosses, wreaths, candles and other products;
- organizing transportation of the deceased and transportation of mourners and relatives to visit churches, cemeteries, and memorial sites;
- preparation of the deceased (make-up, selection of funeral clothes, sanitary treatment and other services).
An important point in organizing a funeral services business is finding clients. It will be necessary to organize a competent advertising campaign so that the emergence of a new company becomes known on the market: both printed media (flyers, banners, leaflets, etc.) and online sources (development of a company website, announcements on relevant forums, maintaining a page) are suitable on social networks). It is advisable that clients be able to familiarize themselves with product samples if the bureau specializes in the production of coffins, monuments, wreaths and other products.
Other ways to find clients: “word of mouth”, in which clients recommend the company’s services to their friends or relatives, and cooperation with representatives of organizations directly related to the support and registration of the deceased (internal affairs officers, morgues).
Funeral service bureau work plan
Organization of the enterprise's work is carried out in several stages. Before you open a funeral business, you should draw up a commercial plan. It is necessary to take into account the size of one-time and subsequent expenses, the amount of work and other factors. The least starting capital will be required if the agency is engaged in the sale of finished products and provision of services: in this case, you will need to take into account the cost of purchased goods. If the bureau itself begins to produce goods for funerals, it will be necessary to calculate the price taking into account the costs of materials, labor, and wear and tear of equipment.
Premises and equipment
The next stage is searching for premises and purchasing equipment. Minimum requirements for the room: area 40-60 square meters, good traffic, preferably the predominance of dark colors in the interior and the absence of unnecessary details. It is optimal if the premises are located in a house with an adjacent free area, where it will be possible to place advertising or several types of goods (for example, wreaths) for greater visibility.
As for equipment, you will need to purchase a basic set: furniture, office equipment, as well as special equipment for the products presented (display cases, stands for coffins, hangers for funeral clothes, mounts for artificial flowers). On average, renting premises costs 50-80 thousand rubles per month in Moscow or 20-40 thousand rubles in the regions, and purchasing equipment will cost 250-400 thousand rubles, depending on whether it is new or used.
Personnel issue
An important stage in organizing work is hiring employees. You should choose people who do not experience fear or prejudice regarding what is associated with death and the dead, who are highly resistant to stress, sensitive and tactful. They will have to deal with grief-stricken relatives and friends. The reputation of the company largely depends on how employees can establish contact with clients.
It is advisable to organize the agency's work in two shifts, since its services may be required at any time, and to hire two salespeople and two secretaries. At first, it is better to take on the functions of an administrator and accountant; in the future, the latter responsibility can be outsourced.
To save money, it is better to hire a cleaner who will come twice a week. It is worth concluding contracts with hearse drivers, orchestra members and other specialized specialists as their services are needed, so as not to overpay for staff positions. Monthly payments to employees amount to 80-150 thousand rubles, depending on the region.
Advertising activities
To achieve success in such a business, as in any other, you need to pay attention to promoting the company and finding clients. You will have to spend from 30 to 100 thousand rubles on advertising in print and electronic form. It is advisable to combine several types of promotion so that the project begins to make a profit faster.
Another way to attract capital is to find a partner. Useful to read. Pros and cons of direct investment, finding a partner and the procedure for completing a transaction.
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