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Many funeral directors will tell you upfront that their job is not easy, and it can be downright difficult. As a funeral director, you will find that each and every day you must deal with many different obstacles. And, of course, each day will bring you a new test because where would all the fun be if each problem was the same. With this ever-changing job role, there are a few mistakes that most funeral directors may be prone to committing. Here is a look at the most common mistakes funeral directors are prone to making.
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Not valuing your time appropriately. As a funeral director, you will come to discover multiple business representatives across your state wanting to schedule meetings with you. They could be interested in selling you office supplies, financial expertise, marketing services, or even the latest and greatest technology available for your funeral home. You must decide who is necessary meet with and how long you should meet with them. It is important to remember that you are not obligated to meet with anyone. If you try to meet with everyone that wants to sell you something, you will discover that there is not enough time left in the day to do any work. This means that you must choose carefully when deciding who to meet and be nice but direct with those you are not interested in meeting.
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Never saying no. One of the main aspects of a funeral director’s job is to support and help the loved ones of the deceased in any way you can. This can make it really hard to say no to their demands even when you find that they are not very practical. You have to remember that you cannot make everyone happy all the time, and you may be bound in what you can do. It is not reasonable to give your services away for free, and there are rules and regulations in place that every funeral home has to obey. You must follow these policies no matter what. They were put in place for a reason, and you will find that there will be times when the only available answer you can give is no. And, unfortunately, you may discover that these times may pop up more than you want them to, but you must be polite and firm with your answer.
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Not maintaining a budget. You can easily find yourself going into debt when you are trying to open your funeral home. There are so many different pieces of equipment that you will need and so much can easily get lost as you are trying to prepare yourself for opening day. You will need to try to limit your spending when starting your business. You should focus only on the necessities and purchase only the equipment and supplies needed to make running your day to day operations easier and more successful. You should limit your expenditures on the things you want and stay focused on buying the items you need to help build your business. Remember you do not have to purchase it all at once. It may be best to start off small and as your business grows so can your spending budget.
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Not making any business connections. You may find that as a funeral director it does matter who you know. In the funeral home industry making those important business connections can help make or break your business. It is important to find the best people to market your business, the premier distributors to provide you with the highest quality and most efficient equipment out there, and even other businesses out there to collaborate with to grow your customer base. These contacts can be a great bonus for any business, and you will discover that they can help you easily and quickly grow your business from the ground up.
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Not letting things go. Sadly, there are some people who can and will find something to be unhappy about. There is nothing you can do to fix this. If you happen to find yourself in an emotional situation dealing with someone like this, you will simply need to let it go. I know this is easier said than done, but you will have to try not to focus on the negativity they are bringing and remain positive for your other clients. I am not saying to ignore or treat your customers as if they do not matter, but you should never let your day get ruined because you could not make please someone who will never be pleased. You must not waste your life trying to appease this type of person. Unfortunately, it would never work, so you must let it go and move on.
Some mistakes are unavoidable, but there are others that we can avoid simply by knowing what to look out for. However, if we do happen to make a mistake, there is no need to overly stress about it. It can be a great teaching moment if we can properly deal with it. Please do not allow yourself to dwell on any of these mistakes. Instead, try to grow and learn from them. If you are looking forward to becoming a funeral director or opening your own funeral home, maybe our list above can help you avoid making a few mistakes of your own.