A Grave Matter

Abstract

Most small southern towns are home to at least one Funeral Home, and historically, many of them are family-owned. The Parish Funeral Home is the story of a family that has been a part of the community and served their funeral needs for over fifty years. Like many family-owned businesses, they have succeeded through hard work in an industry that is being taken over by large corporate entities able to maximize their profits by charging higher prices while also minimizing expenses through volume buying. This is a modern-day “David and Goliath” situation where the very survival of the family funeral home business is at stake.
Parish Funeral Home presents an opportunity to evaluate the continuous and demanding challenges of sustaining a family business where the industry is mature and the competition is able to gobble up small businesses. Students will address the challenges of managing and sustaining a business in an industry that most people don’t want to discuss – the death-care industry. Through research about the industry and the major players, students will offer suggestions about survival of the smaller companies in the face of ever-increasing regulations, decreasing margins, increasing competition from alternatives such as cremation, and the aging of America.