Starting a Headstone business

James12278

Hello I started a headstone business last October I offer new headstones and restoring older graves and adding inscriptions I bought all the equipment I needed to start off I have experience in this business as I worked for a headstone business before and they are doing very well and are really busy I have advertised my new business online and on the newspaper but I’m not getting enough work it’s been really slow I really need to make this work any advice on how to advertise better and how to get my name out to customers im definitely offering the best prices around and still leaving enough profit for my self.to be honest I’ve had no work for the last 2 weeks but got some good work yesterday so I now have two jobs ahead of me and after that it’ll probably be sitting for days without work. I am really desperate to get this business to work any advice really appreciated. Thanks in advance James.

pedroeibar1

You need to add more to your product/services. Do you travel? What calls have you made to funeral directors? What other stonework can you do? e.g. nameplates, plaques, etc. There was a huge growth in the use of travertine flooring in the Tiger years - much of that is now showing its age - can you develop a polishing business as a sideline?

claff1978

Hi james what part of the country are you in hows business going now takes a while to get established majority of your work will be from word of mouth

looksee

Do you put your name on the edge of headstones that you install?

Are you offering anything any way different to the stuff currently available? Just carving the same stuff onto Chinese imported headstones that everyone else is doing may not be enough.

What is your approach to customers? People mostly need to be led by the hand in terms of what they want - very few want to step outside 'what everyone does'. So you need to be sympathetic, interested, offer suggestions. But if someone comes in looking for something a bit different you have to run with that too.

Use this time to create samples, both traditional and a bit original. Have samples of panels that could be inserted into a wall to show a house name, stones that do not look like headstones to give such as estate names or business names.

Know, so you can advise, all the rules and regulations of all the cemeteries in the area. Do any of them have scope for engraved panels for urns of ashes?

Contact local undertakers at least with cards. Many cemeteries have those concrete strips for headstones now, so there is no need for the traditional wait for the grave to 'settle' before thinking about headstones. Its very cynical but this is the time to 'get' people. And emphasise to them how you are offering a service that means they don't have to worry about it, you will make all the arrangements for the headstone to be erected.

Maybe you have all this thought of, but no harm in mentioning it.

Finally, don't take this wrong, but your post is not much more than one sentence with dodgy punctuation. You must ensure that any advertising - and of course headstones - you do demonstrate good English and grammar. A single grammatical mistake would be enough to put someone off if they felt that headstones might have similar mistakes.

OU812

You’re mad gettingninto that business. It’s a dying trade...


Seriously though. You need to expand your offerings and also build your funeral director network.

Maybe offering them a profit share initially to help you build your business?

antoinolachtnai

This is all about your relationships with funeral directors, cemetery managers and the like. Everyone knows one another in this business. It's not really about the price (as you are probably discovering.)

My advice would be to get down to graveyards where you have done work previously and ask them if there is anything that needs doing. Your work will either speak for itself or it won't.

I was in one graveyard last week (one which manages the stonework directly itself) and the typography on the new stones was kinda bockety if you ask me. There must be opportunities out there for a high quality service.

Mrs OBumble

OU812 wrote: »

You’re mad gettingninto that business. It’s a dying trade...

With an aging population its a growth industry! And with more cremations its changing too ...