Match the Design to the Market
- Will you be providing services directly to families, working through area funeral homes, or both?
- Will you be offering witness cremation services with families present?
- How many monthly or annual cremations do you anticipate to start out?
- How do you see your business growing over the next 3-5 years?
- Do you want to consider expansion into pet cremation as well as human services?
Plan for Growth
In surveys with crematory owners, the number one regret they express is not allowing enough capacity for growth. As cremation rates continue to rise worldwide, cremation businesses need room to grow in every part of the operation. One way to do this is by installing a cremator with enough capacity to handle that growth. Another approach is to design your facility so it will be easy to add a second cremator - leaving room for that new machine as well as a simple way to get it into the building.
Another key feature to plan is refrigerated storage. Depending on the time to process cremation permits or other legal requirements in your community, you may need storage for 5-10 days of cremation cases. If you will be providing "trade" cremation services to other businesses you may want even more. Having enough cooler space is critical to making your operation run smoothly and efficiently.
