Is funeral care 'making money from misery'? - Sarah Jones, Full Circle Funerals

Leeds Business Podcast

This week we speak to Sarah Jones, Founder of Full Circle Funerals.

Sarah tells us all about the growth and the amazing sale of her first business, the post-sale emotions after you’ve sold, the launch, only 9 months later, of her second business and why she picked funeral industry. Plus, she tells us what it’s like to work with a brother. Could you work with YOUR sibling?

There's also a great ‘how to’ on selecting your next business coach or mentor.

INTRODUCING SARAH JONES

Sarah Jones started her career as a medic and then owner and managed residential care home services for adults with learning difficulties and challenging behaviour.

In 2016, she established Full Circle Funerals – a modern funeral directors informed by health and social care principles and focussed on making a challenging time easier. Full Circle Funerals has won several industry awards and was the first UK funeral director to become a certified B Corp. Sarah published her number one best-selling funeral arranging guide “Funerals Your Way” in 2019.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:00:00] The switch from medic to business owner

[00:03:30] Growing the adult residential care business

[00:04:30] The benefits of working with a sibling

[00:06:30] The commercial side of adult supported living

[00:09:00] Exiting the business

[00:16:00] What it’s like emotionally, post-sale

[00:20:00] Why chose funeral care? And the other options…

[00:25:00] Launching a funeral care business

[00:35:00] Franchising as a solution to reduce barriers to entry

[00:42:00] The differences launching a second business

[00:47:00] How to get the right type of support as a business owner

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• The funeral industry has no real regulation

• It is very difficult to articulate what 'good' is in funeral care

• Franchising in funeral care is unusual

3 BEST MOMENTS

“We either needed to go national, or stop”

“I did some volunteering but I wasn’t very good at it”

“I did two MBAs whilst I was growing the business”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Website: https://fullcirclefunerals.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jones-fullcirclefunerals/

Shout out tags: https://www.candidhr.co.uk/ https://www.mlaperformance.co.uk/

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https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/david-richmond/

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.

As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.

As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.

Phil has appeared as a guest on over 60 podcasts, webinars and interviews, from around the whole globe, talking on a variety of business subjects. You can view them all at https://philfraser.co.uk/watch-hear-phil/.

LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST

Leeds, Leeds Business, Business in Leeds, Nous of Fraser, Business Sounding Board, Business Coach, Business Mentor,

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