Selling a Cremation Business For Millions | Kevin Waterston (Cremation Society of Minnesota) #29

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build a dominant cremation brand before cremation was mainstream, this episode of The Direct Cremation Podcast delivers a masterclass.

Tyler Yamasaki and Will DeMichelis sit down with Kevin Waterson, founder of Cremation Society of Minnesota, past president of CANA, and one of the earliest operators to scale direct cremation into a multi-location powerhouse. At the time of sale, his organization handled roughly 5,500 calls per year.

Today, cremation dominates many markets. Back when Kevin started, cremation hovered around 6%.

That difference changes everything.

Starting With Your Back Against the Wall

Kevin didn’t launch a cremation brand from comfort. He and his brother operated a small traditional funeral home in Minneapolis in the late 1970s. They saw direct cremation growing on the West Coast and East Coast and knew they needed to pivot.

Instead of guessing, Kevin traveled.

He visited Telophase Society in California. He studied Neptune Society. He met leaders in Florida. He dissected how they structured memberships, marketing, pricing, and operations.

Then he returned home and built a simplified, scalable model:

A single-page registration form
A tri-fold brochure
A small newspaper ad
A low registration fee
A clear direct cremation offering

The snowball started rolling.

This wasn’t just marketing. It was positioning. Kevin built brand recognition before most competitors believed cremation was viable.

The Discipline That Built a Market Leader

One of the most powerful insights from this episode isn’t flashy. It’s financial discipline.

Kevin describes learning from a car dealership invoice that included a line item: marketing cost built into every vehicle sold. He applied the same principle to cremation.

For every call, he allocated a fixed amount toward marketing the next call.

That formula scaled:

Consistent advertising
Radio and television presence
Newspaper inserts
State fair booths
Brand repetition

In one later year, the organization spent over $1 million in advertising.

Not randomly. Not reactively.

Systematically.

That approach created name recognition that insulated the business long term. When families needed online cremations, cremation arrangements, or simple services, they already knew the name.

That is brand moat in action.

Building Facilities That Matched the Brand

While many cremation providers operated invisibly, Kevin invested in physical space.

Large, welcoming buildings.

Memorial service space.

Reception areas.

Families stepped through the doors. They attended services. They associated cremation with professionalism and dignity.

That experience reinforced marketing efforts.

Today, whether you operate through a physical facility or a cremation website powered by funeral arrangement software, the principle remains the same: the experience must match the brand promise.

Selling at the Right Time

Eventually, Cremation Society of Minnesota sold to Foundation Partners Group. At the time, the company handled thousands of cases annually across multiple states.

Kevin emphasizes something many owners overlook:

Sell while you’re growing, not while you’re declining.

The business had clean financials, strong preneed reserves, and clear upward momentum. That positioning drove premium valuation.

For funeral home owners thinking about long-term strategy, this matters. Growth, operational clarity, and documented systems increase enterprise value far more than last-minute cleanup.

What Kevin Thinks Death Care Looks Like in 10 Years

Unlike some futurists predicting a fully virtual industry, Kevin sees steady evolution.

Continued growth in cremation
Fewer traditional church services
More celebration-of-life events in non-traditional venues
Delayed services to accommodate travel
Increased need for operational efficiency

Technology will expand. Online funeral arrangements will grow. More families will expect digital simplicity.

But he does not believe services disappear.

Memorialization remains essential.

This insight aligns with what many funeral tech leaders are seeing. The best funeral home software, cremation software, and funeral management systems don’t replace service. They streamline it.

Whether you’re implementing funeral home management software, a funeral director app, mortuary software, or upgrading your crematory software, the goal stays constant: deliver clarity, speed, and professionalism.

Continuous Learning Is the Real Competitive Advantage

One of the most refreshing parts of this conversation comes near the end. Kevin still attends conventions.

Still reads industry publications.

Still watches webinars.

Still studies competitors.

Still looks for new business models, including crematory leasing opportunities.

He points out something many overlook: There are more tools available today than ever before.

Webinars. Books. Industry data. Software. Funeral website marketing insights. Online cremation services playbooks. Business case studies.

The operators who use those tools win. The ones who ignore them fall behind.

Key Takeaways for Funeral Professionals

If you run a funeral home, cremation brand, or are exploring innovative funeral home ideas, here are the clear lessons from Kevin’s journey:

Study other markets before you launch.
Allocate fixed dollars from every case toward future marketing.
Build name recognition consistently.
Price realistically and avoid racing to the bottom.
Invest in systems and staff quality.
Sell when momentum is strong, not when growth stalls.
Never stop learning.

Whether you’re scaling with funeral planning software, optimizing your cremation website, or building a regional brand, the fundamentals remain surprisingly simple:

Be disciplined. Be visible. Be consistent.

Kevin built a 5,500-call operation before cremation was mainstream. Today, cremation exceeds 70% nationally and continues rising.

The opportunity is still there.

The question is whether operators will apply the same discipline, branding focus, and willingness to adapt that built one of the largest cremation societies in the country.

If you’re serious about growth in funeral tech, online cremation services, or scaling a funeral service software-enabled operation, this episode is required listening.

Dive deep here: https://youtu.be/8MUkIAawRlk