SAIF Golden Charter

The key to success

Nicholas O’Hara Funeral Directors Ltd is a family firm dedicated to providing a first-class and personal service for every funeral. Here, Nicholas O’Hara reveals it is not just about serving the final needs of the deceased, it’s also about supporting bereaved families through their grief and providing them with help, guidance and care at the time they most need it.

Being an independent funeral director is hugely satisfying. Do it well and you can build a thriving business while being appreciated and respected by the local community.

Of course, there are also challenges, and one of those is starting up from scratch. You have to build your reputation alongside other well established competitors, often with a long history of service. It can be tough at the beginning, and you really have to believe in yourself.

Nicholas O’Hara is a leading industry figure who knows all about the importance of dedication and commitment when it comes to launching a funeral business. “When I started back in 1974, it was very difficult,” he recalls. “I had a lot of opposition from others and some people did try to stop me.

“However, we kept going. We did seven funerals in the first month, but only 11 for the whole first year. We couldn’t have survived on that number, but I was also able to use my skills providing a local service as an embalmer. I was doing 1,600 embalmings a year, sometimes starting at 4am and not getting home until 1am the following day.”

It was a gruelling programme, but ultimately worth it. Nicholas O’Hara Funeral Directors Limited is now one of the biggest businesses of its type in East Dorset, with a head office in Wimborne and other funeral homes in Verwood and West Moors.

It has won a large number of awards, including Golden Charter Regional Funeral Planners of The Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, as well as Blackmore Media Family Business of the Year 2012 and Blackmore Media Excellence in Customer Service in 2015.

“In the fifth year of operation our business doubled,” Nicholas adds. “Then growth levelled out again, but after 10 years we hit 100 funerals annually. I didn’t have a single day off in the first decade. Now we conduct about 600 funerals a year.”

Nicholas’ wife Jackie, son Anthony, daughter Natalie and granddaughter Shannon, now a trainee embalmer, are also involved in the business. There are 26 staff in total and two full sets of vehicles – the fleet is all silver and built in Italy. “We changed from black about 30 years ago and it was one of the best things we ever did. There are families who don’t really want a black car, and it gives us our own identity. We’ve had lots of positive comments about the vehicles.”

Nicholas is a big supporter of the IFD College, and the business offers both SAIFSupport and SAIF Care. He is a big fan of both these products. “The SAIFSupport scheme, which helps funeral directors through a free counselling service, is brilliant,” says Nicholas.

“SAIF Care, which provides help for bereaved families who need emotional support, has been really well received by clients who find they just have to pick the phone up if they need any help.

“We explain to them exactly what the package is about, and the fact that things are organised for them is very helpful. It’s a service we can add for them and they do feel we are giving them something.”

He admits to originally being sceptical about pre-paid funeral plans, but says he is now a convert. “I felt it was something that had come out of the USA and should stay in the USA. But they have become incredibly popular and we have thousands of people signed up for them now, so they’re very important to us.

“We use the Golden Charter programme and it’s excellent. One of the great advantages of pre-paid plans is that they can take the burden of having to make decisions away from the family, and it means that those who are covered can make their wishes known in advance.”

Like many other independent funeral directors, Nicholas sees a digital presence as being important for the business. “Our website has been very successful – there is a lot of information on there and it means that if, for instance, a relative is dying, then their families can look up what they need to do in advance.

“It’s a big change from the past, and it does also bring in business. We’ve had clients who have come to us because they have read our website and found it helpful. It makes them feel confident about the services we offer.”

After nearly 45 years in the business, Nicholas is well qualified to know the key to success and the service clients are looking for at what is always going to be an emotional and difficult time in their lives.

Winning trust, he says, is critical. “You have to keep the quality of your offering high and to give people the best possible service. That should absolutely be built in. It’s all about keeping standards up.

“The big national companies have investors to consider and so they may not place quite as much emphasis on that as we do. We have staff who have worked for the bigger companies in the past and they do tell us how different it is here. Because we are smaller and more nimble, we are able to do things more quickly.”

Feedback from employees is encouraged, with a group meeting held first thing every morning to talk about funerals booked in for that day and what is needed. “You also need to stay informed about the industry – I go to a lot of exhibitions around Europe to make sure we do that.

“You have to better yourself every day. Dedication is also hugely important. Of course, when I started back in 1974 I was on my own, but I’ve found that you really can’t have too many staff working for you.

“There’s perhaps an argument that we have more employees than we strictly need, but we really are committed to delivering the best possible service and I want the right number of people to allow us to do that.

“You also have to recognise that it is a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation. There are some companies that try to do it cheaply, but that’s not the right approach – you have to set your standard out. We’re not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either.

“We’ve had hundreds of clients contacting us and thanking us for serving them. At the end of the day, that kind of satisfaction is what being in the funeral industry is all about.”