Crematorium business plan: equipment and expenses

• October 30, 2018
• Business plans
• Denis Dmitriev

The funeral business is an extremely developed and competitive segment of the Russian market, where new players usually have little chance of successfully supporting newly opened businesses. Nevertheless, one of the areas in this area is still underdeveloped in the country - the cremation of deceased people. The relevance of drawing up a business plan for a crematorium is currently caused by a noticeable increase in demand for such services among the population.

Business relevance

According to 2020 data, there are only 27 crematoria in Russia, and only 4 of them are privately owned. As a result, on average in the country no more than 10% of funerals are accompanied by cremation, however, in cities where there are such institutions, the proportion of citizens who prefer fire burial reaches 50–60%. First of all, the growth of its popularity is due to significant savings: the cost of the procedure, even taking into account additional services, is one and a half to two times lower than the traditional one.

In addition, cemeteries in large cities fill up very quickly and already reach an area of ​​several hectares. Even decades after the closure, these territories cannot be used for any other purposes, as a result of which the authorities are in no hurry to allocate new sites for burials. However, the problem does not go away on its own, as people die every day.

Having figured out how to open a crematorium in Russia, we can offer citizens the most economical and accessible method of funeral. It is not only safe for the environment, but in comparison with a traditional burial it is much less tragic for the mental state of the family of the deceased - after all, covering a loved one with earth is extremely difficult.

Practice shows that this institution will be relevant in settlements with a population of more than half a million people. Is it worth thinking about how to open a crematorium in a small town? Of course, with the help of intensive advertising it is possible to achieve an acceptable number of orders here, but the entrepreneur will have to fight day after day with traditions, the influence of which is extremely strong in the provinces.

In general, creating a crematorium can be quite a profitable business. In addition to high profitability, it is characterized by a number of other advantages:

• Unfortunately, the crematorium will not be left without customers. Such a service will be especially in demand among citizens with low incomes;
• Crematorium as a business idea is characterized by a complete absence of direct competition. Such establishments are not even available in all regional centers;
• Investments in the enterprise are huge, but they pay off quite quickly. Practice shows that the first real profit can be obtained within 4–5 years;
• Creating this profitable business during the crisis in 2021 does not require finding employees with unique professions. Anyone can work in a crematorium;
• The range of services of an enterprise can be very wide. Some crematoriums even offer to scatter ashes in space for a very immodest fee.

As for the disadvantages, it is the stereotypes of the population that create most of the problems and prevent them from opening a business: a crematorium for people causes rejection among many adherents of traditional religions. There are other difficulties in this matter:

• It is almost impossible to rent a building for a crematorium. You will have to do construction, which entails huge expenses and a lot of worries;
• The idea requires a lot of approval. None of the officials really knows how to open a private crematorium, so bureaucratic obstacles cannot be avoided;
• There is no necessary equipment on the Russian market. You need to buy it in the USA or Europe, and then solve problems with delivery and customs clearance.

Choosing a cremation oven

For such a business, two-chamber furnaces for special purposes are usually chosen. The presence of the second compartment is due to environmental reasons. In the first, larger chamber, the body of the deceased is directly burned, and in the second, various combustion products such as harmful impurities and smoke-forming particles are released. Thanks to this, the chimneys release only clean heated air without the smell of burning and traces of smoke.

Suitable stoves are also produced by a domestic manufacturer, whose products will cost slightly less than their counterparts from the USA, Germany and the Czech Republic. For crematoria, there is a special oven GPK-01 in the list of products of St. Petersburg. Feedback from entrepreneurs suggests that this equipment has successfully passed the test of time in this business. If you need to figure out how to open a private crematorium and at the same time purchase cheaper, high-quality equipment, it will not be easy to find the best option.

Basic crematorium services

The main function of the establishment is to burn the remains of the dead and pack them in ritual urns. But a business plan for a crematorium for people may also provide for the provision of a number of additional services, including the full organization of a funeral or assistance in paperwork. Thus, clients can order both a simple and an extended package, including providing musical accompaniment or a military salute. Average prices in Russia look like this:

List of crematorium services

Optional equipment

This category includes a number of devices and items of secondary importance, but without them the functioning of the enterprise can be very difficult or impossible.

The list includes the following equipment:

• ash trays made of aluminum and stainless steel;
• plastic or cardboard containers for temporary storage of ashes;
• signs for attaching to temporary containers or trash cans;
• brushes for cleaning furnaces from remaining ashes;
• hand magnets for removing metal from ashes.

Additionally, this expense category in the crematorium business plan accounts for the remaining items required for the regular maintenance of all major components of the cremation hall.

Types of crematoria

Having decided what services the establishment will provide, the entrepreneur will be able to find out how much it costs to open a crematorium. If the cemetery is located next door, it is not at all necessary to build your own columbarium, and if there are ritual halls in the city, there is no point in building them on your own territory. Based on the level of service, three types of institutions can be distinguished:

• Full service crematorium. Combines the functions of a funeral home, funeral goods store and columbarium. Citizens receive all funeral-related services - from transporting bodies to renting a cafe for funerals and installing monuments;
• Short cycle crematorium. As a rule, it is limited only to the preparation of bodies, holding ceremonies and burying the remains in its own columbarium or on the territory of the city cemetery;
• Cremation block. It deals only with the cremation of bodies that are delivered after the farewell ceremony in some other room. The remains are issued here or delivered to a certain place.

Selecting a room

For the construction of a crematorium, a place outside the city, away from residential buildings, is suitable. It is important to have ready-made communications or the possibility of carrying them out: gas supply, water supply, electricity and sewerage.

Typically, crematoria are one-story buildings that include a farewell hall, a cremation room and a columbarium.

Also provide space for administrative and utility rooms, a lobby and a first-aid post. Don't forget about the parking space.

The cost of land depends on a number of factors; at a minimum, budget 1,000,000 rubles for it. Costs for a crematorium from design to implementation start from 3,000,000 rubles.

Crematorium operating procedures

Despite the simplicity of the cremation process, each action with the body of the deceased requires compliance with many instructions and rules.
Therefore, in the process of servicing clients, crematorium employees adhere to clear regulations: To provide the service, a relative or person responsible for the funeral must enter into an agreement with the crematorium and provide copies of documents such as:

1. Death certificate;
2. If available, the deceased’s permission for cremation;
3. Own ID;
4. The body is brought from the morgue at the appointed time. The service of storing it in the crematorium refrigerator until a certain date is also available;
5. For cremation, the body is placed in a combustible coffin made of wood, wicker, or bamboo. It should not contain synthetic substances and polymer glue;
6. You can take a cardboard box that fits into a beautiful decorative coffin. The insert is burned, and the case is reused after processing;
7. If necessary, a crematorium worker helps relatives choose ritual goods, wreaths, funeral accessories, urns, ribbons;
8. In preparation for the ceremony, the body is washed and disinfected, embalmed, signs of decomposition are removed, and cosmetics are applied;
9. If relatives do not have clothes for the deceased, the crematorium provides a special disposable suit and shoes for the funeral;
10. The coffin, wreaths and other attributes are installed in the ritual hall. Guests are brought here to say goodbye, say their last words and have a funeral service according to tradition;
11. 1–1.5 hours are allocated for goodbyes. The coffin is then covered and transported on a cart to the cremation preparation area;
12. To prevent mixing of ashes, each body is assigned a number, a steel fireproof plate with which is placed on the lid of the coffin;
13. Before starting the procedure, the operator makes an appropriate entry in the cremation book, bound and sealed in the prescribed manner;
14. If such an opportunity is provided, relatives are invited to a room with heat-resistant armored glass to observe the cremation;
15. After burning, the ashes are sealed in an urn with a registration number. An appropriate entry is made in the release book, and the remains are returned to relatives.

Within the framework of the law, the relatives of the deceased can dispose of the ashes at their discretion. For example, it is allowed:

• Burial of the urn in a separate or related grave;
• Contacting the crematorium to divide the ashes into parts among relatives;
• Installation of an urn in a columbarium niche in a cemetery or crematorium;
• Scattering of ashes in specially designated places.

If necessary, the crematorium stores the urn for a year. For the first 30 days, a nominal fee is charged for the service, and then a full fee. If no one applies for the remains within a year, the crematorium has the right to bury them in a common grave without an urn. In the future, ashes cannot be removed from it.

Animal cremation process

Animal cremation is a fairly simple procedure. However, the employee responsible for it must undergo special training and, if possible, be sensitive and show respect for the remains of the pet. There are 2 types of cremation: individual and general. The individual one assumes that the body of only one pet will be in the chamber, and its owners will then receive the ashes. Costs more. During general cremation, the bodies of several animals are placed in the oven at once, but the ashes are not released. It costs less.

Corpses burn at temperatures above 700 degrees, but equipment capable of creating temperatures above 1000 degrees is considered preferable. In such conditions, all bacteria and infections burn out, and the remains become completely safe. Ashes after cremation pose no threat and can be kept at home or buried in the ground.

Cremation technology

First of all, an entrepreneur must understand how a crematorium works: opening a business without a detailed study of the technology simply will not work. Today it looks completely different than it did a hundred years ago: modern stoves running on gas, diesel fuel or electricity make maximum use of combustion energy and practically do not smoke.

The oven consists of two chambers: in the first, the remains are cremated in a stream of air with a temperature of 760–1150 ° C, and in the second, organic particles are burned and the smoke is purified from impurities. Therefore, the emissions from the crematorium have neither color nor smell. The design of the furnace allows only one body to be placed in it.

The procedure looks like this:

1. When the coffin arrives from the ritual hall, the metal and glass parts are removed. The body is also freed from watches, jewelry, pacemakers;
2. The combustion chamber is heated to operating temperature. If the crematorium operates all day, heating is carried out once at the beginning of the shift;
3. The operator, wearing protective clothing, quickly places the coffin from the transport cart into the oven and closes the loading hatch;
4. The duration of cremation is determined by the weight and condition of the body. Usually it reaches 70–220 minutes. The operator controls the process through a special window;
5. After a set period of time has elapsed or at the operator’s command from the control panel, the procedure stops;
6. After cremation of a standard body, the volume of ashes is 2–3 liters. The remains are white or gray in color and must not contain bone fragments or organic matter;
7. Using steel scrapers, the ashes are removed from the furnace and placed on a tray. Next, metal parts, crowns, and dentures are removed from it using a hand magnet;
8. After cooling the remains, the master manually removes from them the remaining fragments that are not affected by the magnet - glass, buttons, implants;
9. The cleaned ash is loaded into a grinding device - a cremulator. During processing, it is ground into powder with a fraction of no more than 2.5–3 mm;
10. The master pours the remains into a special bag, which is placed in an urn made of metal, plastic, ceramics or wood;
11. To avoid mixing the remains of different people, the oven is thoroughly cleaned with special brushes before loading the next body.

Business Features

Since the funeral business generates a solid income, there is huge competition in this field. Nevertheless, most of the funeral services are engaged in organizing traditional burial rites.

Cremation is the most economical and environmentally friendly burial option. Every year the demand for this service is growing, more and more people want to be cremated after they pass away. In addition, the use of this procedure on deceased pets has become more frequent. Abroad, cremation has become widespread. For example, in the USA there are approximately 1.5 thousand crematoria, and in the UK there are about 400 such institutions.

In Russia today there are just over 20 crematoria, mostly all of them owned by the state. In the country as a whole, the share of cremation does not exceed 10%, but in cities with built crematoriums it reaches 70%. This service is becoming widespread in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Norilsk.

A crematorium is a building intended for the procedure of burning the dead. Coffins for cremation are made exclusively from materials that are easily flammable. When burned, the temperature in the oven varies from 860 to 1080 ° C, under its influence the bones and tissues of the corpse crumble into tiny fragments. The duration of this process depends on the performance of the cremation equipment. Typically, it takes 1.5 to 2 hours to cremate an adult with an average build.

The cooled remains are placed in a special container for thorough grinding, and upon completion of this process - in an urn made of wood, bronze or ceramics. Crematorium staff hand over the ashes to relatives, who bury them in the ground or columbarium, or choose to scatter them. Thus, cremation is a civilized method of burial and is considered the norm in large cities.

Where to build a crematorium?

Creating a business starts with finding a suitable location. First of all, you will have to contact the city administration, which will review the application and tell you whether it is possible to open a crematorium in a particular location. If an entrepreneur has any territory in mind, he should get advice from the Department of Architecture about putting it up for auction.

There are a number of requirements for the location of the site:

• To build a crematorium, it is advisable to consider areas near large cemeteries. They must be new, since they do not carry out burials on old ones;
• A columbarium in the form of a building is located both in the cemetery and in a separate area. If it is a wall, then it can only be installed in a cemetery;
• A crematorium cannot be built near places of centralized water intake, in forest areas and in protected areas near water bodies;
• The dimensions of the sanitary zone of the crematorium must be at least 1000 meters. A green area is being arranged around the main building and the columbarium;
• The protective zone is designed in such a way as to exclude the visibility of the crematorium and processions from residential buildings, children's and medical institutions;
• The distance of the institution to a public transport stop and parking for visitors should not exceed 150 meters;
• It is prohibited to locate crematoria in close proximity to sources of noise and objects that emit unpleasant odors (farms, wastewater treatment plants);
• The territory of the institution and burial sites should not be adjacent to roads and railways with heavy traffic;
• It is necessary to arrange separate routes for the delivery of bodies from the morgue and for funeral participants to visit the establishment. They must not cross tram tracks;
• When choosing a site, you need to take into account the remoteness of connection points to power lines, water supply and sewerage, gas supply and communication channels.

The cost of building a crematorium, included in the initial costs of a business, is calculated taking into account fire safety standards, which require the construction of the main building from brick or concrete. However, areas for administration and clients can be made of lightweight steel structures, which will reduce overall costs.

Where can you open a crematorium?

Running such a business would not make sense in a city where the population does not exceed 800 thousand people, since the costs will not be recouped. It is best to provide this type of service to an entire region, but only in regions with a large population. In this case, it is necessary to wisely choose the location for the construction of the crematorium so that it is convenient for each locality.

In cities where the population is below 800 thousand people, such a business can be organized only if there is no competition, which includes funeral homes and companies providing funeral services.

The place where the crematorium will be located must meet regulatory requirements and be located outside the city, on the territory agreed with the municipal authorities. In some cases, the opening of this establishment is permissible within the city, but at a distance of three kilometers from residential areas.

Requirements for the crematorium building

Typically, a crematorium has the appearance of a one-story building, although according to the norms it is allowed to place technological zones on the ground floors. Taking into account the arrangement of two halls for ritual ceremonies, the total area of ​​the building will be about 450 m². The crematorium business plan should provide for the allocation of the following premises:

• Hall for visitors - 60 m²;
• Ritual halls - 2 x 80 m²;
• Refrigeration chamber for bodies - 20 m²;
• Cremation chamber - 40 m² per oven;
• Medical care room - 15 m²;
• Administration office - 20 m²;
• Operators rest room - 20 m²;
• Employee bathroom with shower - 4 m²;
• Bathroom for visitors - 2 m²;
• Room for preparing bodies - 20 m²;
• Ash processing room - 20 m²;
• Storage room for bins - 20 m²;
• Repair workshop - 20 m²;
• Pantry for cleaning equipment - 10 m²;
• Trolley washing room - 10 m².

Working with remains and burning bodies is harmful to establishment workers and visitors, and therefore sanitary and fire standards contain a whole set of regulations on how to open a crematorium in Russia for people. In particular:

• Entrance areas and ritual halls are planned in such a way as to completely exclude any visual contact between participants in different processions;
• For the safety of large groups of citizens, floors in all visitor rooms are located on the same level, thereby eliminating steps and thresholds;
• A first aid room is set up at the crematorium, where a qualified health worker can take care of overly impressionable funeral participants;
• The ceiling height in ritual halls is at least 4.2 meters. In a cremation chamber, the permissible minimum is 3.6 meters;
• A ventilated vestibule with a length of at least 4 m and a width of at least 2.4 m is installed between the ritual halls and the cremation chamber;
• A vestibule of a similar design is installed between the room for relatives and the room for sanitary treatment of bodies;
• All office premises are soundproofed to prevent harmful effects on the health and psyche of visitors;
• The crematorium building is equipped with water supply and sewerage systems. Effluents from body preparation rooms and refrigerators are subject to mandatory cleaning;
• For heating, the crematorium is connected to a centralized network or supplied with its own boiler room. The temperature in the premises should not be lower than 18°C;
• The building is equipped with forced ventilation. Air from office premises should not be mixed with air from visitor rooms;
• To supply the furnaces with gas, the crematorium is connected to a central gas pipeline. If this is not possible, use stoves powered by electricity or diesel fuel;
• In refrigerators, rooms for preparing bodies and processing ashes, all surfaces are made of materials resistant to wet processing;
• For finishing ritual halls and cremation chambers, only fireproof tiles or panels are used. The premises are equipped with fire extinguishers;
• The cremation chamber is equipped with gas analyzers and is separated from other premises by walls of fire resistance category “G”;
• Fire detectors, emergency lighting and illuminated exit signs are installed in all rooms, except for the refrigerator and bathrooms;
• Premises for storing and preparing bodies protect against the entry of predatory animals, insects and rodents.

Workwear for staff

To maintain and carry out the basic operations of the enterprise, of course, you will need to hire employees. We must not forget what is needed to open a crematorium and ensure its stable operation - providing staff with everything necessary to be in the cremation hall and comply with safety regulations.

All employees will need custom-made workwear. This kit should include a mask, respirator, safety glasses, aprons, gloves and work gowns. The staff will also need special uniforms to protect them from dust and dirt generated during the cremation process.

The uniform usually consists of thick cotton fabric, a hood for the head and stockings for shoes. Special aprons, in turn, protect employees from burns when cleaning stoves and removing ashes. Aluminum inserts on clothing allow you to carry out such routine operations without fear.

Crematorium equipment

Equipment for a crematorium is extremely expensive: for example, for just one oven you will have to pay about 160 thousand dollars.
It is impractical to buy them in reserve, and therefore the entrepreneur must first determine the maximum load. Taking into account the cycle duration of 1.5 hours, it is realistic to carry out 6–7 cremations per shift, that is, one oven is quite enough for a city with a population of 1.5 million people. Only factory-built ovens that have been tested to comply with environmental regulations may be used to incinerate remains. The most reliable and economical among them are American and European-made models, which consume only 4–6 m³ of gas per cremation. These furnaces are designed for 5–6 thousand procedures, after which it is necessary to carry out a major overhaul with replacement of insulation and fire-resistant finishing. What is needed to open a crematorium:

Crematorium equipment

In addition, the crematorium business plan with calculations must include the purchase of consumables. In a city with a population of 1 million people, the mortality rate will be about 18,000 people per year, but at first the institution will be 70–80% loaded, that is, the entrepreneur can count on 125 orders per month:

Basic equipment

Ovens are required for the cremation procedure itself, but it is definitely worth adding a few more items to the list of required equipment. For example, to store the bodies of the deceased you will need to purchase a refrigerator.

You also cannot do without a cremulator - a special device designed to extract, using a magnet trap, from already cremated remains of various metal objects that cannot be burned. Such elements often include dental and bone prostheses.

It is recommended that the business plan for opening a crematorium for people include only high-quality equipment that meets all environmental standards, which will become effective preventive measures against various supervisory services and authorities.

Cremation Supplies

Features of combustion technology

The process is carried out as follows:

1. From the building in which the funeral hall is located, the object to be cremated, into the cremation building.
2. The accumulation of cremation objects occurs in the room where the cremation oven is installed, and as the ovens are loaded, it is moved to the oven tray.
3. After cremation, combustion products are placed in a special box, which is installed in the unloading window.
4. Combustion products are transferred to grinding procedures.
5. After grinding operations, the combustion products are packed into an urn, which, after all the paperwork is completed, is transferred to the funeral hall, where it is given to the customer.

The duration of one cremation is approximately 60-70 minutes. Natural gas consumption per furnace is about 25 m3/hour. Emissions are significantly less than the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances, so no treatment is provided for emissions. The main advantages of the ovens chosen for the cremation complex are:

• relatively low cost compared to Western analogues;
• moderate amount of construction work to create a foundation cushion and chimney.
• low costs for repair and maintenance of furnaces.

Crematorium staff

Strictly speaking, the profession “Ritual Service Manager” is best suited for working in a crematorium, but it does not reflect all the specifics of the activity. Therefore, when hiring workers, it is easier to take into account whether they have at least a secondary education, and then train them yourself or send them to special courses. The following factors will be much more important in this case:

• Mandatory requirements for employees are tact and restraint, since funeral participants are in a difficult emotional state;
• Leaders of ceremonies need relevant experience, knowledge of the traditions and rituals of different religious denominations;
• Employees must be honest. Many precious metals do not melt in a furnace, and the temptation to take away a dental crown or jewelry is great.

There is no need to look for a director separately, since these responsibilities can be taken on by the entrepreneur himself. As for the rest of the employees, the crematorium needs:

Crematorium workers

Workforce plan

A small animal crematorium needs a staff of several people, since the work will take place in shifts and seven days a week. After all, it is impossible to refuse cremation to the owner of a deceased pet on the grounds that Saturday and Sunday are days off. This approach will lead to the loss of customers, even if there is only one crematorium for our little brothers in the city.

Of course, the company is not required to work in 2 shifts. Moreover, the crematorium is unlikely to be in demand for a full eight-hour working day. But delaying the provision of services for several days is unacceptable. Moreover, it is on weekends that there will be the most people wishing to take part in an individual ceremony. Thus, in order to implement this crematorium business plan, we will need the following employees:

Funeral services for animals: list of services provided + 5 points of a business plan for a funeral home for pets + calculation of business expenses.

Animals are our little brothers. For many families, pets truly become members of the family who live with them on almost equal rights and conditions.

When misfortune happens to a beloved pet, their owners do everything to say goodbye to them in the best possible way.

It is for this reason that funeral services for animals

today they are relevant and in demand.

Crematorium Marketing Program

Marketing activities to promote a crematorium as a business idea for beginners require special tact and caution. In fact, people are unlikely to adequately perceive the placement of an advertising poster on the main street or the distribution of flyers near a large shopping center. Fortunately, you can still come up with something:

• It is advisable to install billboards with a list of services directly near the crematorium, as well as at the entrances to all city cemeteries;
• The same information must be indicated on company vehicles. When driving around the city, it will certainly attract attention;
• It is advisable to look for partners from among entrepreneurs running a funeral and flower business. You can pay them for each attracted client;
• If local print media have sections offering funeral services, you should definitely print your advertisements here;
• To promote on the Internet, the crematorium needs a website. You can provide customers with the ability to book services online;
• It is easier to attract visitors to the site with contextual advertising focused on search queries about funerals, rituals and religious traditions;
• The crematorium marker should be installed in all virtual mapping services. It is useful to add information about the establishment to local reference systems.

Business environment

There is every reason to believe that crematorium services will be in high demand, since there are no specialized cemeteries for cats, dogs, and other pets in the country. Moreover, today there is not a single animal cemetery in Russia. Therefore, crematoria in Russia will be in demand.

Opening this business in a city with a population of over 600 thousand people is economically justified. Siberians love pets and are not ready to throw a dead pet into the trash bin or on the road. Moreover, this has nothing to do with law-abidingness, although the law prohibits throwing animal corpses into containers and burying them within the city limits. According to surveys, people are simply not ready to throw their pets on the side of the road. But advertising is still necessary. So that the townspeople know that there is such an opportunity in Barnaul.

Documentation of the crematorium

Often, beginning entrepreneurs have doubts about whether it is possible to open a private crematorium in Russia.
Formally, the law allows this to be done with one condition: the institution must not belong to an individual. However, in order to avoid difficulties, it is better for an entrepreneur to transfer it into the ownership of the authorities, and then sign an indefinite free lease agreement with them. Thus, for a crematorium you will have to register an LLC using a simplified taxation system and indicate the following OKVED codes in the documents: Video on the topic

OKVED crematorium

So how do you open a crematorium for people? Starting from the development and technical verification of the project, creating a business requires constant interaction with various government services. An entrepreneur will need:

• Permission to conduct activities from Rospotrebnadzor;
• Certificate of inspection of structures and permission from the Fire Service;
• Conclusion of Rostechnadzor on equipment compliance with standards;
• Environmental assessment report on the safety of the enterprise for the environment;
• Permission from the authorities to use the territory for burials.

Search for a building and its location

Before purchasing equipment and hiring staff, you should decide whether to rent suitable premises or build a new crematorium. The location of the future building is coordinated with local authorities, who will impose a number of mandatory requirements on it.

First of all, the crematorium should be located outside the city, because the burning procedure involves the release of a large amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Sometimes the administration makes concessions and allows the construction of an enterprise in the city, but there should not be a single residential building around it within a radius of three kilometers. Usually, in this case, an area is allocated not far from the local cemetery.

The settlement and coordination of all such issues with local authorities can be entrusted to any company that, for a fee, will give practical advice on how to open a crematorium for people in Russia. As a rule, representatives of the company will act as intermediaries and prepare all the necessary documentation.

Crematorium business plan

It is difficult to say exactly how much it costs to open a crematorium for people. Here everything depends on the ambitions of the entrepreneur: in practice, there are both projects with a budget of no more than 20 million rubles, and enterprises with an initial investment of over 300 million rubles. For example, in an institution with a columbarium occupying one hectare of area in a large regional center, you will have to invest 58.6 million rubles:

Investments in a crematorium

It is also important to calculate the amount of monthly expenses when organizing a business: the crematorium will require a constant supply of consumables, gas, water, and electricity. No less serious costs will be associated with wages:

Crematorium expenses

Cost of all equipment

The most economical option will cost the entrepreneur between 5 and 10 million rubles. Higher quality equipment will be somewhat more expensive - its cost starts from 20-25 million rubles. To these figures you should add a certain amount, which will go towards mandatory scheduled repairs of all major components.

Of course, don’t forget about equipment depreciation. Consumables will become a permanent item in the human crematorium business plan. There can always be some unforeseen events. For example, replacing a low-quality and completely broken cremation oven can ruin the entire business even before it becomes profitable. That is why experts strongly do not recommend saving on basic components and equipment.

Crematorium profitability

How profitable will a crematorium be as a business? Of course, citizens will choose services of different prices, and most of them will prefer the most economical tariff, but on average, if 125 orders are completed per month, the revenue will be:

Crematorium revenue

Comparing the amount of revenue with expenses suggests that, as a business, a crematorium for people will be characterized by good profitability. In fact, almost 60 million rubles of investment will pay off in about three years:

Profitability of the crematorium

Financial plan

A crematorium is a specific type of business, and its organization will require significant investments. An entrepreneur needs to take into account all possible risks that may arise after launching a project. The main ones include:

1. Active activities of competitors aimed at organizing traditional funerals and calling into question the services of the crematorium. Do not forget that Orthodox and Muslim traditions do not welcome the cremation of the deceased.
2. Possible harassment by “green” organizations in connection with environmental pollution by combustion products.
3. Furnaces fail at the wrong time.

Cost of opening and maintaining a crematorium

Start-up investments in organizing activities will include the following costs:

• acquisition of a plot of land outside the city – 1,500,000;
• construction of a crematorium and finishing work, including inside the building - 12,000,000;
• expenses for registering a business and obtaining the necessary permits – 100,000;
• purchase of equipment – ​​6,000,000;
• marketing activities and training of hired personnel - 100,000;
• other expenses – 300,000.

The total investment amount will be 20,000,000 rubles.

The running costs of the crematorium include:

• staff salary – 350,000;
• payment of utilities – 50,000;
• scheduled maintenance and repair of equipment – ​​10,000;
• purchase of accessories for mourning ceremonies and cremation – 100,000;
• advertising campaign – 10,000;
• other expenses – 10,000.

The amount of monthly costs will be 530,000 rubles.

Enterprise income

The minimum set of services includes:

• cremation – 5,000;
• urn for ashes – 2,000;
• rent of a ritual hall – 5,000.

Total: 12,000 rubles.

Having organized 3 ritual procedures per day, the entrepreneur will receive an income in the amount of 36,000 rubles, and per month - 1,080,000 rubles.

The amount of tax deductions at a rate of 6% of income will be:

1,080,000 x 0.06 = 64,800 rubles.

Net profit is calculated as follows:

1,080,000 – 64,800 – 530,000 = 485,200 rubles.

Thus, the profitability of the crematorium will be:

(485,200/1,080,000) x 100 = 45%.

Business payback period

From the above calculations it follows that the full payback period for the crematorium will be from 3.5 to 4 years. Expanding the range of services can significantly reduce this time.

Registration and organization of business

In order to organize this type of business, you first need to register as an Individual Entrepreneur (hereinafter referred to as IP). To do this, you need to contact the Federal Tax Service with a statement of desire to obtain legal status.

The application must indicate:

1. Applicant's passport details.
2. OKVED code – 93.03 (organization of funeral services and everything connected with them), 52.48.34 (sale of ritual accessories), 91.31 (provision of religious ritual services), 93.05 (provision of other personal services), 71.34 (rent of a passenger car - hearse) .
3. Selected taxation system - check the box next to the simplified tax system (it is better to choose the income-expenses system, this will help significantly save money at the initial stage).
4. Organization name and legal address.

Required Documentation

The basic list of documents for registering a pet cemetery is no different from registering a regular burial ground. To do this, you will need to collect the following package of necessary papers:

• approved application for registration as an individual entrepreneur;
• documents for the land plot: certificate of ownership, cadastral plan of the plot, cadastral passport and cadastral purpose of the land;
• permission to build a crematorium and burial ground;
• sanitary compliance - issued at the City Sanitary and Epidemiological Station;
• certificate of taxes paid (on land, for regional needs, wages to hired workers);
• documents on the purchase or rental of vehicles.

Finding a suitable territory

According to state standards, any cemetery plot must be organized accordingly. The rules for selection and maintenance are reflected in the Federal Law “On the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare of the Population” No. 52-FZ dated March 30, 1999 and the Federal Law “On Burial and Funeral Business” dated December 29, 2006 N 263-FZ, dated June 26, 2007 N 118- Federal Law. Let's consider the main ones:

1. The territory should be as far as possible from residential buildings and urban infrastructure.
2. There should be no landfills, industrial areas or pipelines nearby.
3. All land must be specially prepared. It is advisable if the entrepreneur brings several tons of new soil.
4. The area of ​​the site must be fenced with a metal fence, through which other wild or homeless animals will not pass.
5. The territory must be protected. This requirement applies to all types of burial grounds, including the crematorium area.

Thus, the most acceptable option would be to buy or rent a plot in an area of ​​the city with a private sector. Behind residential buildings, most often, there is a huge number of vacant lots that have not been sold for construction or utility needs.

Equipment

One of the most important points in organizing a business is choosing the right equipment. In the case of an animal cemetery, you need to select and buy:

• a freezer for the hearse;
• veterinary surgical equipment (as the animal must be autopsied after death to determine the cause of death);
• cremation oven;
• separate freezers for corpses and refrigerators for body parts;
• portable lighting devices for crematorium, hearse, site.

The list of additional purchases must include:

• special clothing for cremation and autopsy;
• disinfectant solutions (for the machine, cameras and premises).

Office and its equipment

Since the office belongs to a funeral company, it is necessary to decorate it in calm, light colors.

It is better if the office space is located near the burial site.

This will help to clearly show the company’s work (in the case of VIP clients). A separate waiting area and a wall catalog with samples of monuments, crosses, tombstones and other products should be provided for visitors. The price list for services must be clearly compiled and posted. It is necessary to install a separate toilet and a cooler with drinking water in the room.

Range of services

The standard set of ritual services for burying an animal is no different from the identical list for burying a dead person:

1. Removal of the corpse.
2. Cremation of the body. With or without return of ashes.
3. Burial in a specially prepared area.
4. Installation of a monument, cross, fence, etc.

Additional (individual) services include:

• individual cremation;
• production of urns to special order;
• personal territory - the choice of not only a cell for burial, but also the purchase of a significant part of the territory for one animal. With the subsequent installation of benches, a table and other things for personal convenience;
• accommodation in the VIP area.

Staff

Not everyone is suitable for such specific work. Therefore, when choosing personnel for work, you should limit yourself to the minimum list of necessary people. No administrators or sales consultants.

The main list of vacancies for work includes:

1. Watchman
2. Gravedigger.
3. Seller (for whom, at least at first, it is better for the owner to work).
4. Veterinarian.
5. Driver.

Placing this kind of advertising on television and other media is difficult due to the large number of requirements for broadcasting information. Many people will be against such a PR campaign due to the fact that small children watch TV.

Therefore, it is best to place posters in private animal clinics, city sanitary services and other municipal environmental, epidemiological and other organizations. This will attract an initial flow of customers with a subsequent increase in the number of applicants due to word of mouth.

Arrangement of a private crematorium

The building will have an entrance area with an administrator who accepts orders and issues urns, several ritual halls, a first-aid post, rooms for management and technical staff, and in the second part there will be a furnace where combustion takes place, and then, using a cremulator, grinding and removal of unburned objects (artificial joints, crowns, stimulators) and pouring ashes into an urn. You need to take care of the delivery of bodies, for which you will have to purchase an automatic belt or hand trucks, which are much cheaper.

The equipment itself can be inexpensive, Russian, more economical to maintain, or more modern imported - recognized leaders are manufacturers from Germany, the United States of America and the Czech Republic. After about four years of active use, the stoves will require major repairs, for which specialists will also most likely have to be called from abroad.

In the cost estimate, do not forget to include salaries for management, accounting, ceremony director, administrator, mechanic, oven operator, custodian and cleaning lady. If a funeral agency operates at the crematorium, then in addition to agents it may employ a photographer, thanatocosmetologist, loaders, and hearse drivers. The clothing of employees is maintained in a corporate style (it must be previously developed), and for furnace workers it must also be specific - protect both from pollution and from high temperatures. It is necessary to take care of the assortment of funeral clothing, coffins and accessories, all of which will be useful for both traditional burial and crematorium operations.

Marketing plan

In a business such as a crematorium, an entrepreneur should pursue a rather careful marketing policy. Simply put, not all types of advertising are suitable for promoting funeral services. The distribution of printed advertising in the form of booklets and flyers, as well as any types of advertising in public leisure areas and shopping centers, is absolutely unacceptable.

However, creating your own website in a strict ascetic style is a prerequisite for developing the success of this business. The website should describe in detail all types of crematorium services, their prices and terms of service. You can also shoot a video for local television and place modular advertising in print publications in the city.

As for calculating income from the operation of a crematorium, one should focus on average market prices, adapting them to a specific provincial city. The average cost of the minimum set of crematorium services (cremation itself, an urn for ashes and rent of a ritual hall) is 12 thousand rubles. In a small Russian city, 1,000 people die every month, and if the relatives of every tenth of all burial methods choose cremation, then the monthly income of the crematorium will be about 1.2 million rubles. Accordingly, the crematorium will bring its owners 14.4 million rubles a year, and this is far from the limit.

Construction and architectural solutions

The crematorium building complex consists of 2 buildings made of light metal structures, which are connected by a walk-through transport gallery. The building of the funeral hall can be erected on a capital basis, which will lead to a logical increase in the cost and construction time. The ritual body must contain:

• funeral hall for farewells;
• hall;
• first aid room;
• communication and communications center;
• administrative premises.

The technical building must contain:

• cremation hall;
• utility, household and technical rooms.

Both buildings are single-story frame structures. In the construction of walls, it is proposed to use galvanized steel three-layer panels with high-quality insulation.

Production plan

The crematorium building must be located outside the residential part of the city and have a sanitary protection zone with a radius of at least three kilometers. The optimal total area of ​​the crematorium is 150 square meters. Of them:

• 70 sq. meters is occupied by the ritual hall.
• 50 “squares” should be allocated for a cremation room with ovens and related equipment.
• The remaining 30 sq. meters will be occupied by utility rooms and a gallery between the two main halls.

Given the increased attention to the activities of the crematorium on the part of the SES and the fire service, special attention should be paid to compliance with all sanitary norms and rules, as well as fire safety equipment.

The most reasonable schedule for a crematorium is as follows:

• Monday – Friday from 09:00 to 17:00.
• Saturday – Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00.

Several times a month, it is necessary to carry out a full-scale sanitization of all areas of the crematorium, closing it to clients.

This table provides an approximate list of crematorium workers and approximate amounts of remuneration for their labor:

Note: crematorium employees must be as restrained and tactful as possible, since relatives of the deceased are, as a rule, in an unstable emotional state.

The equipment that will have to be purchased to equip the crematorium is listed below:

• Four cremation ovens (model GKP-01 from St. Petersburg is an excellent option).
• Refrigerated chambers for storing bodies before cremation (5 pieces).
• A mill for grinding bone remains into dust.
• Containers and urns for ashes with signs.
• Various tools needed for maintenance and cleaning of equipment.

Advertising activities and legal basis

Advertising is also important for the crematorium complex. Taking into account the specifics of the enterprise, advertising campaigns conducted jointly with the media must be quite tactful and in no case interfere with existing ethical standards.

For example, advertising on city municipal transport will have a positive impact on the activities of the enterprise because it will form a stable image in the eyes of the population and will be constantly visible. It is also planned to develop corporate symbols and a sign. It is planned to allocate about two percent of the gross profit for advertising events related to the promotion of crematorium services, which is very significant.

The crematorium, in its form of activity, will be a closed joint-stock company. This is due to the fact that at present it is not possible to allocate funds for the construction of a crematorium from the city budget, but there is an urgent need for its construction.

This form of administrative-legal relations was chosen because in a closed joint-stock company the amount of the authorized capital is formed from the financial resources of the board of founders.

The activities of a closed joint stock company are regulated by special regulatory documents of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The internal regulations are subject to approval by a meeting of shareholders; it also has the power to regulate relations between shareholders and other issues related to activities.