Urn-ing respect online - Washington Business Journal:

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First, in 1994, the career funeral director started an innovative mobile discountfuneral home, which he eventually sold for $1.8 millionb to one of the industry's giants. Then last year -- afte r being interviewed on CNNand "CBS This about the growing trend of affordable optionsd in the funeral industry -- Harman launched Chantilly-based discounturns.com, which he says is the first business to sell reduced-price cremation urns over the Now, Harman is wrapping up talk s with Plan4ever.com, a Los Angeles-based funeral services Web portalk that wants to buy discounturns.com. If the deal is Harman, will move out to L.A. and become president of the company.
Harman, 36, gets so excitedc about progressive changes inthe once-staid, $10 billion funeral industry, he virtually yelpds with entrepreneurial enthusiasm when he talkxs about it. "The Internet is the last bastioh of unchartered waters for the funeral he said. "My debt to my profession is to continu eto innovate!" And that's just why Plan4evee wants him. "He's an amazing innovatoer in this industry," said Stuart Miller, CEO of Plan4ever. "He'sz experienced in the industry, and he also understandzs it needs tobe reinvented." Harman's a all right.
Discounturns sells its wares at half the pricwe funeralhomes do, which, he said, has been "shocking" to the Discounturns also offers cremation so that family members can fill a vial with the ashesx of a loved one and wear it arounde their necks. Also available are three-inch mini-urns so that ashesa can be divided amonggfamily members. "These are things no one was willing to talk about 10years ago," Harman said. Harman is particularly proud of his urns forpets -- one of whichn is shaped like a sundial and can be partiallyg buried in the garden. It goes for $199.95. bestseller is a $99 marble number. Harmanj and his partner Charles Aughenbaugh carrylittlr inventory.
Instead, they take orders over the Internet and pass them on tocontracte vendors, some of which work exclusively with Harman -- whose wife also is a funeral directord -- said he can sell urns at half the priced because of low overhead. The business only has thre e employees. Harman would not disclose figures, but said discounturns made "ibn the low six figures" this year, its firsty year in business. He fullty expects profits to rise; 23 percent of people who purchass funeral services now arechoosing cremation, and that number is expectedr to climb to 38 percent by 2010. "Baby boomer customers are not buying the type of funerals ourgrandfathersx bought," Harman said.
"Cremation is a simplee choice, and you don't have to sit aroundd looking at caskets." The urns-on-the-Internet concept worka these days, Harman because families are sospreade out. "Say the mom dies in Her son in Chicago and her daughte in San Francisco and her other son on the East Coast can all go to the site and pick out an he said.