People who start a business out of passion are often missing key information about running the business, as is the case with a huge number of cannapreneurs. As the number of states legalizing cannabis increases, so does the number of eager business owners who have a big learning curve when it comes to actually running their business.
Because when you’re starting out, you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s imperative that you get a quick-start guide to give you step-by-step guidance on starting and running a profitable cannabis business.
Let’s dive in.
The Passion of the Plant
Passion is a valuable attribute when it comes to committing to your business. Unfortunately, passion alone isn’t enough and doesn’t make for a solid business plan. Generally, people who see a cannabis business with hearts in their eyes have some personal story about how cannabis has changed their life.
Maybe their experience with cannabis products transformed the way they interact with others by helping them cope with ADHD or severe anxiety. Then again, maybe they attribute pain management or improved lifestyle with chronic illness to cannabis usage. Whatever their personal story, these cannapreneurs are on a mission to help other people transform their lives as well.
However, dreamers see the possibility and don’t always understand the steps to get there. So if this sounds like you (or someone you know), hear this: to turn your idea into a successful business, you need a roadmap and specific knowledge. That knowledge includes business acumen and an understanding of the financial opportunities and repercussions of running a cannabis business.
Where Social Equity Meets Passion
Some states, including Massachusetts, are handling social equity in cannabis licensing, which is a much-needed development. This means that special considerations are given to applicants who might not otherwise be able to obtain a cannabis license, which might include:
- Early application submission and priority review
- Fast-tracking applications to provisional licensing and permitting
- Forgiving past cannabis-related arrest records depending on the conviction and rules in each state
- Access to low-cost funding
- Access to business courses to close the knowledge gap
However, despite this early access, some of the social equity cannabis licensees are still running into the same challenges that befall passion-driven cannapreneurs. They need the support of professionals who can give them advice that shortens the learning curve.
Get the right cannabis consultants at the right time
Even expert business owners need support when it comes to running a cannabis business. The Schedule 1 classification means that there are specific things you must do to stay on the compliant side of the law.
Regardless of your experience owning or managing any business, including cannabis companies, as the market grows, it’s increasingly important to have the right consultants on your side, including cannabis accounting professionals.
Some of the many ways we can help you start your business on the right foot include:
- Business plan development and review
- Identifying a path to work the business plan in real-time
- Understanding costs vs revenue
- Inventory management processes
- The technology you’ll need to run your business
- Learning to evaluate wholesale market rates, turnovers, and harvest rates
- Knowing how to build relationships with suppliers, not just in the cannabis-specific space
- The types of taxes you need to collect
- How to create reports required to remain compliant with local and federal regulations
- Your tax liabilities
- Cash management procedures
- Understanding the path from licensing to opening your business
- Cashflow forecasting, and so much more.
Accounting for Green’s team of cannabis accounting experts would love to help you stay on top of the information you need to ensure your passion project doesn’t simply go up in smoke. Contact us today to find out how we can work together.
Opening a dispensary? Find out what you need to know!
Recent Comments