The Top 3 Cannabis Business Tips for Owners
Cannabis businesses are now legal to some degree in 34 states. Between medical and adult-use programs, entrepreneurs, big and small, have an opportunity to get involved in today’s fastest growing industry. From micro growers to mom and pop owned dispensary, everyone has a chance to be successful with the right team and of course, the right amount of capital.
So, what makes a marijuana business successful? Check out these 3 Cannabis Business Tips for Owners. Take care of the 3 most important assets you have: your employees, your customers and your reputation!
Employees
It should come as no surprise that your employees are your most important asset. The minute you get your cannabis license, your “friends” will start coming out of the woodwork trying to get a job with you. This is NOT the time for nostalgia. You need people that will be assets not liabilities and unless your friend is an experienced cannabis industry employee, do not hire them as part of your opening team. As cannabis recruiters, we see this happen all the time. They may last 90 days but that is about it. They think it “fun” and “cool” until they are actually expected to follow regulations and do the job. You just spent an extraordinary amount of money on this venture and need more than that from your staff.
If you have the time and the employees to sift through hundreds of resumes to find the perfect candidates, do your due diligence and hire appropriately. While the state your business is in, may be in its infancy stages of a cannabis program and you may not have a ton of “cannabis experienced candidates”, people will relocate for the right salary. You will however, go through hundreds of resumes to find that diamond.
If you do not have the resources to do the search, do yourself a favor and use a respected Cannabis Recruiter to help you. The recruiter will do all the work. They will spend the time finding and vetting the candidate, setting up interviews and negotiate the contract terms. Their network should make the search quicker and more efficient than just posting on a job board.
Once you find the right staff, take care of them! Years ago, too many marijuana employees were taken advantage of with low wages and no benefits. That is rapidly changing. Salaries have quickly risen because those candidates with multi-year experience are now at a premium. Additionally, Cannabis businesses understand the importance of taking care of their employees and most of our clients have some type of benefit package to offer their new hires. Since competition is so fierce, especially with the volatile employment market right now, clients are also including relocation bonuses now, just to get the perfect candidate. Pay your employees well and treat them right and they will stay. Underpay them or take them for granted and they will leave and more than likely end up working for your competitor.
CUSTOMER
While the employee is your most important asset, you cannot live without the customer. As you build your team, your end goal will always be the treatment of the consumer. People buy from people they like and people they trust. To earn that trust you need educated team members who are willing to go a step above to help the customer. Your team needs to understand what the consumer is shopping for so that your purchaser is keeping the appropriate product line in stock. Providing the customer with the best product at the best price is your goal. We live in a world where reviews are everything. If your staff is not good or your products are not up to par, you are going to hear about it, along with everyone else in your reviews. Whether you are a cultivator or dispensary owner, those reviews are going to matter. The internet can be our friend but if you are not doing a good job or providing the best products, the internet is going to haunt you. Lost customers are extremely hard to win back. The goal is to not lose them in the first place.
REPUTATION
While overcoming a bad hire is challenging and getting a “lost” customer back is difficult, recovering your business’ reputation is almost impossible! While most of the licensed cannabis business are owned by great people who take care of their employees, customers and financial obligations, there is a small minority who do not. Paying your vendors or business partnerships is just as important as paying your employees. Everyone is trying to make a living. When vendors are not paid, how are they expected to pay their delivery drivers. If employees are not paid, how will they take care of their families? If you do not take care of your financial obligations to other business owners, you WILL get taken to collections. How is that going to look to the State Cannabis Commission? What about your Better Business Bureau rating? Cannabis Collection Agencies are not hurting for business right now. Bad busines owners have them working around the clock to help legitimate businesses recover the monies they are owed. Why do businesses feel they do not need to pay for services rendered? The company that performed the services has employees to pay. If that employee is being paid partially on commission and you decide not to pay them, no matter how many hours the company put it and no matter how successful the outcome of their services was, how does that fare for their employee, who in good faith, did their job?
As a business owner, you have three things to worry about: your employees, your customers and your reputation. If you allow any of them to fly under the radar, you are in for trouble. No matter how much money you throw into your business, perception is reality. If people think you underpay or do not treat your staff well, they will not work for you. If people think you do not have great products or do not care about them as a consumer, they will not shop with you. If people feel that you are not a good businessperson, do not pay your bills or live up to your agreements, they will not provide services for you.
The success of your business is in your hands. Employees, customers and reputation are all things you can control to maximize your success in the cannabis Industry.
Need help finding those perfect employees? Contact us to learn more about HempStaff Recruiting Services.
