MJstack’s team of cannabis business advisors are industry experts who offer free services to ensure you have the cannatech stack you need so your business can thrive.
Do you live in a state where cannabis isn’t quite yet legal, but you’re wanting to get a headstart into the industry? You could consider starting in the hemp and CBD space, which can be a good stepping stone into the cannabis market – not to mention a solid business venture in its own right.
MJstack has brought on Chris Whelan as a consultant to help entrepreneurs break into the flourishing hemp space. Chris launched his own wholesale hemp and CBD company from the ground up. With an extensive legal background, he also has a keen understanding of the legal implications of starting and running a hemp business. He became passionate about CBD in college when he was diagnosed with cancer and experienced firsthand the benefits of CBD products. We are so excited to offer Chris’ expertise to our customers. But first, let’s talk about why hemp is a good place for any cannabis entrepreneur to start.
Why You Should Start with Hemp
It’s no secret: the green wave is here. Each year, more and more states are legalizing cannabis. If you’re in a state where cannabis might be legalized or will begin legal sales in the next year or two (South Carolina and New Jersey, to name a few), the best way to ride the green wave is to build the foundation for your business, establish your brand, and grow your customer base before your state legalizes marijuana. You’ll be one of the first on the cannabis market and will be ahead of the curve. By the time you can legally open a cannabis dispensary, you’ll already have an established audience. If you wait to start building your business until marijuana is legalized, you’ll have to work harder to differentiate your business and gain market share – believe us, cannabis quickly becomes a competitive space.
The hemp/CBD space is a good starting point and a logical segue to the traditional cannabis market for many reasons. Notably, licenses are not limited and much easier to obtain. Because you won’t have to hire attorneys and consultants right away, you’ll have far fewer expenses than with starting a dispensary. (And hopefully you’ll have profits in hand by the time you do need those attorneys for your dispensary.) There are fewer regulatory hurdles when it comes to promoting your business through advertising channels, so you can be creative and can cast a wide net when growing your customer base. Moreover, starting a hemp business before opening a dispensary will enable you to form relationships with the local community which will be valuable when looking for municipal approval for a dispensary upon state legalization.
Even if you’re not looking to add marijuana products in the future, the hemp space is a stable and solid business investment. And with fewer start-up costs and complexities than cannabis, alongside support and consulting from MJstack, you can quickly get a hemp business running.
“From hemp to cannabis, a true one-stop shop service” said Wes Wright, CEO/Founder of Free Buzz.
How to Start a Hemp Business
Arguably one of the most important parts of starting any business is taking the time to establish and promote your brand. In the ever growing cannabis space, it goes beyond just your company name and logo. You’ll want to clearly portray your brand’s mission and values, while weaving this throughout your branding. All of this will form the basis of your marketing and advertising efforts that will bring the right customers to your door. While there are fewer regulatory restrictions with CBD than with cannabis, you’ll still want to start to understand any nuances around advertising and growing your brand in the industry. And once you’re ready to open your doors (physical or virtual), that’s exactly where you’ll want to focus – advertising, local SEO, and establishing a robust digital presence. It can take 6-12 months to start driving consistently high web traffic to your website, so the earlier you can start, the better.
Some other elements to think about as you’re planning your business are acquiring insurance and setting up payment processing. If you’re planning to add marijuana products in the future, it’s a good idea to implement insurance and payment solutions that will be suitable for both CBD and cannabis businesses to ensure a seamless transition in the future. MJstack can advise on specific products that could fit your unique business needs.
Your Next Step
If you have a hemp business or are interested in starting one – as a standalone business venture or as a segue to cannabis in the future – we are here to help each step of the way. MJstack has been providing free consultations to cannabis businesses for over 10 years of combined experience, and adding Chris Whelan to our team adds over a decade of hemp-specific expertise so we can keep providing the absolute best service to our customers – always at absolutely no cost to you.
You can set up a free, 30 minute call with us here at MJstack that will save you time, money, and tons of google searches as you start setting up your hemp business or transition a hemp business you’re already running to also sell cannabis products. We know what services you need – and what you don’t need – and we’ve spent years vetting vendors who provide the technology to help CBD and cannabis businesses run smoothly.
