Today we’re going to talk about how to put a cannabis business application together. The agenda for today is actually we’re going to begin with what makes an application successful and then we’re going to break it down into sections with financials, location, architects, security standard operating procedures, staffing, community benefits, labor, and lots of other activities that we’re planning to tie up neatly ultimately.
Just a few things to offer you a concept of whatever we do right here at Green Growth CPAs. We all do tax preparation and we’ve completed over 500 annual tax returns for cannabis operators spread across all verticals, so that’s dispensary distribution, cultivation, manufacturing, delivery, and testing. We also have over 300 clients based in various states. We have now clients from California, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington.
We’ve also performed over a dozen audit related projects within the last year and we’re supposed to hit seven digits in revenues inside our second full business year. We do would love you to learn that we have a thorough and deep knowledge of tax compliance and assurance related requirements for your cannabis industry which includes cannabis licensing. We can help you with tax preparation and planning, auditing and assurance, business plans, and anything else linked to operating a company in the cannabis industry.
So like I said, we’re going first of all the thing that makes a software successful. I do believe what all applicants prospective and current applicants really learn as you go along is the fact that instructions and understanding them is approximately eighty percent of passing an effective application. You have to know very well what the city or perhaps the state is looking for, the way that they wanted delivered. Most of the time, you understand, the headers in the requirements may be misleading.
Like I said, you already know, they can say, oh, we need a business plan, however when you look at the requirements are what they’re seeking. It offers nothing concerning your typical concept of what a business plan really is. So half the battle or over half of the battle is actually understanding what could they be requesting, just how do they really want me to submit this and and then submitting it. You’re going to desire to thoroughly address every part of the application in more detail. You would like to make certain that you recognize certain requirements. Although usually applications do have the identical requirements. They may want specifics that other applications don’t.
As an example, let’s say Lynwood, the metropolis of Lynwood in California. They desire a cannabis business plan that needs you to demonstrate and explain your day-to-day operations, which includes cash handling practices, some security, some inventory and documentation where versus the city of LA that might say, oh, we wish your own business plan that wants you to show financials what your company’s mission and vision is, which is pretty much what you’d expect in a business plan. So just be careful and look at the descriptions from the headers because sometimes the headers could be misleading.
Next you’re going to need to surround yourself using the right people. You want to show inside the application that you have the right team in place to run a successful operation. Usually they are going to demand the owners or licensees to include a quick writeup demonstrating experience in either the cannabis industry or related field, and when you don’t have this experience, you’re going to desire to find people who do and may include them within your team.
You’re also going to want solid financial projections and security measures to prevent fraud. As you know, cannabis is a highly regulated industry and these are the basic two pillars that many states, if not all of these, would love you to concentrate on. You’re also likely to want to vet your partners, do your research. You will have to go via a background check which background check is required by all cities and states.
Another really important thing that you ought to consider before even applying for cannabiscultivationconsulting.com is you’re going to want to ensure that you have the funds for to construct out and operate for at least 6 months to a year. We obtain plenty of inquiries from potential clients who would like to go into the cannabis industry and they’re always blown away by how much money actually goes into building out and operating a cannabis business before it will become profitable and also you know, there’s not one other way across the financials, you know, cities and states will never issue permits to folks that can’t demonstrate an economic capacity to start up a business and keep it running. And 2nd, if a person. We all do get a lot of clients that do not have expertise in the cannabis cannabis industry.
On the contrary they have experience in business, successful business, and that is certainly a thing that cities take a look at also because not everybody may have cannabis industry experience since it is illegal. It was illegal on the state level and it is now legal. So that you know, if you can to demonstrate some sort of experience with the cannabis industry, you know that’s a self revealing, however, if you don’t, then you will need to consider putting a small group of people together that may show strengths running a business, finance, HR, that every add up to a company.
For example. We receive plenty of inquiries from individuals who wish to become cannabis business operators which have no training even running their very own business so that they may have some funds, you already know, that they’ve inherited or or some friends, a group of friends that, hey, you understand, decide one day that, hey, we must get into the cannabis industry and when we pool our money together, then we will surely start one end and quite often they do have enough money.
But the question is that are they members? And a lot of the time, you might need to pay to outsource for these qualified staff. If you’re likely to do get into medical cannabis, you might want to have a doctor or perhaps a pharmacist in some way, shape or form on the staffing plan. At least for your first six to twelve months. This always strengthens your chances of being issued a permit along with a license simply because you know even if you possess the money, you must have employees and also the members to trudge forward successfully in this industry and remain compliant because that is a really big issue…compliance. And once track and trace is fully operational and vodnsg over the board, compliance will be among the big determinants of if cannabis business will likely be successful. So if I were you, a very important thing to perform is to go into your bank accounts or perhaps your asset portfolios and see exactly how much money you have, how much money you’re planning to need to raise, and how much money you’re planning to must put in this cannabis business. Because it’s not cheap.
You’re also planning to want to have an extremely solid knowledge of state and native regulations. More often than not, applicants will hire consultants to do this to them. Regulations may be tricky just because they’re very vague. There’s plenty of wiggle room, so you’re going to desire to find somebody that will be either element of your team to assist you with compliance advancing, or you’re going to desire to engage the services of a company or a consulting group that can accomplish this to suit your needs like us.
The very last thing that you’re really gonna want to consider prior to applying for a cannabis business licenses is asking yourself what is going to set my business apart from everybody else’s? And a lot of time this is accomplished through, you understand, giving to a major city, but it’s more about community integration, you know, flipping the concept of cannabis is bad into how cannabis can in fact be useful, how it can reach out and touch lives, you know, over the board, whether it’s for patients or consumers and particularly for that community where you’re going to put together.
