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Marijuana entrepreneurship; industry discussion

powderhound100

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If anyone is looking into getting into this business. My cousin is selling his farms and has trademarks, logo's and a bunch of stuff setup for the legal market. Could probably come up with some creative financing options as well. Contact me for info.

Anyone know if bitcoin for payments has been adopted at all in the Cannabis related market?

I have not seen Bitcoin used at dispensaries. More difficult when dealing with taxes etc.
On the silk road type sites though, it is the common payment method.
 
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powderhound100

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FWIW I have a few friends who work at dispensaries, and I've been to a few myself. All that I know of accept card transactions as well. I'm not sure exactly how they process it but say you make a purchase of $46.xx they charge you for $50 and give you the change.
and @MidwestLandlord

The reason is they are running your debit card as an ATM transaction, they do not accept credit cards, cash only.

So instead of you going to the ATM, taking out $50 and then you buying it. They just run your debit card as an ATM transaction and give you the change.
 

MJ DeMarco

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In 3-5 years, the new multi-millionaires and billionaires will be coming from two industries: Blockchain and Cannibis. Where there is change, there is big money to be made. And change is always happening.
 

Paul Weese

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Having watched the Colorado market in comparison to the national market now for a handful of years, I'm convinced my favorite way to invest in the cannabis industry is through the OTC. Control of your funds for the long term is difficult until the Feds release their designation.

In the meantime, there are companies with great opportunity in swing trading. These companies transport and store cash, purchase real estate for leasing, produce cleaners for extraction machines, testing facilities for flower, and more. Also, brands like Incredibles are making markets in multiple states. Soon, local, homegrown brands will be purchased by larger names.
 
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HelpAndProsper

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Find a method to offer credit card processing to the vendors and take a % of each transaction. No one offers credit card processing for these guys, so create a completely legal system that allows you to do so. Hard? Of course, lots of money to be made? Absolutely.

Need? Check
Entry? Check
Control? Iffy (laws and stuff)
Scale? Check, you can go huge with this.
Time? Once its implemented, you can sit on the beach sipping whatever people on the beach sip.

Green Powered Solutions #1 The only approved card processor in the cannabis industry! Details & Reviews | Leafly
 

Shepherd

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When I learned my dad was using CBD oil this past weekend for his arthritis, my ears perked up. Even though I'm in a state where medical marijuana is illegal, Hemp CBD would seem to be a great place to get started in anticipation of legalization in the future. Time for a deep dive in education.
 
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Kak

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In 3-5 years, the new multi-millionaires and billionaires will be coming from two industries: Blockchain and Cannibis. Where there is change, there is big money to be made. And change is always happening.

The contrarian in me thinks weed is already baked in (pun intended) and the market will be over served. There are 6000 people in every state ready to pounce when it's leagalized.

Example:
If I had a dollar for every time someone told me nursing homes for baby boomers is a hit business right now and acting like it was something groundbreaking that I wouldn't have already heard, I could have a fun night at the horse track.

Thoughts?
 
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IGP

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When I learned my dad was using CBD oil this past weekend for his arthritis, my ears perked up. Even though I'm in a state where medical marijuana is illegal, Hemp CBD would seem to be a great place to get started in anticipation of legalization in the future. Time for a deep dive in education.

There is a big difference between CBD and medical marijuana.

CBD is not legal in all 50 states like many suggest, but it is readily available and if it's made from industrial hemp, you can buy it and sell it pretty easily. There are hundreds of sellers on AMZ for example.

I agree with @Kak, it is already very saturated and this business is very political as well because of the massive amounts of money that are going to be made.

Just because it becomes legal doesnt mean you can actually get a license.

My brother applied for a dispensary license and had a very impressive team put together with serious investment capital behind them. There were several candidates, including family members of the governor. I'll give u one guess who got the deal.
 

Kak

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There is a big difference between CBD and medical marijuana.

CBD is not legal in all 50 states like many suggest, but it is readily available and if it's made from industrial hemp, you can buy it and sell it pretty easily. There are hundreds of sellers on AMZ for example.

I agree with @Kak, it is already very saturated and this business is very political as well because of the massive amounts of money that are going to be made.

Just because it becomes legal doesnt mean you can actually get a license.

My brother applied for a dispensary license and had a very impressive team put together with serious investment capital behind them. There were several candidates, including family members of the governor. I'll give u one guess who got the deal.

Agreed. All of this said... I'd apply for the license and open a store anyway. Still wouldn't be my main effort. More like a cashflow centric investment.
 
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RahKnee

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I looked into several businesses for the cannabis industry, but I've passed on all of them. The reason being that you're almost always going to be one bad day at the Attorney General's office away from a life sentence for money laundering or drug trafficking.

You have to weigh risk vs reward. I personally feel the risk is too high for the reward.

Business ideas that got kicked around and had some potential that I have no problem sharing with you guys:

Secure transport of products and cash. Not just some high school dropouts in an old brinks van. All military vets with convoy security experience, all heavily armed and armored, where legal of course, and discrete armored vehicles like 4Runners. I was looking at doing this in NV, but as I was lining up my ducks, the state laws changed and this was no longer an option.

Cryptocurrencies. Not for payment though. The dispensary accepts cash that most banks won't touch, you take cash payments in exchange for cryptos of their choice minus your fee. The cash goes into your accounts, free of the stigma of the dispensary, and they get currency that can be used almost anywhere. This one came to a halt after consulting an attorney who thought an angry DA might come after you for money laundering. The case would likely have no merit, but it would still shut you down.

There were others along the way, but alas, I don't have the stones some of you do.
 

SquatchMan

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The contrarian in me thinks weed is already baked in (pun intended) and the market will be over served. There are 6000 people in every state ready to pounce when it's leagalized.

Example:
If I had a dollar for every time someone told me nursing homes for baby boomers is a hit business right now and acting like it was something groundbreaking that I wouldn't have already heard, I could have a fun night at the horse track.

Thoughts?

I agree.

Marijuana also isn't an industry on the edge of technology (.com, apps, blockchain, AI, oil, etc.), so there likely won't be room for any business to make a 10x leap, which I think is required for a large amount of billion dollar business to exist.

Recreational marijuana is basically just a plant grown for one specific use that has no other uses. Hemp is a different story, though I think the propaganda machine might be overselling the benefits of hemp.

Apps, the Dot-com boom, oil, computers, automobiles, etc. permeated every single facet of life. My 85 year grandpa uses Facebook as does my 12 year old cousin and just about every business in the United States does too. The same can be said about computers, the Internet, automobiles, and oil. All these industries also connect to each other. Cars are now basically computers that can connect to the internet and are powered by oil. Oil is also used in probably 90% of the stuff on your desk.

Marijuana.... I don't think IBM is going to be using marijuana for anything and I don't see how it intertwines into other businesses. Sure, it will be a big industry, but I don't think this will be creating the same amount of millionaires and billionaires that the other industries I listed created.

I think the next big industry where we see all the in-vogue millionaires and billionaires will be the blockchain and AI over the next 10-15 years. I'd say 3-5, but I think we're still a little ways off.
 
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HelpAndProsper

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I agree.



I think the next big industry where we see all the in-vogue millionaires and billionaires will be the blockchain and AI over the next 10-15 years. I'd say 3-5, but I think we're still a little ways off.

AI for sure....It's already taking off. I feel IOT is related to the AI thingy too....
 
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Alex Nolte

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I would assume that he means how saturated the market is there in California. I believe if he is just growing to sell to dispensaries then there is a good amount of people all doing the same thing. Which would mean that with let's say hundreds of people going to the dispensaries with product it's go ingredients to drive the price down. I feel like my future would be in the edible marijuana aspect. Whenever the laws allow it I would like to open a lounge that would allow customers to come and consume Marijuana and socialize, also while being able to order creative dishes all infused with marijuana. Would also like to have some entertainment on the weekends. "Bring your own bud" and see some live music

Really like the idea as I think the people new to cannabis who don't smoke cigarettes or anything would rather start with edibles
 
D

Deleted20833

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what about being an affiliate for marijuana products? dhgate gives you 10% of the sale price and you can sell bongs
 

SJuan9

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I work alongside many in the industry and even considered jumping in at some point. Here's my short assessment from an ag. manager's point of view:

PRO
-Present high market value for the produced commodity

CONS
-Regulatory nightmare (permitting and startup costs alone can run up to $1 million in some cases)
-Pest control constraints (The majority of pesticides are not labeled for cannabis use, hence you cannot use them legally unless you get a Special Use Permit for the location and product you want to use, which costs a lot of money)
-Puts you on the radar with law enforcement
-Puts you on the radar with unlawful organizations (who do you think has enough money to pay the startup costs of a legal operation--- hint: it's not your hip uncle Joe)
-Market over-saturation and price decrease in the following years

I see the business model violating the commandment of Control by constantly being at the mercy of any given local or federal agency, injunction, code or regulation which could put you out of business within an hour (yes it happens). Other farming operations have to deal with a lot of regulatory constraints also, but with cannabis it's like steroids.

For these reasons I didn't jump into the cannabis trade. However, there is a HUGE potential in terms of selling and/or producing the inputs the growers need for their operations (e.g. fertilizers, growing mediums, etc.) which are sold at an incredible markup and have to bereordered constantly.

I've also being seeing a lot more 'grower consultants'; which are people who maintain themselves on the cutting edge regarding growing, management, regulatory affairs, etc. and offer the producers and distributors their services.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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The contrarian in me thinks weed is already baked in (pun intended)

IMO, I think we're halfway thru the rise on the lifecycle, so in my view, there is still time.
 

Ryan Howard

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It’s been a long time since I started this post. I lost focus for a while and just recently got back into the swing of things. I’ve decided to pack up everything and move to Las Vegas to go all in on the green rush. I got the final ok on my job transfer today. I just randomly decided to log into the forum after years of paying no attention to it. To my surprise my post about the marijuana industry is right there on the first page. If that’s not a sign to keep pushing I don’t know what is. I feel Las Vegas has the most underrated market in the states. I still plan to start out with edibles and with public consumption lounges looking to become a reality as soon as next year even though I fell off track everything is falling into place at the right time!
 

Entre Eyes

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A friend of mine asked me for some ideas on a good Weed related .com name and I sent him 20. If anyone hits a brick wall maybe I can help...some people like crossword puzzles I like coming up with catchy keyword domains.
 
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Indulgency

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I do and it's a rollercoaster for sure and I mean that in every aspect. Let me clarify first that I don't run a dispensary or a grow operation (but yea I`ve had some thoughts What Is The Current Legal Status Of Home Cultivation For Personal Consumption? - Cannabis Legale cause it seems pretty legit). I run a media and advertising/business directory platform and a cannabis real estate platform. I've been in business for over 4 years now, started when I was 20 years old and am 25 now. To start, being an entrepreneur in any space and running a successful business is a challenge in of itself. When you add the cannabis aspect to it, it's like increasing the difficulty from "normal" to "please give me more obstacles", the upside however is that it's a brand spanking new industry full of opportunity and not people who have been doing it for 60 years. What I mean by that is it's easy to find a niche and jump in, but don't mistake that as "easy to be successful", it's hard work just like any other industry except harder in certain aspects.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Speaking of the MJ industry, is the industry at its low? Is MJ a now buy with MJ stocks depressed? (MJ the ETF?!)

 

socaldude

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What happened around my area is a lot of dispensaries got shut down because of permit/zoning issues.

And what actually came to light was that it was worth opening up shop to risk civil penalties and still make money.

I think just recently they passed municipal legislation that makes it a criminal issue rather than a civil.
 
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Jonathan Hoch

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Prison industry must be insanely profitable, to be able to keep this from being legalized nationwide. They're one of the largest lobbyists, and most prisons would likely be emptied out, if it weren't for this crime keeping them fed...
 

HelpAndProsper

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Speaking of the MJ industry, is the industry at its low? Is MJ a now buy with MJ stocks depressed? (MJ the ETF?!)

Yield is very high on it right now too.....Could be a good long-term buy.
 

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