How To Not Make a Million Dollars in the Weed Business

[baba G]

Cool, Yeah, it was a matter of time before growing average mmj became a minimum wage job as people will work for nothing right now just to have a job...
If you have impeccable medicine that stands above the average I believe there is still plenty of people that will pay a premium as there is so much subpar mmj these days due to the overall production.

 

[GreenThumbBill]

I surprised an indian reservation hasn't started a mmc. They would actually have a chance at being completely protected from the feds. I could be wrong but it seems to have potential IMHO.

thoughts....

Natives are only protected from feds in theory and on paper. Feds have fucked with natives forever and always will. Federal law is not honored. Feds and natives have been in a constant war forever and it will probably never end.

 

[SoCoMMJ]

Cool, Yeah, it was a matter of time before growing average mmj became a minimum wage job as people will work for nothing right now just to have a job...
If you have impeccable medicine that stands above the average I believe there is still plenty of people that will pay a premium as there is so much subpar mmj these days due to the overall production.

In the real world there are many more consumers that would prefer to buy the bottom of the dry box for $30 a 1/2 than there are cannaseurs that will buy the elite strains for $60 a 1/4.

The biggest percentage of the market is not the cannaseur that hangs out on THC farmer. The biggest MMJ consumers are us old farts that creak so bad it hurts when you try to get around. Good quality buds at a fair price, that is what the market dictates. If you grow an awesome 16 week sativa and charge even 25% more than an awesome 9 week sativa it will sit around and gather dust while the less expensive flies off the shelf. Supply and demand is the market driver. The demand is for less expense.

I am fairly certain that more Honda are sold each day than Acuras. They both get you where you need to be. One just is more impressive to your buddies.

And yes, there is a lot of shitty meds being sold. I posted on another forum instructions how to inspect their meds before purchase. People on here should already know...

 

[420bliss]

I surprised an indian reservation hasn't started a mmc. They would actually have a chance at being completely protected from the feds. I could be wrong but it seems to have potential IMHO.

thoughts....

i seen a documentary where a tribe on a reservation tried to grow hemp for industrial purposes and the dea came every year with a crew of guys with weed wackers to destroy their crop.

 

[baba G]

I kinda agree...but

In the real world there are many more consumers that would prefer to buy the bottom of the dry box for $30 a 1/2 than there are cannaseurs that will buy the elite strains for $60 a 1/4.

The biggest percentage of the market is not the cannaseur that hangs out on THC farmer. The biggest MMJ consumers are us old farts that creak so bad it hurts when you try to get around. Good quality buds at a fair price, that is what the market dictates. If you grow an awesome 16 week sativa and charge even 25% more than an awesome 9 week sativa it will sit around and gather dust while the less expensive flies off the shelf. Supply and demand is the market driver. The demand is for less expense.

I am fairly certain that more Honda are sold each day than Acuras. They both get you where you need to be. One just is more impressive to your buddies.

And yes, there is a lot of shitty meds being sold. I posted on another forum instructions how to inspect their meds before purchase. People on here should already know...

I hear you on that for sure, but I gotta say I don't see BMW & Mercedes and Porsche/Ferrari asking for bailout money or going under....
And since it cost almost the same amount to grow shitty indoor versus really kind indoor you see Why I would only mess with the best. In cali people will pay 50 per 1/8th all day for good herb and also I hear $60 per 1/8th flies when it's the best quality. I don't doubt Honda sells more than Acura but I see them lowering prices and offering bargains, and I dont see any high end cars throwing deals...

 

[SoCoMMJ]

And since it cost almost the same amount to grow shitty indoor versus really kind indoor you see Why I would only mess with the best.

Why are you assuming that all the indoor weed is all shitty? Are there places that grow shitty indoor? I have no doubt. Is all indoor shitty? No way.

I'm just saying that the market demands pressure on pricing more than pressure on elite genteics. AK47, Pineapple Express, White Widow, etc will outsell uncommonly named elite strains 10-1. Patients recognize and buy what they have heard of before. Columbian Gold sells out the day it hits the shelf...although I do have to say the pheno we have is pretty nice. G13 is another that flies out the door. Are there people that will buy the elites? Sure there are, but they are vastly out numbered.

Brand/Strain recognition is also huge. Even labeling can make a huge difference. As a test I set up two similarly colored Blue Dream labels. One featured a nude but discrete woman, and the other some dream like scene. Of course the nude sold many times more. Even to the women, which surprised me. Again this is just based on the label.

I have no doubt that elite genetics are what the cannaseurs demand and of course they have their place, but they are not the majority of market share by any means.

 

[baba G]

I don't think all indoor weed is shitty. What I meant with that statement is that if the overhead is gonna be that high, since power and the equip is universal with indoor the people that can't grow the super elite are having it rougher than those who can. In my experience the label and naming really doesn't matter if the herb is blowing their mind upon visual inspection. We are in totally different markets too it seems, it's elite only where I'm at being super saturated with medical herbs...You guys just might be feeling the medical scene saturation effect CAli has been feeling for awhile too, I don't know. Sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way with my comment SoCoMMJ.


And I agree elites aren't the majority of the market, That's why I've stuck with a Niche market.
Nice to hear that the Columbian Gold is staying strong, used to puff on that in high school days and loved that sativa high and skateboarding!

 

[PoopyCoopy]

an acura is a honda
its like growing thai weed under lights.

And brand recognition is an important thing. As the market levels out you will see more boutique shops open up. much like the micro brew industry.

Even in a saturated market the one with the niche products will always do well.

 

[SoCoMMJ]

Then about the time shops get settled in, here comes legalization 2012.

Not sure what to think about that one from a business perspective.

I'm thinking med shops will likely convert to general retail shops.
The demand will initially outstrip the supply.
Then the price death spiral will start to kick in as everybody and their brother jump in to the fray.

Consumers can pop their own. The grow stores may kill it on that one.

Maybe it will be like beer. You are free to brew all you want, but most folks just swing by the liquor store.

It would be nice to have some idea what is coming down the pike. Hard to create a business plan when it's against a giant spinning question mark :)

 

[eyecandi]

in one of the discussions it was put forth that any business involved in the Med scene cannot be involved in the recreational scene. we'll see what really pans out.

 

[caregiverken]

Consumers can pop their own. The grow stores may kill it on that one.

Maybe it will be like beer. You are free to brew all you want, but most folks just swing by the liquor store.

It would be nice to have some idea what is coming down the pike. Hard to create a business plan when it's against a giant spinning question mark :)

Yep...Grow stores are where its at.

I think you are right though...most folks will just buy it..not grow it.

 

[norm]

seems like a simple solution to all your problems here....dont open a dispensary. LOL everyone opens a dispensary with one thing in mind $$$$$
its obvious to most that have been inb this game for sometime, that owning a disp is the last position in this industry you want to be in. kolah summed it up well. i could have told you that years ago, its not gonna make you rich, nor happy. risk dictates reward, and the last place most will make a million is a dispensary. you want a long term good profitable business? why the fuck would you look for that in this industry? to help people? then thats not a business! wake up man! dont want the regs, join a different industry. you wanna help people and own a dispensary? if ends dont meet, how about starting a different business to supplement income, and bein a real entrepeneur? not enough time? quit whining and man the fuck up, their is plenty of ways to make a living, your current model will not be successful. can tell your smart and seem like a hard worker, why are you limiting yourself so much

a different topic, but when i here whining about shit like this from people in this thread I gotta say
one thing most of you could give a fuck about is what your state is doing to the rest of us. the gold rush and all those dispensarys, and weak ass growers selling pm sandwiches and mite burgers, the legislation, prices dropping, tougher interstate and highway enforcement, more heat and problems all the way around.

now its legalization 2012,

thanks colorado

 

[kolah]

Then about the time shops get settled in, here comes legalization 2012.

Not sure what to think about that one from a business perspective.

I'm thinking med shops will likely convert to general retail shops.
The demand will initially outstrip the supply.
Then the price death spiral will start to kick in as everybody and their brother jump in to the fray.

Consumers can pop their own. The grow stores may kill it on that one.

Maybe it will be like beer. You are free to brew all you want, but most folks just swing by the liquor store.

It would be nice to have some idea what is coming down the pike. Hard to create a business plan when it's against a giant spinning question mark :)

This is what makes the MMJ club-business venture so terribly risky. It has really become a crap shoot. Many folks who have failed have lost all the savings they had or are now filing bankruptcy. On a positive note there will always be a niche geared towards the rich folks. Most of the middle and lower class will go for the bargain weed.

The burning questions remains: How much will the bargain weed plummet?

AND how much longer before Big Pharm and Big Corps take over the market? This takeover is already in the works.

I think it will boil down to just the smalltime underground growers being quite content with supplying a few buddies and a few patients. Get ready for that huge sucking sound when the bottom drops out of the MMJ Green Rush.

If I had a MMJ shop/club I would be focused on marketing for loyal longtime customers. (keep that DEMAND). Then it is would easy to SUPPLY them by growing anywhere with some real privacy and no one dipping into your profits. When and if you shut down your government controlled MMJ shop your cutomers will still want your products. There are many ways to "sign up" customers for life.

The entire MMJ "legal" thing has become a fucking nightmare. But this is exactly what happens when Big Gov intervenes in private business. They opened up the laws and set the bar to get a feel for the MMJ market. Now that they know it is a profitable billion dollar business and they will take it over and monopolize it. They will use any means necessary to take it too, laws, taxes, fines, jail, theft and excessive force. Lets face it folks, Big Gov is nothing more than a fucking Mafia...but only much worse.

 

[PoopyCoopy]

Big Companies can just not compete.

Much like the larger warehouses, Usually the more production the lower the quality.

What happens when the industry see's its first super bug and everyone's mother plants need to be tossed? There are a lot of holes to be plugged and still a lot of opportunities. Jumping thru regulated hoops is so the state can make money, not to provide the consumer with the best product.

Its going to come down to this, how much is cannabis really worth? In general it seems to me people who got involved in this industry had some business acumen and knew nothing about dope. Or those who could grow the best but know nothing about business. Lets be honest, most growers etc have done everything the opposite way for many years, how many if qualified would even want to keep a set of books.

 

[kolah]

Good points Poopy

It's simple.

Those who control the market control the price. Big Gov is the King of Control. (think Mafia)

 

[fishwhistle]

"The entire MMJ "legal" thing has become a fucking nightmare. But this is exactly what happens when Big Gov intervenes in private business. They opened up the laws and set the bar to get a feel for the MMJ market. Now that they know it is a profitable billion dollar business and they will take it over and monopolize it. They will use any means necessary to take it too, laws, taxes, fines, jail, theft and excessive force. Lets face it folks, Big Gov is nothing more than a fucking Mafia...but only much worse."

Once again kolah is right on the money,government will regulate the profit out of ANYTHING.

"Big Companies can just not compete."

I beg to differ poopy your living in fantasyland,they can kick your ass at anything you do if they are so inclined,many small businesses that no longer exist said the same thing about walmart.

 

[sky high]

Then about the time shops get settled in, here comes legalization 2012.

Not sure what to think about that one from a business perspective.

I'm thinking med shops will likely convert to general retail shops.
The demand will initially outstrip the supply.
Then the price death spiral will start to kick in as everybody and their brother jump in to the fray.

Consumers can pop their own. The grow stores may kill it on that one.

Maybe it will be like beer. You are free to brew all you want, but most folks just swing by the liquor store.

It would be nice to have some idea what is coming down the pike. Hard to create a business plan when it's against a giant spinning question mark :)

Folks believing that they will just slide into a good game and that PUBLIC SALES WILL BE TOLERATED via these laws are smoking the good stuff, fer sure.

These laws, like our med law..will be created for individiuals..not for businesses to flourish as a result of the law or as an open invitation for sales and huge grows/etc. as has happened "after the fact" with MMJ and the MMC's

Folks had better band together as individuals and run this from behind the scenes..as it always has been (til the clowns came) or "corporate" will be running the show in no time whatsoever. (MMC's are the stepping stone to corporate right now and should also be gone)

 

[PoopyCoopy]

"Big Companies can just not compete."

I beg to differ poopy your living in fantasyland,they can kick your ass at anything you do if they are so inclined,many small businesses that no longer exist said the same thing about walmart.

Its the American public that supports walmart. Its not the evil corporation who makes you shop there, its the uneducated public who wants to save five cents by buying an inferior imported product.

We are talking about a pretty specialized product here.
Its no different then the choice of buying coors or something from new Belgium.

When growing a plant such as a cannabis too there is no guarantee on production. Big Pharma could set up shop, but what happens when they get grey mold all over their crop? And need to salvage 2 tons of finished product. Its not like they can rely on outside vendors in this state.

and just for reference walmart only has like a 9% market share
and anyway a lot of this talk is about retail business anyway.

Do you want to own a shoe store? or a 711? any store in the mall?

 

[PoopyCoopy]

a company like apple might be a better comparison then walmart for this industry.

 

[Illmind]

christ so if u shop at walmart your uneducated? cmon that makes u look uneducated. smart ppl balance their books and save all they can. dumbasses go pay 20$ more for something because they believe they are supporting a cause lol. thats real. ever notice the hardcore buy american crowd are dumb rednecks? not all rednecks are dumb now just most of em. i say fuk the gov drive the clinics underground like they do head shops and dont openly sell weed period without the drs note sell cigars or something. then they get no tax money and the owner is safe as long as he only serves those with dr recs. fuk it cop a bodega.. great now sum other jackass gonna get rich off my idea. but as long as it fuks the gov out of tax dollars to come bust us we all win. would the gov have got into cocaine trafficking had ppl like esco and griselda stayed low key? prob not. take a look at downtown miami before cocaine then after.