Today we’re going to speak about the best way to put a cannabis business application together. The agenda for today is actually we’re going to begin with what makes a software successful and then we’re likely to break it down into sections with financials, location, architects, security standard operating procedures, staffing, community benefits, labor, and lots of other stuff that we’re going to tie up neatly in the end.
Just a few things to provide you with a concept of what we do here at Green Growth CPAs. We 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 have over 300 clients located in various states. We have now clients from California, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington.
We’ve also performed spanning a dozen audit related projects within the last year and we’re expected to hit seven digits in revenues in our second full business year. We all do want you to find out that there exists a thorough and deep comprehension of tax compliance and assurance related requirements for that cannabis industry and also this includes cannabis licensing. We will help you with tax preparation and planning, auditing and assurance, business plans, and anything else related to operating a business within the cannabis industry.
So like I said, we’re going to begin with exactly what makes an application successful. I do believe what all applicants prospective and current applicants really learn in the process would be that the instructions and understanding them is about eighty percent of passing an excellent application. You have to know what exactly the city or perhaps the state is looking for, the way that they wanted delivered. A lot of the time, you already know, the headers in the requirements could be misleading.
Like I said, you know, they can say, oh, we need a business plan, but if you browse the requirements are what they’re asking for. It has nothing to do with your typical concept of what a business plan is really. So half the battle or more than half in the battle is really being aware of what could they be seeking, just how do they want me to submit this and and after that submitting it. You’re going to desire to thoroughly address every portion of the application in more detail. You want to ensure that you understand the prerequisites. Although most of the time applications do have a similar requirements. They may want specifics that other applications don’t.
For example, let’s say Lynwood, the metropolis of Lynwood in California. They desire a cannabis business strategy that will require you to definitely demonstrate and explain your daily operations, which include cash handling practices, some security, some inventory and record keeping where versus the metropolis of LA that might say, oh, we wish a business plan that wants one to show financials what your company’s mission and vision is, which is pretty much what you’d expect in a business strategy. So you should be careful and check out the descriptions from the headers because sometimes the headers can be misleading.
Next you’re going to have to surround yourself with the right people. You need to show within the application you have the right team in place to run an effective operation. Usually they are going to ask for the owners or licensees to include a quick writeup demonstrating experience in either the cannabis industry or related field, and in case you don’t have this experience, you’re likely to want to find people who do and can include them in your team.
You’re also likely to wish to have solid financial projections and security measures to prevent fraud. You may already know, cannabis is a highly regulated industry and they are the two pillars that many states, if not all of them, want you to focus on. You’re also planning to wish to vet all of your partners, do your due diligence. You are going to have to go by way of a background check and this background check is needed by all cities and states.
Another important thing that you ought to consider before even obtaining cannabiscultivationconsulting.com is you’re planning to want to ensure that you have the funds for to build out and operate for about half a year to some year. We receive lots of inquiries from prospective clients who want to get into the cannabis industry and they’re always blown away by the amount of money actually is put into building out and operating a cannabis business before it will become profitable and you know, there’s not one other way round the financials, you already know, cities and states will not issue permits to individuals that can’t demonstrate a financial ability to start up a business whilst keeping it running. And 2nd, if an individual. We 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 something that cities take a look at also because not everybody may have cannabis industry experience since it is illegal. It had been illegal over a state level and is also now legal. So that you know, if you can to demonstrate some type of experience with the cannabis industry, you understand that’s a self revealing, however, if you don’t, then you will need to consider putting a group of people together that will show strengths running a business, finance, HR, that every add up to a company.
For instance. We get lots of inquiries from people who want to become cannabis business operators that have no experience even running their own business so they could have some funds, you understand, that they’ve inherited or or some friends, a small group of friends that, hey, you know, decide some day that, hey, we must go into the cannabis industry and when we pool our money together, then we can easily start one end and sometimes they actually do have enough money.
But now you ask who are they members? And lots of the time, you might need to pay to outsource for such qualified associates. If you’re planning to get into medical cannabis, you may want to possess a doctor or a pharmacist in some way, shape or form on your own staffing plan. At least for your first six to one year. This always strengthens your chances of being issued a permit and a license simply because you know even if you have the money, you need to have the employees and also the members to trudge forward successfully within this industry and remain compliant because which is a really big issue…compliance. And as soon as track and trace is fully operational and vodnsg over the board, compliance will be one of the big determinants of whether cannabis business will be successful. In case I were you, a very important thing to accomplish is to go into your accounts or your asset portfolios and discover exactly how much money you have, how much cash you’re going to have to raise, and how much money you’re likely to need to put into this cannabis business. Because it’s not cheap.
You’re also likely to want to have an extremely solid comprehension of state and local regulations. More often than not, applicants will hire consultants to achieve this to them. Regulations can be tricky simply because they’re very vague. There’s lots of wiggle room, so you’re going to desire to find somebody that may be either a part of your team that will help you with compliance continuing to move forward, or you’re likely to want to engage the assistance of a business or perhaps a consulting group that can do this for you personally like us.
The very last thing that you’re really gonna want to think about before you apply for a cannabis business licenses is thinking about what will set my company besides everybody else’s? And a lot of the time this is accomplished through, you understand, giving to a major city, but it’s a little more about community integration, you understand, flipping the idea of cannabis is bad into how cannabis can certainly be helpful, how it can reach out and touch lives, you understand, over the board, whether it’s for patients or consumers especially for your community where you’re going to set up.