As a stoner, young adult, and entrepreneur, I can not help but wonder about the potential the marijuana industry holds. Is wanting to get a part of it, ridiculous or possible? Which route do I take, handling raw material, dispensaries - high risk or "piggyback" off the industry, ancillary business - moderate risk. Does this resonate with anyone? In case you didn't know, ancillary businesses are secondary businesses that a retailer operates within the primary retail operation. Basically, it's a business that "piggybacks" off of another business or industry, providing products or services that pertain to that specific business or industry. I looked into the dispensary route, but honestly, I felt that I didn't have the necessary ingredients to make it happen, eg. Equipment, storefront, capital, experience, scientific knowledge, etc. I think you get the point. From there I started brainstorming way to get into the industry without going "balls deep" and trying to start a dispensary - which is nearly impossible with the restrictions the government has been implementing. Thus, I fell in love with the aspect of "piggybacking" off the industry. I mean why not? -I'm a stoner, I know a lot about the industry in general. -I have a lot of experience and expertise that could be combined with marijuana making the profit potential 10x-100x. -And frankly, I would like to stay as safe and risk free as possible; I'd like to put my head down at night and not worry about the Feds breaking my door down and losing everything! If you find this post resonates with you, here are a few articles I found very inspirational and thought provoking. My favorite quote thus far is by Justin Hartfield, founder of Weedmaps which grossed $25 million in revenue last year. "it's like during the gold rush. You didn't necessarily want to be a gold miner, but you wanted to be Levi Strauss." http://www.inc.com/abigail-tracy/the-obstacles-facing-potrepreneurs.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-marijuana-entrepreneurs-20140508-story.html http://www.cannalawblog.com/ancillary-marijuana-businesses-a-legal-grayer-area/ http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/community-related/entrepreneurs-looking-for-business-opportunities-in-marijuana-industry http://m.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/01/24/investors-entrepreneurs-look-for-big.html?page=all&r=full http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/01/20/puff-pass-paint-canvas-cocktails-marijuana-crowd-interview/2885/
That's definitely possible but I'm trying to stay way outside the box. For example I have a good question. What business could you start in a state where it's not even legal yet?? I answered this question by pursuing an online approach but I'm sure there is other ways. The legalization factor shouldn't be holding anybody back - unfortunately people let it.