To many people, working within the cannabis business, or the “cannabusiness,” sounds like a dream come true. Although state and federal laws vary throughout the United States, the demand for different forms of marijuana in both medicinal and recreational use has created a booming industry with many new jobs requiring all kinds of skills. Here, we will take a look at the wide variety of career opportunities within the cannabis industry, and tips for how you can start your own successful cannabusiness.
The Many Types of Cannabusinesses
What is most exciting about the booming cannabis industry is the wealth of opportunity for different skill sets. Whether you’re interested in the botanical science of breeding and growing the source plants needed for a marijuana crop, the laboratory work in creating ingestible strains, or are marketing-minded and hope to own your own boutique cannabis shop or medical dispensary, the sky’s the limit for future success. So really, the first question you should ask yourself is “How would my skill sets be best used in a cannabusiness?”
Although the job descriptions are very diverse, in starting your own cannabusiness, try and focus on the two main types of businesses within the industry itself: the cultivation of the marijuana crop, and the dispensaries which focus on sales and distribution.
Sales: Shops and Dispensaries
Like any startup company, starting your own cannabusiness has its fair share of challenges. However, the end of the sale of the spectrum (boutique shops, eCommerce online selling, and medical dispensaries) are slightly easier to get into, so we will begin there. Simply put, the manufacturers of marijuana plants and concentrates supply the converted extracts into sellable products, such as vape liquids and edibles, and then your shop markets the product to the public. Here, there are tons of job opportunities at every turn: research and marketing, website and product graphic design, and high-tech mobile device-based apps that assist customers in finding your store and placing orders.
New products that you were unaware even existed have sparked creativity in thinking outside the box in third-party product design. For example, Veil is a new product that eliminates the easily-recognizable odor of marijuana smoke and at smellveil.com, it’s easily seen that such innovative products are springing up to compliment the cannabusiness industry. By creating a comprehensive business plan, you can decide if a brick-and-mortar dispensary or an online eCommerce store is best for you, either of which allows you to use your marketing and sales skills, as well as entrepreneurship, in reaching a customer base. Be aware, however, that your due diligence must include the state and federal laws for where your company is based. As fun and exciting as owning your own cannabusiness sounds, the regular protocols regarding privacy policy and customers’ personal information and discount codes at checkout all apply, in conjunction with your location’s marijuana legal mandates.
Manufacturing: Growing and Cultivation
Before a shop or dispensary may sell and distribute a cannabis product, the most important aspect of the industry comes into play: the botanical elements which grow and cultivate the marijuana plants themselves. Here, botanists and manufacturers work together to create specific strains of marijuana for a wide variety of uses, then manufacture the actual liquids, oils, concentrates, and edibles themselves. Finally, those products are bottled or packaged for marketing and sale.
Within the growing and cultivation aspect, breeders develop the cannabis seeds using knowledge and experimentation to craft new strains, then give the seeds to professional cultivators who grow the plants to maturity. Then, the skilled hands of cannabis extractors convert the plant materials into THC and CBD concentrates into useable forms; in turn, those elements are processed into an ingestible product: oils, vape liquids, and edibles.
At a manufacturing plant or separate facility, the product is packaged and shipped to stores and dispensaries around the United States. Even this part of the process has ample opportunities for you to own your own cannabusiness. Companies, such as CoolJarz, have created an innovative shrink wrap machine to assist in bottling and labeling the finished products, allowing small businesses to produce sellable products where once a room-sized steam tunnel required a full facility. As seen on their website at CoolJarz.com, tons of creative jobs within manufacturing and shipping are now possible are a startup industry, allowing new entrepreneurs to invest in diverse areas of the industry never before existing.
If you’ve been contemplating your own cannabusiness, any one of these exciting areas is still considered ground-floor opportunities and, as noted, requires all kinds of skills and imagination. Do your due diligence and consider how you, too, can apply your skills and abilities to making a cannabusiness a reality!