What aspect of your business do you find most challenging? What don’t you have that you would like to have?
One of the biggest issues we have faced growing our business, along with thousands of other cannabis businesses, is access to a bank. I spent ~ 4 months researching different options and setting up our current bank account. It was a huge hassle with a lot of hurdles to jump over and that makes it discouraging to startups that are trying to build a real business. Non-cannabis professionals are initially surprised when I tell them that even ancillary companies get their bank accounts shut down. But after I explain the current situation our industry is in and how banks are federally insured, the light bulbs start to go off.
What does @AllGreenUSA use for banking?
Nick,
I know its a little early for me to get into this. Lets get the vendor corner all set up and whatever else I need to do. I have a solution to this, it involves the right players regionally. It involves the stock market. URB Organic will be going public as soon as possible and I actually have a business proposal which allows anyone to legally turn a profit through just the purchase of product at a grow store. Thus, providing a stream of income based on being a shareholder of URB. This doesn’t solve the problem of acquiring a bank account for a Cannabis business directly, but it does solve the problem of converting cash from your Cannabis related business to checks into your investment related bank account in an indirect but legal way
Cash flow. A majority of our start-up capital was eaten away by salaries (and other lesser expenses) while waiting for our license application to go through. Basically we had about an extra half-year of operating and overhead expenses beyond our safety net with no revenue. This has severely curtailed our ramp-up. I had to let good people go - unfortunately to my competition - and am working the small staff that I can afford to the edge of their limits with the promise that soon we’ll be back on track.
I appreciate your answer and it is a challenge for many cannabis start-ups. Coming up with adequate capital in the licensing process is key to sustaining your growth. We have helped numerous companies through this and we would be happy to talk to you about funding options.
Nick-
Good feedback here buddy. Banking is one of the largest issues absolutely. Since we have served traditional small business communities for years we bank with Chase. We provide consulting and ancillary services but still flying under the radar at the moment with the bank.
However, we have some exciting banking news coming down the pipeline with some Wall Street relationships for TRUE Cannabis banking solutions. Not trying to talk much about it quite yet but stay tuned.
Cheers.
Brian