Potential Red Flags When Selecting a Cannabis Consulting Firm
February 15, 2017
As growers across the country become licensed and ready to take their operation to a commercial scale, consulting firms across the country are pouncing on these new opportunities. While cannabis consulting firms provide a service that can be invaluable to many growers, a lot of these consulting groups seem to have a predatory nature hidden behind their promises of help and profits.
For those looking to go the consulting route, making the choice of which firm to go with is potentially the biggest decision a grower will make. It is essential to educated yourself on the process and to use a consulting firm as a resource, instead of a group dictating your business decisions.
When selecting a consulting firm one of the first things to consider is how the firm makes money. Most will require equity in your company or a portion of the money made off of your harvests. Before signing any agreements or terms, it is essential to understand exactly how you will be paying the consulting firm. This may seem kind of obvious, but many growers allow consulting groups equity in their company only to regret it later. There is absolutely nothing worse than achieving the first commercial harvest only to find that all the profits will go straight into your consultant’s pockets.
The second thing to be wary of are consulting groups offering turnkey packages. Given the political climate surround the industry and regional building requirements, there really is no such thing as a turnkey solution for a cannabis operation. Often times municipalities will require their architects to approve plans or make amendments to them. On top of that, there are often licenses or permits that are unique to a particular region, making a turnkey option nearly impossible.
Consulting groups should be upfront with the fact that building a commercial cannabis operation will certainly lead to its fair share of headaches. They are there to provide help during the process, and any group that says it can circumvent these issues probably lacks experience.
Trying to avoid the municipal and legal requirements can literally cost a business millions in the long run, so go with a firm that wants to tackle these issues head on, not one that wants to avoid them with turnkey solutions.
To provide growers with an option that ensures equity-free consultation and also helps growers meet municipal and regional requirements, GrowSpan now provides cannabis consultation.
The best part of GrowSpan’s consultation group is that they blend their industry knowledge with actual commercial agriculture experience. This allows them to make effective recommendations that can actually increase profits. Instead of taking the ideas learned in underground grow ops and applying them to commercial production, GrowSpan’s consultants integrate proven commercial techniques that allow growers to significantly lower their cost per gram.
GrowSpan cannabis consultation allows growers to create an ideal growing environment for cannabis cultivation, while also keeping energy consumption at a minimum. Energy-grid experts are on staff to help growers meet the program objectives of many energy companies and government agencies. This allows growers to acquire valuable rebates and financing that can be reallocated toward further business needs.
You can sign up for more information on GrowSpan’s cannabis consultation here.
When seeking a consulting firm to create your operation it is important to know what you’re getting into. Make sure you completely understand how the payment structure is processed. You shouldn’t have to give up equity in your business or harvests in order to have a successful operation. Turnkey promises are nearly impossible to pull off in the industry, so don’t fall for empty promises made by insincere consulting firms. Protect your pocket and your plants by choosing consultants that will work for you and not your profits.