Whether you offer cannabis flowers, oil, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, or accessories, enforcing good business practices does not only give top-notch service to your customers but you are working towards establishing your business as one of the most trusted product and service providers. 

How to ensure that your cannabis business is one of the good brands out there:

Push for Sourcing Transparency

One marketing strategy done by meat producers that cannabis dispensary business owners can implement in theirs is being transparent about the sourcing process of cannabis from soil to shelves. Knowing where the product comes from is important for both farmers and growers because you are informing your customers what goes into the product that they are consuming. This helps your customers get to know more about the product and your business. In addition to transparency as a building block for your brand and relationship with your customers, it is also a compliance requirement for business owners in the industry. The FDA treats cannabis and cannabis-infused products just like any other product that passes their jurisdiction. 

When you push for sourcing transparency, you are giving your customers assurance that their buys are ethically sourced and you are investing in your brand’s name and in your relationship with your customers. Transparency from the seed-to-shelf process can also be an angle for your business’ marketing and you can also push content materials highlighting your certificates of compliance.

Safe, Secure, and Creative Packaging

Part of the buying experience is browsing through pages or product catalogues. Some business owners might think that packaging will just be in the trash can once a customer makes a purchase but the plastic, foil, or whatever material wraps your product adds value. 

Packaging contains all the essential information one needs to know about a certain product. Packaging is helpful, especially for those who prefer to shop in-store but do not want assistance. Of course, the aforementioned reason is for those who put knowledge and information first when shopping but you cannot also discount those who live for beautifully crafted packaging. Above all else, your packaging should serve its function which is to house your product safely and securely.

While we all have the liberty to design our packaging the way we want it, trading cannabis has its fair share of rules set by states on what you can and cannot do. If you are on your way to revamping your packaging, make sure to double-check the state laws that govern your area to ensure that you are abiding by them. You may check prevailing laws here and also, here’s a quick guide on cannabis label compliance.

Related: Clever Ways Millennials Would Creatively Promote Your Brand

Consumer Education

As responsible business owners, part of your job is to educate your consumers about the products or services they are getting. With a business in the cannabis industry, it is essential that business owners and their employees teach customers and potential customers everything they need to know about the product. Investing in consumer education allows your customers to choose what is right for them and providing an avenue where you can discuss everything under the cannabis niche will help hone informed users. So take advantage of your websites, social media platforms and participation in online communities such as Reddit among many others. These platforms are the ideal place to start the conversation about the green industry.

Lastly, it is also important that your customer service associates or whoever is out there facing your customers are pleasant and knowledgeable about your products and business. A customer will learn the most from an effective teacher. 

Related: How Can Cannabis Retailers Leverage On Product Education

Make Your Business Accessible

Gone are the days when the cannabis trade are done in secret or under the table. With the government and states loosening up to the use and consumption of cannabis, growers have been given the opportunity to no longer hide as long as they do their business right. In line with this, one of the things you need to ask yourself is, is your business accessible enough? We do not mean this by whether or not you still tried privately but we want to talk about where your business presence is.

Nowadays, everyone is taking their business online. If you have a physical store, you might probably have social media pages for your business. Other business owners have taken it to another level by creating websites and even an app for dispensaries. These platforms contain not just their products, but everything a consumer needs to know about the brand and the products. Good brands stay up to date with what’s new not just in their industry but also in tech to help them drive their business to the future.
 

Related: Cannabis Dispensary Apps Are The Next Big Thing

Good Businesses Put Their Customers First

Coming off from making your business accessible, one way of knowing a business is a good business is when they put their customers first. There are different types of customers across markets. They are the people who build your business with you and they can also take that power away. When building your business one of the most important things you need to consider is your customer’s needs. An example of that today would be cannabis dispensary business owners who develop their own websites or mobile app. These business owners do not create these tools for their own benefit but with what my customers want in mind. They then go on to develop mobile applications that do not just sell their products but also a tool that helps with community building.

Related: White Label Cannabis Apps --Still a Yay or Now a Nay?

While the five points mentioned above are our best recommendations on how to build a good business, the list is endless and you can even discover steps on how your business can be a force for good. If you have managed to start on the right path, below are supplementary steps on how you can take your good business further:

Address Needs In The Community

Managing your business can be a daunting task in itself but if you have the time and energy to offer a form of service to your community, go for it! 

The use of cannabis is not usually a topic that a lot of lobby for despite the lifting of restrictions across states. What you can do as a business is address things from a different angle. We all know that cannabis is used for medical purposes and one of the things you can leverage is making sure patients in the hospital are properly educated and informed about using your products. You can also try reaching out to organizations to give an educational talk about cannabis to destigmatize the plant and industry. You can also host online forums since it is one of the best ways to inform people about advocacies and causes.

Be An Influencer For Good

As a business owner, you are the face of your business. Take advantage of the world opening up to welcome the cannabis industry by being a trailblazer in promoting the benefits of using your product. While you focus on highlighting the contributions of cannabis in the medical field, you should also be a leader in implementing the rules set in place by the government. Being a good business does not only mean selling good products but also being a leader of change in the industry.

Reach Out

While this article is focused on building good cannabis businesses, you might also want to consider being a force for good outside the cannabis community. There are a lot of opportunities out in the world that could help your brand or business have a good name. You can try volunteering or help out with certain causes or groups and while we might want to lobby for normalizing the use and trade of cannabis, it is also important to make sure that the community who does not use it is comfortable with the presence of the product around them. By showing them that you are an outstanding business owner and member of the community, they will slowly adjust and they might even learn and relearn things about the passion you have for your business.

There is no single business model that will ensure that your business is a good business. It is even a trial-and-error situation before you land on the nice list. Nonetheless, there are endless sources of information on how to build a better business that is not solely focused on generating income but is a good force in the community as well.