Attitude towards cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use has seen a positive shift in recent years. More and more countries all over the world are legalizing it which in turn has opened up a lot of opportunities for new business ideas.
What you need is originality, transparent communication with customers, but more importantly, you need to stay within the margins of rules and regulations that can very easily create obstacles if you are not careful. Since I was very interested in this pretty new line of work I decided to talk to the people who deal with the bureaucratic element of the business.
Green Leaf Business Solutions stepped up and helped me understand what to do to thrive in the heavily regulated industry.
Try to Be Different
This is crucial in every business. You need to present a product that’s going to offer something different to the market, but at the same time be presented in a familiar way to the public so nobody gets confused. Think about what you like, or what you would like to buy and work towards that idea. You can’t guarantee any medical effects of your product and if you try to do so you might end up facing legal problems, that’s why you need to find a way to work around that by introducing something like improvements for a healthier life. Whatever your idea might be, the key lies in originality and legality. If you are able to connect the two in a way that works for everybody, then your business will, more than likely, succeed.
The Legal Side of Things
There’s been a stigma on cannabis for years, and now that more countries are legalizing it, you still need to be careful with how you market your product carefully. The product can’t contain more than 0.3%of THC and you need to stay within those limits for now. Also, mainstream social networks and other popular platforms are still reluctant to market any cannabis product, so you should turn your attention elsewhere.
Find the Right Marketing Strategy
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. You know who your target audience is, their approximate age, and what platforms they use on a day-to-day basis. Since you can’t market your product directly via regular ads, you need to work with your partners to find a workaround. Influencers and a more direct approach to the customers could work. This type of advertisement is popular and effective. Companies spend a lot of money on creating the right plan. Quality products mixed with influencer’s content that they can show on or off-stream will turn a lot of their viewers into potential customers.
Building Trust
This is vital for your strategy. You need to present your product on a more direct and personal level. Share your own experiences and that of your friends. Talk about how it affected your life and how you felt. Some people are afraid or just not informed enough. This is where you step in with good ideas where you can present your business in a way that’s not intrusive, but helpful and informative. Some people are also concerned about the legality, and that’s why you want to address that issue too.
Raising Awareness
As a cannabis businessman, it is your responsibility, partially to educate people and raise awareness while you make money. Raising awareness will not only put you in a good spot in terms of legality but ensure your product thrives in different states as more people gain your trust. If you create a product you are proud of, you would want to share it with as many people as possible, as long as you stay within the frame of law. These 3 aspects work together to create a successful brand name that communicates quality and trust.