How To Get Your Cannabis Application Rejected Immediately!
Do you want to know a surefire way to have your new cannabis license application completely rejected by the approval board? I'm going to tell you a case where that almost happened.
A client out of Missouri of ours was approached by some third-party consulting company, we use that term very loosely here, to fill out all their application process for a cultivation facility, a manufacturing facility, and two dispensaries. These people told them they know they've done this before, they're vetted out by all these other people, they're guaranteeing to get them their licenses. They're promising the world to fill out their application and get them these cannabis licenses. They charged them $60,000 to do this. That's way too expensive. I'm going to tell you that right now, in case you're trying to price out, "How much should I pay someone?" Not that much!
Oh, and that was a discount, by the way, a huge discount! It's probably closer to $80k or something they originally wanted to charge them. For that, I mean, you'd have to have some serious clout behind you with some serious connections to pull, but yeah, obviously these guys didn't have it.
Anyway, so the company that hired this consulting company, they're composed of three lawyers and a doctor. So they're smart people, but they don't really know the cannabis industry, which is why they hired someone to help them fill out the application to further enhance their chances of getting approval.
After reading the submissions that were given to them, they really weren't too convinced that this was the right stuff. So, they turned to me and asked me, "Hey, can we hire your company to review this application and give us your thoughts, because there's just a couple things in there we're not too sure about." So, of course we said, "Yep, no problem. We'll definitely take a look at it and help you out."
So, I received the applications and I started reviewing all the pieces. So there's one question on the application that says, “When you open, how are you going to ensure the success of your business?” I kid you not, the answer was “We're going to send out mailers to a 10-block radius of everyone around the store to let them know that we're opening.” You can't do that. Just right off the bat. That's illegal. I don't think there's a single state out there that allows you to mail cannabis advertising to homes. Why? Because, most likely, kids are probably going to see it and get it. You cannot advertise to kids!
Just think of it like this. Do liquor companies ever advertise by sending mailers? Do cigarette companies advertise by sending mailers? No. Do pharmaceutical companies advertise by sending mailers? No. That's a really good way to find out if you can do it or not. They have the same kind of guidelines. So, right off the bat, that's screaming, "What the heck are they thinking?"
Then, what that mailer was to do was to invite them to invite the community in for a ribbon-cutting ceremony where they would have balloons and hot dogs and sodas for all the kids. What?! You do not market to kids! You do not say that you're trying to get kids to come to your dispensary! That is an instant way to have your process just completely eliminated. The board is going to reject you and not even look at anything else because they're going to think you have no idea what you're doing and you're going to break serious laws.
So, the takeaway from this is you need to do your due diligence on the companies you're hiring to help you with your application process of your cannabis applications. Ask for references, call them, email them, talk to them, ask for copies of the licenses, vet those people. Make sure they're not just friends like, "Oh yeah, call this guy. I got him a license. Hey Bob, did you get a license?" "Oh yeah, sure." Who is Bob? What license does he have? Ask for a copy? Ask for photos of the dispensary. Go to it. You're about to drop 60 grand. Spend a little bit of money to find out if this stuff's actually legit. So, do your due diligence. Find out what these people have actually done in the past, then ask them questions.
The application is published online on every government website with all the questions that need to be filled out. Take that application, go to the company you're about to hire and say, "Hey, for this question, what are the obstacles that you foresee within this industry and how are you going to overcome them? What would be the answer off the top of your head?" If they can't tell you something that makes at least some bit of common sense, walk away. There's a lot of other companies out there that can help you with this. Don't go with someone that's making it up or lying to you or says they're great.
This is your application process. I know it sounds weird, but you're not guaranteed a license. There's a lot of people applying for a very finite amount of licenses, so only the best are going to be approved. So, you can't just meet the checkboxes. You have to have each question and each answer to those questions, selling your company as to why you should be approved for these licenses.
So these are the kinds of things you would look for. Please, please, please do your due diligence on anyone that you hire, verify they know what they're talking about, and obviously do not market to kids saying you're going to give them balloons.
I'm Adam. I'm the CEO of Root Affects. We're a cannabis consulting company. We cover all of the United States and Canada. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We're available to you all times. You can reach us through our website, http://www.rootAffects.com. You can also reach us via phone (833-666-0420), email (info@rootaffects.com),.
Please, please, please don't market towards kids! If you take one thing away from this. That's it.
Thank you
.: Adam
CEO
rootAffects, Inc.