Types of Cannabis Business Opportunities Marijuana is taking the nation by storm and legalization has created an abundance of new business opportunities. As marijuana continues to gain more acceptance, both by countries and the general population, it is now more possible than ever to turn your love for cannabis into a legitimate and lucrative career opportunity. Today we will explore some of the ways that you can find a cannabis career in the world of marijuana. 420 Tourism Marijuana 420 tourism and events are a big deal now that the country is getting progressively more 420 friendly. From marijuana wine and weed tours, infused weddings, cannabis-catered parties, there are cannabis inspired events happening all the time now. Read more below. If you are looking to launch your own business in 420 friendly events, then take part rapidly growing cannabis tourism market. Marijuana-related celebrations and community events can serve as an excellent stream of revenue. Opening a Cannabis Dispensary Maybe your business interests are more conventional. If you have always wanted a brick and mortar store, but were never quite sure what to focus on, perhaps you would think about opening a cannabis dispensary. Opening a legal dispensary is currently fraught with red tape, even in legal states. However, the rewards are well worth the effort. If you want to sell marijuana in a safe, and legal venue, then opening your own dispensary is, unquestionably something that you should consider. Medical Dispensary Technicians Medicalized marijuana also opens the door for Dispensary Technicians (aka Budtenders), and even doctors to step into the cannabis industry. Medical marijuana dispensaries are supposed to be a place where patients can get exactly what they need to treat their ailment. This function of the dispensary is the product of efforts of qualified and compassionate Dispensary Technicians, who are knowledgeable about various strains of medical cannabis. They perform largely the same duties as someone that is working in a traditional pharmacy. On the other end of the medical spectrum, we have the doctor. Master Grower Operations Marijuana legalization creates obvious opportunities for people with green thumbs. If you have ever dreamed of opening your own cannabis farm, now is your opportunity to do it within the confines of the law. As of right now, the market for growing marijuana still has plenty of room for new cannabis master growers. However, as more and more states go green, the market is becoming ever more competitive. If you want the chance to grow marijuana for a profit, now is an optimal time to give it a try. Marijuana Medical Science With medical science finally opening their eyes to the health benefits of marijuana, more research and studies have since been conducted. The genetic engineering and modification of cannabis can increase specific cannabinoids percentages, like THC, CBD, and CBN, which can address a wide range of chronic illnesses and life-threatening diseases. Laws are continually being passed that giving medical doctors more power than ever to prescribe medical cannabis, but each state has different requirements that may include joining additional registries, licensing and monitoring programs. If you are a physician looking to reduce the opioid crisis and find ways to treat patients through a more holistic, natural solution to complex ailments, the opportunity to do so is more robust than ever. Testing & Strain Genetics With legalization and a number of new products and strains, there are new testing and regulations that overview the safety of the products to the public. The dosage in each edible must be exact so each serving size has an equal percentage of THC and CBD. Strains need to be clean of pest and disease, in addition, to testing the strength and cannabinoid reports. The job of the scientist in the cannabis industry is to test the potency of a given strain of marijuana. The primary method of testing for cannabis potency is through a method called high-performance liquid chromatography. Through this method, scientists can isolate the quantities of certain chemicals present in marijuana strains to provide exact data on the levels of potency. This data is subsequently used to give medical professionals and consumers all of the information they need to safely recommend or select a strain of cannabis. Final Thoughts
These are just some of the business opportunities available to marijuana enthusiasts in legal states. The truth of the matter is that your marijuana related opportunities are as big as your imagination (assuming, of course, that the law permits your idea). The legal marijuana industry is still in its infancy. Currently, the market is not terribly crowded, but that will not remain the case for long. If you want to get in while the going is good, don’t dawdle. Start making your dreams of owning a cannabis business come true today!
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Older Dispensary Workers Find Lack of Support
Among the key findings:
The findings are based on responses received last fall from more than 1,800 employers with five or more employees and from 6,372 workers. Many workers in the cannabis industry now want and need to extend their working lives to financially prepare for longer retirements, but they need support from their employers, which they are not yet getting.
A multigenerational workforce can enhance diversity and inclusivity, and foster innovation. By not adopting business practices that can support workers of all ages, employers are missing out on an important opportunity. Even people able and willing to work long into retirement may not be welcomed by employers.
About 60 percent of those who lose their job end up retiring involuntarily because they cannot get replacement jobs, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College research. Inclusion challenges can also be present in the ways that older and younger colleagues interact.
For instance, having open-office workspaces, where social banter can flow more freely, can cause older dispensary workers to feel more like outsiders, given that their lives and everyday interests may differ from those of their younger co-workers.
Common Stereotypes
Many employers and workers cited negative perceptions of older workers, such as their being less open to learning and new ideas.
SHRM Foundation concluded, “Most mature workers are highly receptive to skills training opportunities, especially for skills that are directly job-related. Many mature workers are already strong performers and use their existing skills and experience to expedite the learning process.”
Persistent Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a report on age discrimination, finding that although it has been 50 years since the passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), age discrimination is still a significant problem.
“Despite decades of research finding that age does not predictability or performance, employers often fall back on precisely the ageist stereotypes the ADEA was enacted to prohib,” theit report stated. Read more below.
Other EEOC suggestions included:
Phased Retirement Programs Lacking
Often, they are willing to accept lower pay to do so. Increasingly now and in the future, the lines between employment and retirement are going to become almost imperceptible and the cannabis industry will be challenged with finding ways to respond, such as by offering opportunities for employees to phase into retirement.
Let us know what you think. The Dispensary Fraudster Down the Hall
The methods used by the culprits vary. Some skim cash from the reserves or walk away with the cannabis inventory. Some alter numbers on payroll checks. And some pull off various embezzlement schemes, such as reporting false expenses or changing financial statements. The one commonality is that it is the organization’s own employees who are perpetuating the misdeeds. ACFE Study Sometimes they act in collusion with each other, and sometimes they act alone. The findings come from Report to the Nations, an extensive study issued in April by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The study looked at 2,690 cases of fraud spanning 23 industries in 125 countries between January 2016 and October 2017. All told, the 2,690 cases of fraud resulted in losses that exceeded $7.1 billion. But the true global cost of fraud is likely magnitudes higher, ACFE estimates that 5 percent of worldwide business revenue is lost to fraud, which would come out to roughly $4 trillion annually. It’s safe to say the problem remains huge. Occupational fraud, experts say, is an egalitarian crime; the culprit is just as likely to be a top executive as an obscure low-level employee. A fraudster doesn’t look like a fraudster, they look like everybody else. It legitimately could be anyone. It’s not the person who looks sketchy. It could be the person who comes over to your house for dinner on the weekend. When a fraudster is caught, coworkers are frequently shocked. Historically, occupational fraud has been looked at as an accounting problem – numbers that don’t add up tip-off company leaders that something is wrong. But ACFE’s report shows otherwise. Part of the message is that it’s not really an accounting problem, it’s a behavior problem. In every edition of the report, ACFE has surveyed 17 different “red flag” behavioral indicators that tend to be associated with fraudsters. Those six red flag behavioral indicators are:
And for males, the wheeler-dealer red flag was present in 16 percent of cases, compared with only 6 percent of cases for females. It does look like there are differences in the reasons why women steal, as opposed to men. In addition, on average women commit smaller frauds than men do; losses tend to be 80 to 100 percent greater with men. Experts also say that security efforts to prevent occupational fraud can benefit from an understanding of the motivations and conditions underlying the crimes. Very few wake up in the morning and decide to rob their organization, many have pressures to perform at work, pressures at home, or are suffering from various addictions that inform their decision-making processes. Read more below. STOP SMELLING LIKE A STONER: Stay skunk-free whether you’re smoking, baking or vaping your weed!
And for males, the wheeler-dealer red flag was present in 16 percent of cases, compared with only 6 percent of cases for females. It does look like there are differences in the reasons why women steal, as opposed to men. In addition, on average women commit smaller frauds than men do; losses tend to be 80 to 100 percent greater with men. Experts also say that security efforts to prevent occupational fraud can benefit from an understanding of the motivations and conditions underlying the crimes. Very few wake up in the morning and decide to rob their organization, many have pressures to perform at work, pressures at home, or are suffering from various addictions that inform their decision-making processes. Fraud Triangle The “fraud triangle” model explains the three (3) conditions that are often present in occupational fraud incidents.
They may think, ‘I was borrowing it, I was going to pay it back,’ or, employees may feel the company owes them because they deserved a promotion and never received it. And if employees are on the verge of stealing, poor internal controls can help push them over the edge. Certainly, lack of controls or oversight contributes to the opportunity for those at risk to take that first step and steal. Once that wedge has been crossed, it becomes much easier for the fraudster to escalate. In fact, the ACFE study found that nearly half of frauds examined in the report occurred because of internal control weaknesses. Read more below. For organizations that want to strengthen internal controls, it is recommended to maintain a consistent employee background checks before hiring; ensuring that sensitive duties are entrusted to more than one employee; implementing spot audit programs and conducting random audits on particularly vulnerable areas and training employees about fraud prevention and the red flags they should be aware of. The other key to occupational fraud prevention lies in organizational culture, experts say. Here, the tone is set at the top, organizational managers who always act ethically and treat all employees respectfully are leading by example; employees will often follow suit. But if leadership is pushing the boundaries, and wading into that ethical grey area, people will take cues from that. Some organizational leaders are taking steps to preempt bad situations by openly supporting a company code of conduct and ethics. Complacency and lack of a strong tone from the top are two of the most key indicators as to whether you are at risk. When management is seen as unengaged, unappreciative or apathetic, it creates an opportunity for a fraudster or potential fraudster to strike.
Diversity Makes Each Cannabis Cultivar Unique Cannabis cultivation, like all plant breeding, is built on the seminal work of Gregor Mendel, whose work lay the foundation for the science of genetics. Crossing plants with different traits defined by Mendelian genetics produce a predictable pattern of inheritance determined by recessive and dominant features. Based on the genotype of the plant (its unique genetic signature), the next generation (cross) will possess a certain phenotype (visible traits like gold hairs or fragrances) inherited from its parents. In this way, cannabis varieties can be bred which possess the physical and chemical properties that are most desirable. The genotype of a plant serves as the blueprint for its design and influences aspects such as color, taste, smell, shape, and size. Most importantly, genotypes determine its chemical makeup, including presence and amounts of phytochemicals like cannabinoids, as well as terpenes. With this information in mind, how then might one explain the observable differences in appearance (ex. phenotype) between cannabis of the same cultivar (ex. genotype) grown in Oregon versus California? As with all genotype-phenotype relationships, the environment has a significant impact. Identical twins raised in different parts of the world by different parents often have different phenotypes while possessing the same genetic information. In the plant world, many different environmental conditions can influence a cannabis cultivar’s phenotype. Some of the most common ones include nutrient availability, ambient temperature, light source, soil type, and vegetative habitat. Both recreational and medicinal cannabis users should keep the effects of genotype-phenotype relationships when evaluating an odd-looking sample of a well-loved or favorite cultivar. Cannabis can look different without being different.
Recognizing the Dispensary Warning Signs Research conducted by Timothy Gardner, an associate management professor at Utah State University, and Peter Hom, professor of management at Arizona State University, identified 13 “pre-quitting behaviors” that often predict whether an employee will leave within the next year. While no single behavior was determined to be definitive, a pattern of behavioral changes is likely to be predictive. These include:
An engaged dispensary manager who has built good relationships with employees can often observe patterns of behavior that signal that an employee might be thinking about leaving. If they have a good rapport with employees, many times dispensary managers can have an off-the-record conversation to see if they can find out what’s really going on. HR practitioners can teach supervisors and managers working in the cannabis industry to recognize possible warning signs and then coach them on the best ways to address the situation. Stay InterviewsUnlike exit interviews where dispensary employees are asked to explain why they want to leave, stay interviews are designed to learn more about what motivates employees to stay, along with why they may not be happy with their situation. They can also identify employees on the verge of leaving who might require more individualized attention. Keep interviews simple by asking employees two (2) open-ended questions:
When you know the answer to those two questions, you also know whether the problem can be fixed or whether the employee needs to move on to a job that is a better fit for their needs. Conduct stay interviews in a way that allows employees to remain anonymous so that employees will feel more comfortable opening up about their problems and frustrations.
Many leave to gain new skills and perspectives. But, many cannabis dispensaries are happy to rehire people who were good employees and who left on good terms. Once they come back, you can usually count on them to stay with you for a long time and former employees can be valuable public relations and recruitment resources. On the flip side, angry ex-employees can create problems for their former employers by posting negative reviews on sites like Glassdoor. Leaving should be a natural part of an employment relationship and lifecycle so if you can’t offer them what they need, then try to help them move on and find a better fit somewhere else.
There’s no reason for anyone to sneak around or leave with bad feelings.
When Employees Leave: Protect Cannabis Trade Secrets
Here’s what the cannabis industry employers can do to safeguard their information. Businesses have the greatest chance of protecting their confidential information by making sure that they regularly execute a standard set of practices upon employee departure, it is suggested that employers:
During the exit interview, employers should find out why workers are leaving and where they are going. If an employee is going to a competitor in the cannabis industry, the employer may want to preserve the worker’s computer before it is issued to someone else to ensure confidential information wasn’t taken. Get a snapshot of their account.
Hard drives are cheap. So, particularly for higher-level employees who had access to key information, employers may be better off just storing their hard drive and replacing it with another one – then the information is preserved.
Technology can help employers track where information is going. Employers can log keystrokes and attempts to access restricted databases or make copies of confidential documents. This gives employers real-time knowledge if people are doing things they shouldn’t.
Employers can also use anti-deletion programs and can generate reports of everything a worker attempted to delete in the last 60 days or so. For instance, if an exiting employee e-mailed a customer list to a personal account and attempted to delete the e-mail trail, that information will be in the report.
Start From the Beginning
A good way for employers in the cannabis industry to protect their confidential information is to start with solid onboarding procedures. Employers should have workers sign confidentiality agreements and should track any equipment and access that is provided.
If employees are allowed to telecommute, employers should consider a policy that requires employees to perform all of their work on company devices. It’s more difficult to try to parse through their information and yours on a personal device; it’s easier just to say everything on the company’s devices is company property.
Remind Workers at the End
When employees leave, businesses should revisit the agreements that were signed during employment. An exit interview provides an employer with a final opportunity to strongly emphasize any continuing obligations the employee may have regarding the confidentiality of trade secrets and employer data when they leave their employment.
Additionally, it’s important that employers of remote workers maintain an accurate and up-to-date inventory of what has been provided to the employee since hire so employers should:
The Bigger Picture
Employers should recognize that corporate espionage is a big industry. We hear so much about the theft of trade secrets and sometimes inside employees are used to do it. Furthermore, when employees are on their way out the door, a new employer may ask them to supply certain information, or employees might want to hit the ground running by using information obtained from a prior employer.
Maybe employees just aren’t clear on what’s theirs and what belongs to the company. Make it clear that whatever you do for us is ours, and we own it.
Let us know what you think. |
authorLilly, the gardener. Archives
September 2019
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