Lessons learned in Colorado can benefit all aspiring recreational marijuana entrepreneurs

(This is an abridged version of a story that appears in the March issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)

Marijuana executives in Colorado – both plant-touching and ancillary – have learned enough about doing business in a new adult-use cannabis market over the past five years to write textbooks on the topic.

The Centennial State made history when it launched the world’s first adult-use marijuana market Jan. 1, 2014.

Along the way, Colorado’s cannabis trailblazers have encountered more than their share of growing pains – lessons that can be applied to other emerging recreational markets.

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Marijuana Business Magazine polled over a dozen marijuana companies in Colorado to gain insights into their five-year education.

“What we have experienced in Colorado holds true in other states as well,” said Diane Czarkowski, founding partner at Canna Advisors, a cannabis consultancy in Boulder.

“As one of the first businesses to open in a new market, you have to accept your responsibility to be involved in the development of the industry.”

Here are four valuable lessons that can benefit entrepreneurs seeking to start a marijuana company in a new adult-use market.

• ‘Seek resources with experience.’
• ‘Set your own goals and pace.’
• ‘Make compliance a part of your business from Day One.’
• ‘Make your brand stand for something.’