(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.
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.
