Is the application for the cannabis license they are writing for you based on their operational success or are they drawing on theory they’ve read about or outdated methodology that might have worked in the early stages of the industry but don’t match up with the competitive reality of today’s cannabis industry? We will be sharing with you daily what’s working for us and our other clients as you’re learning to have success in your own business.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’d like to offer you a set of questions to help guide you through understanding if you should hire a consultant and if so, how to choose the right one for your group the first time. In 14 states, assisting with everything from licensing, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, delivery, and retail support over the years, we have found these questions to be helpful to our clients to separate Renaissance Consulting® from the competition. We honor that this industry is new to most and can be a daunting experience to try to understand what to do and how to go about choosing who can help you. We hope these serve as useful guidelines to you as you begin your journey in the fastest growing industry in the world.
Do they have anything to lose if you are granted a license to operate?
We do. We want to work with you down the road and we want to win as much as you do. Our focus on you winning will be undeniable. Writing the license is just the beginning. Our business model isn’t built on making money selling application work. Getting a license to operate is just the tip of the iceberg for what needs to be done to ensure your success.
Are they asking for equity?
We won’t. If you don’t like what we’re doing for you down the road then you have an out. Even if you license our brand on your store, we’re just a vendor for you, not a co-owner or equity partner with liability potential. The last thing you want is to have given equity to a group that might not be the best option for you down the road or with a firm that simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to support your operations, much less help you grow your footprint by opening additional locations should you choose that route. If they are asking for equity and claiming the benefits of partnership yet not willing to split the cost of doing business, then they don’t deserve the equity or the partnership. This type of behavior isn’t allowed in most situations in our lives and it shouldn’t be welcomed in the cannabis industry either.
Are the numbers they provided in their business plan defendable?
Are they based on actual design & build out experience or are they pulling numbers from a third party source that are in a market outside of yours rendering them mere suggestions vs defendable numbers? If you are structuring your partnership and or revenue share based on inflated or inaccurate numbers then you and your investors could be unhappy. The business plan we put together for you will ease the uncertainty many investors have about getting into this industry. It will serve as a guideline for how your business will run and the costs associated with it. In our experience in working with clients in 14 different states, without this, we’ve seen groups just never quite get comfortable or gel like they do once they have this information at their fingertips. After a few investor conference calls with us, they usually have the confidence and comfort level to make the decisions they need to make. Remember, the point of the business plan is to help you raise capital. A consultant should be an active participant in the capital raising process, not just someone who puts numbers together for you and then disappears.
Are they doing the work themselves or are they outsourcing it?
If they say, “Our team is doing it” ask them to define their team. If they are subcontracting the work out, you could be in the same situation as other groups who’ve had to circle back and hire us to come in a clean-up work that another firm over promised and under delivered. We’ve had success doing that & are happy to help, but it’s more expensive for you in the long run.
What states have they won applications in?
Do they have experience in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Oklahoma, New Jersey, New York, and Arkansas? If so, ask them about their track record.
Are you dealing with the principles of the company or are they a sales person who will hand you off to a project manager, then on to a contractor once you commit?
It’s crucial that your consultant has a direct role in helping your business achieve success and remains with you throughout the process. The CEO of the company must be an active participant in not only the daily success of the company but in holding each member of the company accountable for delivering what was promised to you, the client.
Do the people in the company actually enjoy helping others succeed or are they in it simply for the money?
Do business with people you like. There is no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy working with a consultant. At least once a month, we smile and say to ourselves, “I can’t believe I get paid to talk to people about cannabis every day. If there was a physical place where every cannabis consultant sat down together just to tell war stories and funny things they’ve heard, seen, and sometimes done since this industry’s inception, it would make for an incredible movie. Here’s the downside: Lots of people in this industry are getting burned out. Watch out for that. If they aren’t having fun and being incredibly successful and productive at the same time, go find another consultant to work for. We promise they are out there.
Does the consultant speak openly and honestly about their failures?
Anyone can sit around and brag about their success. A broken clock is right twice a day. As human beings we have a tendency to give ourselves too much credit for our success, ignore the luck that’s involved with all successful endeavors, and we tend to downplay our failures. Through experience, we learn to appreciate the true, experienced based education that comes from failure. If you think about it, you don’t learn much from winning big, but you never forget your loses and should be grateful for these teaching moments. A cannabis consultant should be no different.
Is your cannabis consultant willing to teach you or are they always secretive about their methodolgies?
Although there is incredible value in having the best master grower and their staff with you, best practices should be integrated throughout your company, not isolated with one person or only a handful of people. A proven system with interchangeable personnel is the way to go in this industry. Without discounting the absolute skill that is involved in growing the best cannabis, at the end of the day, there are many people who not only understand the production side of cannabis but also the business side of it. After all, we are here to change the world but also to make some money. Choose a consultant who will help you do both.
Are they willing to work as a team that includes other consultants?
They should be! It should shoot a light into the sky like a giant beacon of insecurity if they are not willing to work with other people. We have clients who have had success in other industries with this approach, implemented this in cannabis and it has worked well for them and us. We work well with others and can handle it all for you from seed to sale, but would also be honored to be a small part of your larger team. With Renaissance, you always get the exact services you need and are never asked to pay for what you don’t.
Are the contracts the consultant ask you to sign, performance based?
If you hire them to write an application for a license for you, are they asking for all of their fee upfront or do they offer a performance kicker? The idea that you must pay in full, upfront is a tired model that is used in the criminal justice system. Lawyers usually want all of their money upfront in case you don’t like the outcome and get buyer’s remorse. I understand why consultants do this but it’s also a sign of a lack of confidence when the consultant isn’t willing to share some of the risk with you. How this can work with you and your consultant is that they have a performance kicker set aside and in the event you don’t win your license, the consultant doesn’t get paid half of his fee. We do this all the time and our clients love it!
Do they offer a few consulting options or many?
Your operation can be the same size in the same exact location in the same state and run completely differently than another. It’s common to have varying production targets and end users which drastically affects how you go about your day to day business. An easy example of this is someone producing, extracting, infusing and selling cannabis edibles in a vertically integrated model wouldn’t be focused on the same things as someone growing cannabis flower on a wholesale market that needs to meet the eye ball test of the discriminating retail customer who is a cannabis connoisseur. Sometimes you need a consultant just to get things started or on the other end of the spectrum, you might see the cost savings in outsourcing your compliance, legal work, or necessary elements to a cannabis consultant. You might want to be an absentee owner like one of our clients once told us, “I don’t care to ever set foot in my dispensary”. You need to be offered a more than three or four options. Choose a consultant who is willing to craft a custom, performance-based plan for your success that has you paying for only the services and personnel that you need and never for work that doesn’t help improve your bottom line.
Send us an email
We know there are lots of options for you in the cannabis industry. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns so you can see for yourself that your success comes first with us. Our performance based approach is refreshingly different and we look forward to speaking with you.
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