Are you taking advantage of the Tremendous opportunity that the Holiday Season offers?

The holiday season means Holiday spending. It is estimate that between Thanksgiving and Christmas over $35 billion will be spend on Holiday Shopping. How do you insure that you are getting your share of Holiday Sales?

The Holiday season loosens the purse strings. Our patients are as susceptible to this phenomenon as anyone. This is the prime time of year to begin reinforcing or introducing your brand to the market. Our industry is unique. We fight for our market share, not only demographically, but geographically. We also know that great product, consistent supply and fantastic customer service are the keys to success, but you have to get them in first.

A wise man once said that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. That is only true if the world knows that you built it! Brand you dispensary and get the word out. Holiday marketing promotions can be inexpensive, but if they work, they cost you nothing and make you money!  If you could take 35% of your patients that visit your store in the next 30 days, and by spending less than $3 per patient have each patient double their purchases, how much money did that program cost you?

Let Compliance Services show you how to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that the Holiday Season presents us. Call 303-400-5293 or visit our website at mmjcs.net

Politician straight answer gets him thrown to the dogs!

This week, the State of Colorado has made a change in the executive board for the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division. Dan Hartman, director of the MMED, has been reassigned to the Racing Events Division as its director. This division oversees greyhound and horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering on greyhound and horse racing. Since there has not been any live greyhound racing in the state of Colorado since 2008, my guess is that he will be spending a lot of time with the “adopt a greyhound” initiative.

With Mr. Hartman moving to the racing division, the former Director of the Racing Division, Don Burmania moves to . . . no to the MMED, he becomes the Director of the Tobacco Enforcement Division.  The Director of the Tobacco Enforcement Division, Laura Harris, is now the Director of the MMED. I sincerely hope that she changes the regulations so that we have to smoke our MMJ outside, 25 feet from any building entrance.

The real question is why make this move, and more importantly, why make this move now? It has seemed as though the MMED was finally moving in the direction of getting applications processed and licenses finally issued. Mr. Hartman was actively going to all MMJ associated meetings and making himself available to help explain the rules and regulations as well as the whys of those rules and regulations. Mr. Hartman was succeeding in reassuring those of us who have invested several years and hundreds and thousands of dollars in our businesses that progress is being made, our investments are being protected, and even that after the moratorium our efforts would not be wiped away by unbridled growth.

There have been many rumors spread around the social media outlets linking Hartman to different MMJ industry groups, both pro and con. Some also say the State was concerned that Mr. Hartman was “too close” to the MMJ industry. In reality, the reason quoted was simply that Mr. Hartman answered a direct question honestly. He did this at several meetings and in an op-ed piece in Steamboat Springs. When I first heard his comments at an MMBA meeting, the comments were received with applause. The comments seemed honest and logical. This is evidently not the way State Government works and punishment was soon meted out.

The question asked of Mr. Hartman was simply: “If Ft. Collins votes down dispensaries, do you think that this would create a domino affect to other cities.” Mr. Hartman answered that he hoped the Ft. Collins vote would not act as the first domino toppling the MMJ industry. He added that cities must realize that if they vote out the dispensaries, they are voting out the MMED. Since the MMED regulates the dispensaries, they would not be active in the cities that voted the dispensaries out. Therefore, any problems or issues a city had with Marijuana would fall under the purview of local law enforcement and the DEA. Mr. Hartman opined that those cities, after experiencing this, would change their minds about the vote. They would realize that it would be far more beneficial to have the MMED in their town to regulate MMJ.

The State decided that these comments were tantamount to campaigning to influence the cities and the population to vote against the ban. In fact the comments were an honest response to a direct question posed by the precise people that could be ruined by this vote. This one again proves that a politician should never be honest lest he be thrown to the dogs or in this case the Greyhounds. 

Banking Update 9/28/11: Feds calling in their Banking Marker!

First, what we all already know: The Federal Government bailed out the banks in 2009. They are now calling in that marker. The feds and the current administration won’t recognize the growing need for Medical Marijuana and the States right to let their people decide what is best for them. The Fed, however, has not been able to stop us so they are turning to a tactic they used against drug cartels in the 80’s and terrorists since 9/11/01. They are going after the money. In this case, they are calling in a favor from the banks that they bailed out in 2009. They can’t stop the States from following the will of their people, so now they are forcing banks to kick out their MMJ clients and stop them from giving us accounts.

Here is a quick update of the current banking availability as of today:

CSSB Bank (Colorado Springs Savings Bank aka Herring Bank) is offering an extension to the accounts that having been ordered to leave by September 30, 2011. If you need an extension while you are looking for a replacement bank it may be available However, it is not automatic, you must call and ask for the extension.

Denver Bank has suspended accepting new applications while they work through the tremendous number applications that they have received in recent weeks. When they lift the suspension, they will be accepting applications for a Guardian merchant account and the business must be located in the Denver Metro or Boulder area.

Tech Center bank is still accepting application if your business meets their criteria, however, the bank will run a Google search of your businesses DBA name in if the search comes up as an MMJ related business, they will decline the account. (I know, WTF)

High Country Bank will accept applications if the business is located in Fremont and/or Chaffee counties.

Versa Bank will accept applications if your business is located in the Larimer County / Ft. Collins area. Of course we are fighting other fights in the Ft. Collins area.

There is a bank in Las Vegas, NV that is accepting applications. It seems to be a very MMJ friendly institution. The one caveat is that you must make a personal visit to the bank to open the account. (I can only assume that the bank is funded by the Las Vegas Tourism board.)

There are some smaller banks in some small outlying towns that may accept applications. If you are in an outlying area, check with the banks in your area.

As for the MMJ Credit Union that we are hearing about, they have formed the necessary committees and are working through the processes to get up and running. For more information or updates, visit www.csmcc-net.org

So . . . I am finally compliant . . . Now what?

Now, Take Control. For the past two years most in the MMJ industry have been at the mercy of the politician’s whims. Their handling of the MMJ regulations prove the point that not knowing what you want, where you are going, or what your goals are . . . should never stop you from going full speed ahead.

With all the confusion and mixed messages, Colorado has put in place its rules, regulation and extortionist fees. By now, you should be compliant and either licensed or waiting for inspections to complete your processes.  It is now time to take control of your business. It is time to turn attention to making your operations work as efficiently and profitably as possible under the imposed guidelines. It is time to increase your patient flow, increase your sales to existing patients and get control of your expenses.

In the MMJ industry, as will all others, cash flow can make or break your operation. In order to take control and increase your cash flow as well as profits, you must be able to objectively look at your operations, costs, procedures and efficiencies to be successful. There are many tools available to help you achieve greater control. Unfortunately, many in this industry are using various and unconnected tools and relying on others to oversee.

For example, a typical operation will have a dispensary using a stand alone POS system as a digital cash register. The information will be downloaded to accounting software and sent to their accountant who may give you monthly reports. The dispensary will be using a manual system to track their plants, their trimmings, and their end product which is sold and receipted to either their dispensary or wholesaled to another. Both the dispensary and the grow operation will spend a number of hours every month to create reports for the MMED.

A tool does exist that can function as a POS system, Inventory Control System, Grow Operation tracking system, accounting system, Payroll system and Reporting system all in one. This allows you to track a plant from seed/clone through sale to the patient. It is a paperless system that allows you to store images of your patient’s records (red cards, MMED required forms, drivers license, etc…) as well as all invoices and receipts attached to your purchase orders, invoices and checks. The system pulls together your banking, payroll and operations in one place, one coordinated system.

It will allow you to display or print real time live reports at any moment of the day from any location from a computer, laptop, tablet, or smart phone. You can see what is in inventory at the dispensary, what strains are selling at what speed, and what is in the pipeline at the grow in order to keep consistent supplies at the counter. You can track the cost of each strain, the cost of your grow operation, the cost of your retail operations and the profitability of your entire operation. You can pull instant spot reports for the entire operation or a single Budtender.

With the system you can also better serve your patients. The system lets you keep good, easy to access notes on patient preferences. You can automatically email, or text your patients with news of the arrival of strains or products the patient historically purchased. You can notify them of specials and patient only promotions to drive more sales. It will also automatically produce most of the MMED required forms and monthly reports at the touch of a button freeing you up to concentrate on your business.

All in all a single comprehensive business platform can give you the control, tracking capability and oversight that you need to take and increase profits. To learn more about this system, please visit our website at mmjcomplianceservices.com today!

Click here for more information about this Complete Business Platform

Marketing: Do You Have Enough Patients?

Are you maximizing sales to and keeping your existing patients? If you can answer yes to these questions, then do not read this article.

Marketing is intended to bring in new patients. How would 1 new patient a week impact your bottom line? Marketing can also be used to increase your sales to your existing patients. How would one more sale per month per existing patient affect your bottom line? Marketing can also help you keep your existing patients. The best way to increase your sales to existing patients and keep them coming back, is also a great way to attract new patients to your dispensary and build your companies brand name and reputation.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Social Media Optimization (SMO) should be a big part of your marketing plan. A great feature of social media marketing is the fact that while it can be a big part of your marketing plan, it should only take a small part of your marketing budget. Once set up, this type of marketing costs very little to maintain and expand.

The statistics on social marketing are staggering. Are your patients and prospective patients using social media? As of May of 2011 one out of every nine people on the planet are on Facebook (750 million). People spend 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. YouTube.com has 490 unique visitors per month. Twitter is adding 500,000 users a day. Google+ was the fastest social network to reach 10 million users taking only 16 days. Newspaper advertising is down about 8% this year while Digital advertising is up almost 20%

Social Media marketing also lets you target your market very closely. You do not need to advertise to people in other states, or other cities. You are looking to reach your local market. Social media marketing lets you target any specific geographic and demographic group. Optimizing your social media efforts allows open communication with your existing patients and mobile communication, giving them the attention they desire and the outlet to have a dialog with you, their provider. This will increase patient satisfaction as well as build your brand and reputation. One out of every ten consumers in this country make their purchase decisions based upon comments and recommendations from social media sites (33 million this year)

Social Media Optimization can bring together your website, email campaigns, all social media sites, blogs and mobile apps. Spend your marketing budget wisely. Reach the specific people you want to reach. Help your existing patients take full advantage of your products, services and special promotions. Have your existing patients help spread the word and promote your business to potential patients.

Click here for more information about or help in designing your marketing plan.