MJBizMag January 2021 - 12

HempNotebook | Kristen Nichols
It's Not About You
As we hope for a brighter 2021, remember that failed businesses don't mean failed founders
W
e made it! Through 2020, that
is. But for many in the hemp
and CBD business, it's hard
to celebrate.
As the United States opens this
year hoping for a reprieve from
a merciless pandemic, hemp
entrepreneurs have even more crises
to confront-plummeting wholesale
prices, dwindling investor interest and
ongoing legal uncertainty from federal
regulators on how hemp can be grown
and sold.
Half the CBD businesses in
existence at the start of 2020 aren't
around today. Wholesale biomass
prices are down 80% in some states
after reaching historic highs. My inbox
is full of emails about large quantities
of unsold hemp, along with pleas for
help in finding buyers.
It's a dark time for an industry that,
to many, represents the best path to
a healthier planet and a prosperous
future for the farm economy.
The Good News
Your business challenges don't
determine your personal worth. Many
great people have had businesses fail,
made bad investments or gambled on
a novel business opportunity that went
sour. So, if you lost a business or crop
in 2020, you're in great company.
Farmers are especially vulnerable
to blaming themselves for business
losses. That's because so many
farmers inherit a family business, and
their generational identity is tied to its
success.
But resources are available to
struggling hemp producers. Nearly
every state department of agriculture
shares mental-health resources free of
charge.
Academia is helping, too. I highly
recommend the free Rural Resilience
courses developed by the universities
of Illinois and Wisconsin and Michigan
State University, Montana State
University and South Dakota State
University. Sign up for sessions on
tackling farm debt, managing stress
in a rural setting and finding mentalhealth
resources far from a big city.
Off the Farm
Growers aren't the only ones who can
be reluctant to ask for help.
Entrepreneurs are known for
accepting risks and responsibilities
most folks could never stomach,
making it a lonely road for founders.
They sleep less, worry more and often
conflate their companies' success with
their own.
The good news is that here, too,
hemp entrepreneurs have abundant
resources to find business assistance
and counseling.
I especially like the free " Startup
Therapy " podcast from Wil Schroter
and Ryan Rutan. They talk about the
real problems founders face steering
new businesses. Some of their best
advice is simple but way too easy to
forget: " You are not your startup. "
Put that on a T-shirt and wear it
under your clothes every day. If your
hemp business fails, that doesn't
mean you failed. Likewise, if profits rain
down so quickly that you're fending off
fistfuls of investor cash, it doesn't
mean you're a great person.
Optimism for 2021
I hope I've made clear that your
success or failure in the hemp
industry does not reflect on your
personal value. There are countless
12 Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2021
stories from across the hemp supply
chain about businesses that failed.
Every young industry goes through
growing pains. The dot-com bubble of
the late 1990s and early 2000s threw
many Americans out of work. It did not
mean that the internet failed or that
e-commerce was a fleeting trend.
The same is true for hemp. Looking
ahead to the new year, let's focus on
the potential this plant represents for
entrepreneurs as well as the planet.
So consider 2020 an ugly spot in
the rearview mirror. It was painful-and
even deadly-for many. Let's find out
together what's in front of us.
Kristen Nichols is editor of Hemp
Industry Daily. She can be reached at
kristen.nichols@hempindustrydaily.com.

MJBizMag January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag January 2021