MJBizMag July 2021 - 8

FromtheEditor | Kate Lavin
A Good Problem to Have
The marijuana industry has reached a point where even small businesses
are expanding in regulated markets
W
hen the first U.S. cannabis dispensary opened in
San Francisco in the 1990s, it's unlikely the
operators envisioned a day when publicly traded
marijuana companies would own multimillion-dollar cultivation
sites, manufacturing facilities and retail shops in dozens of
states-all at the same time. The fact that a storefront was
selling marijuana 30 years ago meant the business was
subject to raids from all levels of law enforcement.
Not enough has changed at a national level since those
days, but growth is happening every day in state and local
markets.
Jumping on the Scale
In this issue, the reporters of MJBizMagazine tackled
the topic of scaling in the cannabis business. Whether a
company has had a growth plan mapped out since the
prelicensing stage or realized years later that consumers
in other markets were clamoring for its products, one thing
is certain: Needing to scale because demand outweighs
supply is a good problem to have.
And as owners and investors enter the marijuana industry
from other sectors, they bring with them wide experience
about how to scale a business wisely.
Take Adam Berk, for example. The CEO of Driven by Stem,
who appears on our cover this month, got his start in the
food-delivery business. Berk founded Osmio, which you know
today as Grubhub. As he explains, starting on page 42, once
the model is established, expanding beyond the first market
becomes simpler.
" It's the same model: same cars, same lockboxes, same
hiring practices, same interview processes, " Berk said of
Driven by Stem, the cannabis-delivery service he grew from
California to Oregon and plans to expand to Michigan this
fall. " It's a rinse-and-repeat model. And that really makes
the scaling a lot more cost effective. "
Michael Dowdell, vice president of retail operations for
Michigan-based Lume Cannabis, shared a similar sentiment,
telling MJBizMagazine, " You don't want to be doing a
process five different ways at five different stores. "
Dowdell should know: As director of retail operations for
stereo company Bose Corp., he grew the number of retail
properties 75% in 16 years and learned to create efficiencies
by replicating processes in each store while making
accommodations for variables such as layout.
8 MJBizMagazine | July 2021
How Do You Plan to Scale?
Scaling might not be the right move for your business today,
but it's never too early to start thinking about the future.
Whether your company operates in the ancillary space,
cultivation, manufacturing, retail or another sector, it is easy
to get bogged down making it through each day and forget to
plan for months and years down the road.
Set aside some time to learn from the cannabis executives
in our cover package about how they used mergers and
acquisitions, license applications and other strategies to
grow their businesses to new heights.
Kate Lavin
MJBizMagazine editor
MJBizMag July 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag July 2021
