MJBizMag November-December 2020 - 68

THRIVE
SURVIVE
on a main street lined with several of
her competitors as well as a one-sided
electronic billboard along a major
highway near the dispensary itself.
The electronic billboards can be
changed at will, allowing Mink to
advertise daily specials, new products
or Med Pharm's drive-thru window
whenever she wants.
The two electronic billboards cost
$1,500 per month, while the three
regular billboards cost $2,100 per month.
Med Pharm also was the first
dispensary in the state to run television
and radio commercials, buying airtime
through a local affiliate of the Cox
Media Group.
In March, when the coronavirus
pandemic erupted in the United States,
Med Pharm pulled its radio ads and
sank the money into more television
advertising. Mink figured that during the
pandemic, more people would be home
watching television than in their cars or
offices listening to radio.
Med Pharm also posts daily on
social media, garnering about 5,000
Facebook followers and roughly 10,500
on Instagram. Including some print
advertising, Mink estimated that Med
Pharm spends $10,000-$11,000 per
month on marketing.
" That's well worth it, because I know
the money that we make, " Mink said.
Product Variety Is
Good But Requires
Discounts and Careful Inventory
Management
Mink attributes Med Pharm's success
to offering a wide product selection,
but she noted the company has made
inventory-management " mistakes "
along the way.
" I cost us a lot of money in 2019, I felt,
just by foolish purchases, " Mink said.
Mink wasn't immediately aware of
bulk-buying options to decrease product
purchase costs. When she did start
buying in bulk, Mink often bought too
much of some products, some of which
would expire before she could sell them.
The owners of Med Pharm said no to a chance at an additional retail outlet so they could make the
original storefront exceptional. Photo by Sean Capshaw
" That was a hard lesson. The first time
we had to dispose of something, it was
like burning money, " Mink said, adding
that the risk of expiration before sale is
greater with edibles than with flower and
vapes. Entrepreneurs also need to make
sure products are proven winners with
customers before buying too many.
" It was a learning process to figure out
what works in my dispensary, " Mink said.
Med Pharm figured out the right
balance by investing in a point-of-sale
system to see what products sold and
also spent time on the sales floor mining
customers for feedback.
Offering multiple specials daily is
another key to Med Pharm's strategy
of getting customers to visit its website
frequently. Most specials offer about 30%
off, Mink said.
" We make a tiny bit of money on
our specials. I don't lose money, but
if everything would have that level of
profit margin built in, we wouldn't be
making it. So we have profit margins
on pretty much everything else, but it is
competitive, " Mink said.
One Awesome
Location Is Better Than
Two Meh Locations
The success has spawned phone calls
from landlords wooing Med Pharm to
open a second location-often at good
68 Marijuana Business Magazine | November-December 2020
Omar Sacirbey is a reporter for
Marijuana Business Magazine.
You can reach him at
omar.sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.
terms. So far, the company has resisted
the temptation to expand.
" We are owners who are at the store
every single day, " Mink said.
" We are one reason why it's been
successful-because we are able to talk
to our customers and they see us here
and we can see what's going on. If we had
another location, we wouldn't be here.
We would be there. And then what would
happen to this location? "
Instead, Mink and her husband,
Christopher, focused on making their
current location the best dispensary it
can be. They expanded the parking lot,
increased drive-thru traffic from five
or six cars per day to roughly 100 cars
per day on weekends. And now they're
installing an on-premises " canna-kitchen "
that will make and sell fresh-made infused
products that customers can take home.
Mink expects constructing the kitchen
will cost between $40,000 and $50,000,
but she said the investment will be worth
it because it will attract patients.
" The hope is the kitchen will draw
people and get them to try and buy other
products in the store, " she said.
AND

MJBizMag November-December 2020

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