How To Start Your Own LEGAL Cannabis Company In Under A Week
***Note, this is a follow up to the article, The Easiest Way To Get Involved In The Cannabis Industry, where we discussed investing in CBD, which is the non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.
Starting a company that sells CBD based products might be the easiest way to get involved in the cannabis space. Besides that fact that CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant, the actual process of selling a CBD product is just like any other product you’d normally buy.
CBD products are legal to sell out of any store without any special licenses and can be legally shipped via mail for online purchases. In fact, if you search on Amazon, you will find dozens of CBD products for sale that can be shipped to your house immediately.
As a reminder, CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol, which is a non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. CBD has been proven effective in treating pediatric epilepsy and is used to treat a variety of ailments which range from arthritis to anxiety.
While the use of cannabis and specifically CBD is nothing new, the widespread adaptation that has recently taken place has increased the consumer demographic exponentially. Today, seniors, professional athletes, teenagers, company executives, and everyone in between consume CBD to relieve their individual health challenges.
Just like any medicine – whether natural or lab developed – individuals have varying reactions to CBD with some feeling significant positive effects and others feeling nothing.
The important thing to know is that CBD, and cannabis in general, has never been linked to an overdose death.
The tremendous potential benefits paired with nearly zero downside effects make CBD products a great choice for an entrepreneur to break into the cannabis industry. Additionally, because of the current rapid rate of adoption with CBD products, there is tremendous upside potential for a CBD brand that can hit the right niche.
Below, you will find simple steps to get a CBD company off the ground within a week. I’ll admit that one week is pretty aggressive, but from personal experience I can say that this is definitely possible. The key is to be accomplishing multiple steps at the same time and then pull it all together at the end. Here is how it would work…
- Come up with a product idea. Let’s pick anti-inflammation CBD body lotion. Research other companies selling similar products and try to find a niche that isn’t being targeted. For example, if you were to target millennial hipsters, you’re going to want to design your branding to appeal to that crowd.
- Find a white label manufacturer. Now that we have a product. concept, we need to find a white label manufacturer that can supply the lotion. In the US, there are at least three separate white label CBD body lotion manufacturers. You’ll need to reach out to them and request their product specs and MOQ (minimum order quantity). Also, you need to ask about their packaging options
- Find a packaging option. Most white label manufacturers will provide several different packing options. Then, you just provide the branding graphics and they’ll slap your label on the products you make. However, if you want to stand out, you’re going to need to source your own unique packaging. You can easily find all kinds of fancy packaging options domestically, or from overseas. If you find a special packaging design/configuration that you like, you’ll need to verify with the white label manufacturer that they can fill your custom packaging (sometimes their machines won’t fit your packaging for filling). ***Note: Here is a link to CBD products sold on Amazon. You’ll notice that most of the products are in the same packaging. That’s because most of those brands are using the same manufacturer, but just putting a different label on the bottle. If you truly want your product to stand out, you’re going to want packaging that looks differentiated.
- Design a full branding package. You’re going to need everything including font, graphics, colors, slogans, and digital assets to be totally custom and cohesive. Unless you are a professional designer, it’s best to contract this out. You can go high end, which will cost you a pretty penny, or simply go to a site like fiverr.com and spend a couple hundred dollars for a custom.
- Get a website up and running. Make sure you design a website that has the same cohesive brand and feel as your actual product. Don’t overcomplicate the design or navigation, and most importantly, design a website that allows you to actually sell your product direct from your site.
- Form a company entity. with your local jurisdiction so you can open up a business account. Be aware that not all banks will work with CBD companies, so you’ll have to find one that does (many local banks will be happy to work with you). Ensure that you can take online payments through your website.
- Find a drop shipper. Drop shipping is when a product gets transported directly from the manufacturer to the retailer or direct to the customer. In this case, the drop shipper will ship direct to your customers. Many white label manufacturers offer their own drop shipping services, but this is on a case-by-case basis.
- Start making money. Of course you’ll have to actually drive people to your website through your own unique marketing strategy, but the whole outlined process is pretty simple.
Now, if you want to get this done in a week, you’ll have to be doing a lot of these steps simultaneously. Also, these steps don’t really have to be done in order, as they will all come together at the end.
When it comes to starting a cannabis related business, this is probably one of the easiest and least capital intensive opportunities that is available right now. Essentially, the only thing you are doing here is connecting the dots of the manufacturer, a brand/design, marketing, and sales.
You could literally start and operate this business with never leaving your home and never actually touching the product.
