As this issue headed to press, the Cannabis Business Times team was actively preparing for Cannabis Conference, our three-day educational and networking event that takes place in Las Vegas each year. With 90-plus speakers and more than 180 exhibitors, there are a lot of logistics involved, including the individual travel schedules of attendees, speakers and sponsors. As anyone who has flown this past summer knows, air travel has been unreliable and unpredictable, with unexplained delays and cancelations marring the experiences and plans of many.
In the past, the editorial team has traveled together, opting for the same flight and arriving at the same time. But this year, that seemed too risky, so we split up, flying out different days, on different airlines, through different cities and at different times.
Weather, airline staffing, overbooked flights and other factors of travel are out of our control. But by being strategic about how we traveled, we could put ourselves in a better position should there be canceled or delayed flights.
It reminded me of something Marvin Montgomery, a motivational speaker and sales coach, noted during a keynote presentation at professional development days hosted by Cannabis Business Times’ parent company, GIE Media. All challenges can be organized into two buckets: can vs. can’t. Do something about the cans, Montgomery advised, and dump the can’ts.
Of all the applicable advice Montgomery shared during his engaging talk, that one stuck with me most, especially in the cannabis industry, where the challenges for plant-touching businesses working to produce top-quality and compliant products to best serve customers, all while navigating the constant hurdles from the federally illegal status of cannabis, can seem insurmountable.
Challenges in the “can’ts” bucket include a lack of access to capital, 280E constraints and marketing restrictions because of cannabis’ Schedule I status. Those topics often take center stage when discussing industry hurdles. But cannabis businesses seem to always find the “cans.”
And that’s what Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Conference are all about. Whether in the pages of the magazine, on the website or in conference sessions, our goal is to bring leaders within and outside of the industry together in one place to strategize solutions to our shared problems.
We can’t solve the lack of capital problem in cannabis, but we can share a list of investment companies that serve the space to save you a bit of legwork. You can investigate 25 such businesses here. We can’t fix staffing shortages or remove pest pressures, but we can share solutions from Christine DeJesus of Galenas, a cultivation company in Ohio, for a more efficient and hygienic harvest. Many more tips and ideas are found throughout this issue each month and every day on cannabisbusinesstimes.com.
Our goal is to focus on the “cans” to help unearth solutions that are often buried by the “can’ts.”
