Consulting

What Consulting Stands For in Botanical and Cannabis Business?

Botanical and cannabis extraction consulting companies are your allies at any stage of business development. 

In simple terms, regardless of your background, there’s always an expert you can hire to solve your specific issues.

You might have a background and capital built in real estate development or IT, but when you decide to launch an extraction business, you’ve got no obstacles that would stop you from investing in this field. 

The role of a consultant in cannabis and botanical extraction business is to share their expertise, both from specialized training and personal experience.

Can you skip hiring a consulting company?

You definitely can skip this step, though only if one of these conditions is met: 

1. You’re not new in this industry: if you know what you’re doing (and it works), you clearly don’t need external help;
2. You have friends and connections: why hire a third-party if your closest circle is willing to assist, free of charge or on any other kind of terms;
3. You have an in-house expert to cover all the bases. 

If you have no experience, no people to show you the way, and no experts in your company to solve all the potential issues (which is not that uncommon in the industry), you can hire a third party. 

It’s hard to navigate this field on your own: 

For instance, you’d need either years of experience or a degree to organize a proper extraction lab setup (that won’t be a financial catastrophe). 

And you’d need another one, in chemistry, to work with less common, more cutting-edge bioactive compounds, while being confident in the quality of your products. 

On top of that, you’d have to be an expert marketer to make sure your business actually thrives in the insanely competitive landscape of today’s botanicals and canna market. 

And on top of that all, you’d need either a law degree or an immense experience in the niche to stay compliant with the regulations (that change pretty much annually nowadays).

Is it possible to combine all of that? No, it’s not. If you do, please contact us, we’d love to make an interview on that unique case. 

So, you delegate. And since you delegate core aspects of your business (whatever it might be, from safety and compliance to digital brand awareness campaigns), you need someone you can trust. An advisor, or a consultant, that can be trusted with a portion of responsibility for your cannabis or botanical extraction venture. 

Consulting Services in Focus

What exactly can you delegate? In this consulting directory, we’ve focused on the companies that provide the most commonly requested services: 

Regulatory Compliance

Depending on the jurisdiction, state or province, in all sorts of aspects — including licensing, safety, advertising, packaging — laws and regulations can vary greatly.

Licensing Assistance

Securing a license is often the first major problem on a new extraction company’s way. You may need guidance through chaotic paperwork, from planning to application process. 

Production Optimization

Your batch’ quality depends on a whole spectrum of aspects that start way before the plant enters your facility. 

Plant genetics, harvesting techniques, suppliers, all down to product formulation, techniques, methods, and quality control — consulting agencies make sure the material you work with is perfect, start to finish.

Market Analysis

Understanding the market dynamics is vital. Comes at no surprise. To tailor your products and marketing strategies to meet consumer demands, you need extensive market research. 

Financial Planning

Budgeting, forecasting, investment analysis, fundraising strategies — all the financials that require a specific set of skills (and licensing). 

Also, accessing traditional banking services is hard (pretty much impossible) due to regulations in some regions, so a proper consultant may also offer advice on alternatives. 

Brand Development & Marketing

Building a strong brand is a make-or-break aspect of any business. Identity development, packaging (both marketing- and regulation-wise), digital strategies, advertising — all can be taken care of by a consulting agency that specializes in this aspect.

Real Estate & Facility Design

Choosing the right location is just as important for a lab as it is for, say, a storefront dispensary. A plain bad lab design can bankrupt your business with electricity bills alone, especially if we’re talking industrial scale ventures. 

Operational Efficiency

The cannabis and botanical extraction field is not stationary: it’s changing, transforming, developing constantly. So is operational efficiency. 

Consulting companies keep track of all the changes and new solutions, so you can integrate new technologies, implement best practices, and optimize the supply chain to reduce costs. 

Education and Training

Consultants offer training programs for your staff on compliance, sales techniques, product knowledge, and customer service. After all, this knowledge should come from somewhere, and we’re not quite seeing all major universities launching these programs (yet).

How to choose the right consulting company

Best case scenario? You’re referred to one by someone you trust, someone who has experience working with them, and knows what they’re capable of. 

Alternatively, though, you’re most likely to turn to Google. However, good search engine optimization is not always the sign of a good service. 

In this directory, we try to provide an alternative: a selection of companies that provide top-class services, yet might be less known than more established ones. We provide an entry point and all the contacts, though choosing the right partner is on your side. 

Here’s how you can approach it: 

1. Identify your actual needs. What aspects of the business require expert guidance?
2. Research specializations. Based on their presentation, determine if they cover crucial areas like extraction methods, technology recommendations, compliance, safety standards or product formulation;
3. Check credentials. It’s always a good idea to Investigate the background (both of the company and of their team members);
4. Evaluate their current clients, past experience, and recommendations. It can be as simple as looking at their case studies or looking for unbiased testimonials from previous clients;
5. Look for customized services. Cannabis and botanical extraction field is complex, so there’s no room for one-size-fits-all packages and limited solutions.

Finally, keep in mind that the relationship itself is crucial. Make sure there’s a decent cultural fit and proper synergy between your business values and their approach.