It can be challenging to find startup funding for a cannabis dispensary. Investors are out there, but it takes specialized skills and know-how to find them. Here are a few methods that may help you connect with startup funders.

Networking. Networking is the key to growth and success as no business can succeed in a vacuum. Your contacts are a vital part of your business and you should look after them. Thirty years ago, a huge rolodex was a sign of a master networker. Today, social networking is an excellent way to develop personal connections. You cannot ignore Linkedin, Facebook, and other social media networking platforms specific to your business and the cannabis industry.

Trade Conventions. If you are in the Pacific Northwest this winter, the Northwest Cannabis Classic takes place in Portland on December 6. This is a wonderful way to get to know the community, and to start or expand your network of potential investors or partners. Trade conventions are excellent for networking, but this year’s Cannabis Classic also features informative seminars on kick-starting a marijuana business, collaborating with other entrepreneurs, and finding potential investors.

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How do you become the fastest, most successful company in the history of business? What kind of secret formula do you need to thrive in an emerging industry? How does your business feast in an environment where businesses starved; pioneering through uncertainty, resisting rescue and outlasting vicious competition? Few businessmen and women embrace the audacity of risk amongst controversy, succeeding with grit in one of the most controversial times in American history.

It hasn’t been one decade and America has begun to forget about the entire country teetering on the edge of economic crisis. The summer and early fall of 2008 spelled historical drama of the highest order when the global economy entered a massive free-fall. The sub-prime mortgage crisis had become the talk of Wall Street as credit markets dropped massively.

When Lehman Brother filed for bankruptcy, the business world reacted with horror. Famous Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia sent out a presentation, “R.I.P. Good Times.” The days of emerging, multi-billion-dollar firms were now a thing of the past.

Or were they?

Staking a Claim in an Emerging Market

And yet two brilliant Chicago entrepreneurs – one...more

You can see it just about everywhere you look. From consultants, experts, financial forecasters and entrepreneurs, they’re all very bullish. 2016 is projected to be marijuana’s best year yet. Fortune Magazine says over $6.7 billion in revenue is projected this year alone. Major investment groups like Sequoia International are earnestly seeking to transform the industry. Those pesky and previously impenetrable laws criminalizing marijuana are suddenly dropping like dominoes, as legalization (especially for medicinal purposes) has exploded. In mid-April, Pennsylvania became the 24^th state to pass legislation to legalize medical marijuana. Including Washington D.C., nearly half the country is making cannabis a legal entity.

What does that mean for you? If you’re an ambitious entrepreneur, it means incredible opportunity for you to open and operate your very own medical marijuana dispensary. The promise is obviously very appealing. With so much legal momentum coming to the United States, federal legalization to some is simply inevitable. Get in early, you stand to make a fortune! Thousands of observers are realizing that this isn’t just a “side hustle,” this is a major opportunity t...more