Cannabis is becoming more and more widely around the world. With the legalisation of medicinal and recreational weed, there are a greater number of dispensaries being opened. Some are owned by government organisations and some are owned privately. This is a quick guide of tips aimed at those who are opening their own dispensaries. We will be looking at marketing, security, creativity and overall success.
Are You Ready?
The first thing we need to think about before committing to a dispensary is are you ready? Before you open your business you need to ensure a few basic things. Are you committed? Many people think that opening a dispensary is easy money but it takes a huge amount of work and commitment, even though you are working in an area where it is legal. There will still be controversy surrounding your business. It can also take a while for a dispensary to get off the ground. The tips in this article will help, but your business won’t just explode overnight. Make sure you are ready to play the long game.
You also want to make sure you do plenty of research, which hopefully this article is playing a part in. If you go into this business knowing little about what you are selling or how you are selling it you are likely doomed to failure.
Selecting Employees
A lot of people say that choosing who is going to work in your dispensary is just as important as marketing and sorting out the business aspect. It may be tempting to believe that you can hire pretty much anyone with a sales background, but this is not the case. Your employees can make or break your brand new dispensary. If possible try to find people who specifically have dispensary experience. Selecting your employees is so important that there are recruiters whose job it is to only help find dispensary staff. The right staff will make the rather difficult job of opening a marijuana based business a fair bit easier. Of course, then you also don’t need to worry about accidentally hiring staff who might want to abscond with your product.
Security
Unfortunately, security is an extremely important aspect of running a dispensary. You are essentially selling an extremely coveted item which may make you a target for attack. There are a few things that you must cover if you want to keep your shop and your staff safe. Ensure that all points of entry are covered by metal detectors, cameras and security staff of some kind. Whether someone comes in to literally rob the place or just tries to grab and run you need to be ready. As far as customers are concerned you shouldn’t treat them like criminals but you need to have a zero tolerance policy on any violence or threatening behaviour. Ensure that your online security is second to none, the last thing you want is for your dispensary to be vulnerable to hackers. As we already mentioned you want to be keeping an eye on employees for any sign of employee theft. If you hire well hopefully this won’t be a problem but by making it clear that everything is tracked and ensuring there is no leniency in employees selling to themselves you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Overall if you think you are being too careful you are wrong. You’re not running a normal shop and just one incident could cause serious issues and even result in you heaving to shut down. Security is key when you’re going into the weed business.
Marketing
If you are brand new to the dispensary game this is going to be one of the most important aspects of establishing your shop.
Loyalty
You want to ensure shop loyalty in your customers to make sure you get as few one time visits as possible. There are a number of ways to increase customer loyalty. An easy way is to set up an actual loyalty scheme, some sort of card or similar that rewards customers for repeat visits. Also starting a mailing list where customers will receive news, information, and new deals in your store. Customer relationships with staff are also vital. If a customer purchases from a place that is friendly, happy and chatty they are far more likely to return. Customers want to feel comfortable, almost like members of the family. Anything that encourages repeat customers to feel special is generally a good idea.
Awareness
When you first open you will need a way to get new customers to visit. If no one knows you are there then you aren’t going to get any business. It can be wise to have some sort of opening event encouraging people off the street to come in and see the shop. Maybe giving away an online prize on a social media account that can be shared by similar companies or accounts. This immediately goes to your potential customer base. Obviously don’t use rival companies, just places that do something similar to you or purely online accounts. To continue spreading awareness you could also provide reference benefits. Essentially if a current customer refers a friend to you, you both get a discount.
Online Awareness
Part two of awareness is your overall online presence. Things like keywords and SEO on your website will make you come up sooner if people google dispensaries in your area. You want to come up for any searches such as “dispensaries near me” or “dispensaries in *local area*” which means you will have to find ways to fit those sentences into your website copy. Another super way to get more clicks is to write a blog for your dispensary covering any topics your potential customers may be interested in. This can improve your likelihood of attracting customers who may otherwise not come across you. Making your website easy to use, clear and usable on phones and tablets will also improve your visibility. Keep your website simple with clear and professional images and descriptions of your products and any offers you may have on at the moment.
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