Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2022

What can set your company apart from all the rest? How do you minimize risk and maximize profits? How do you successfully structure, position and market your business and  brand? This panel discussion and Q&A session is focused on the diverse considerations for  growing and nurturing a successful business. Whether its branding, marketing, business strategy, business structure, financial considerations or identifying new trends and market opportunities for growth, this panel can address these topics from first-hand experience.

When your business is in the Cannabis industry, compliance with the regulations is the bottom line to keeping the doors open.

So why are there still so many facilities that are operating without SOP practices in place?

Today, we will take a closer look at the benefits of having a thorough SOP, what can happen when you don’t have an SOP in place and some solutions to get you started on your journey to full compliance today.

This talk will cover lighting considerations for cannabis, including proper intensity, Daily Light Integral, Spectrum and Photoperiod. We will explore artificial lighting and its applications in both indoor and mixed-light greenhouses. This talk will also cover non-electric, sustainable spectral control technologies becoming popular today, including luminescent quantum dot and dye films, coating technologies, and colored shade netting.

Together we will bring to light to facts vs fiction when it comes to processing payments in the cannabis industry. We will take a step back and learn the basics of a merchant account, pricing structures and how to understand a merchant statement. From there we will take a forward-thinking review of how far the industry has come and evaluate the coming changes to how your business accepts payments. You will leave our discussion with a better understanding of how to navigate payment acceptance.

Data is only useful if you use it and know how to use it. When it comes to the cannabis industry, there are a wealth of software solutions and platforms available to businesses, but understanding how to apply these analytics and insights to help a business grow and scale can be overwhelming. This presentation will focus on what technologies exist in the emerging marketplace and how traditional data solutions are shaping industry-specific softwares for an improved user experience.

Growers contend with multiple issues related to the healthy growth of their plants. Collecting data about your plants can provide immediate benefits that improve quality and increase yields as well as put you on the path to utilize AI tools to continue to improve grow operations. Potential projects where AI can be deployed in the grow environment will also be discussed.

Oklahoma recently imposed a two-year moratorium on new cannabis cultivation licenses. This is good news for growers, but there are still over 7,000 licensed cultivators in the state.

How can existing cultivation businesses ensure they take advantage of this moratorium and carve out a healthy slice of the state’s $1 billion cannabis market?

This talk will offer attendees pragmatic advice for tightening up operational expenses and helping to ensure their cannabis flower stands out in a crowd.

Increased reliance on plant-based formulas necessitates the need for biotechnological advancements to sustainably supply commodities and rare ingredients at scale. Learn how microbial biotechnologies such as algae fermentation can effectively recreate natural ingredients, including those rare or hard to access, at a fraction of the cost and without adverse environmental, varietal or supply chain impact.

Cannabis businesses are faced with higher compliance costs and higher taxes when compared to other types of businesses. Additionally, in a lot of states the markets are saturated and there is increased competition. Many times the owners are wearing so many hats— many of which they should not be doing because they don’t like it, is not productive, or a good use of their time. There is a system to create a path to a more successful and profitable cannabis business. Attendees will learn how cash is more important than profit, and how profit is more important than revenue. The five drivers of revenue, profit, and cash flow will be taught. Attendees will also learn about targets and forecasts, and how they should let the right numbers drive their decisions. We will demonstrate how to keep a scoreboard about what to do every month to keep on track to achieve higher profits and increase cash flow. Lastly, the audience will learn how to create financial objectives and actionable plans to move the needles closer to their targeted numbers.

Understanding the nexus between energy consumption and maximum high quality production can be the difference between making your start up successful or falling victim to the market like many competitors. This presentation will demonstrate how to create the most efficient and effective grow space leveraging third party capital that does not reduce your equity position. By reducing your operational expenses and reducing your overall capital outlay, investment expectations are easily exceeded.

Industrywide, its estimated that between 95 and 99% of all cannabis-related transactions are carried out in cash. There isn’t one reason why this is the case, rather it’s a trifecta of causes legal, financial and social. Until all three of those are relaxed, cash volumes will continue to pour into the cannabis space. This session will share insights into how the industry can benefit from the idea of cash automation or leveraging technology to better manage, count, and store cash.

This presentation will discuss basic structures of buying and selling a business in two basic forms – asset transactions and equity transactions, along with basic legal issues for joint ventures. The emphasis will be on the stages to a buy-sell transaction and a discussion on terms in service agreements. This presentation will discuss issues related to operating an effective business and preparation for acquisition while managing the concerns regularly faced by buyers of a cannabis business.

Data is the fuel that drives growth for your cannabis business whether you are a grower, manufacturer, brand, or dispensary. By nature, the highly regulated and fragmented industry of cannabis generates tons of data. However, many don’t know how to leverage it to improve management decisions and customer experience which can lead to improving top and bottom-line growth. This talk will cover how using the predictive power of AI can help your business gain a competitive advantage

You know the saying; it’s far easier to keep a customer than get a new one. But loyalty isn’t just about repeat business. You must create such a positive impact on your customer that they sing your praises to everyone in their orbit. In this session, we’ll analyze new market research that supports a hierarchical model of loyalty. Whether you’re a retailer, brand, or B2B business, you’ll learn marketing tactics and techniques that can be used to build and maintain the loyalty of your customers.

You know you wanna, but can you? Well, it’s complicated. Cannabis advertisers have more to worry about than most brands. They need to consider FCC guidelines, federal and state regulations, and advertising company restrictions, too. Many media companies, like Meta and Google, have banned cannabis advertising altogether. In this session, you will walk away with an understanding of the current advertising landscape for the cannabis industry and five tactics that will help you gain an edge.

Did you know the IRS can deny deductions completely if
you are operating without good records? Also since there
are no “deductions” in cannabis it’s important that your
cost of goods sold is flowing properly through inventory
which is a business asset
■ Under an audit having actual receipts looks great. You can
try to recreate your expenses from a bank or credit card
statement… but what if they are paid in cash? Part of our
monthly bookkeeping for clients includes electronic
receipt storage

Odor is the industry’s biggest public-facing problem – and we are not winning. We will define the current challenge and look at the coming regulatory impact on odor control. A deep dive into why people complain about odor and why it’s complicated is next. Explore available odor control technologies and see what’s working and what’s not. Understand the science of odor elimination. Leave attendees with a clear understanding of challenges and solutions around cannabis odor.

This presentation will identify the high-level role zoning laws play in cannabis operations.
It will provide a business owner with resources the business owner can use to navigate and comply with local zoning ordinances.
It will explore common requirements imposed by local jurisdictions and the steps a business can take to comply with those requirements.
It will explore how a business owner can come into compliance if the business has been issued a notice by state or local regulators

This session is focused on the marketing and branding a cannabis business. It will explain how to develop and protect a strong brand with state and federal trademarks. We will demystify the complicated rules around marketing cannabis businesses, with an emphasis on navigating the “community guidelines” of the relevant social media platforms without being “shadowbanned”. Included will be a marketing strategy template, which you can customize into your own marketing plan.

Learn about the key issues facing cannabis retailers from someone who has been doing this for over 29 years, with a focus on removing as much cash from the equation as possible. Join us for some very “un-varnished” discussion about the options facing the industry today and how business owners can prepare themselves for the future. With Joe’s extensive experience in the payment industry, he will share both facts and his observations of the industry highlighting best practices for payment acceptance.

Cannabis is a capital-intensive game. Get inside the head of an investor to understand the due diligence they do before investing in your comapny. We will go from a novice in raising capital to expert in 1 hour. Going forward, investors will be much more demanding of cannabis, CBD, & Hemp startups. They expect better internal controls and better accounting policies & procedures. Investors want to see plans for their audit trail.

There are endless CBD companies for your clients to choose from. So how do you influence them to buy your product? Know the medical information that makes your product stand out. This presentation will delve into the health benefits of cannabinoids and terpenes to better assist your clients in choosing and creating cannabinoid products.

As marijuana has grown in popularity as a therapeutic supplement, marijuana users and hypertensive patients are beginning to overlap. If marijuana gets the user high by causing the user to “mellow out,” would marijuana be an effective tool in the management of clinical hypertension? Half of the US population is clinically hypertensive, so understanding the triphasic effect of THC on blood pressure is critical to keep users safe.

While the stigma around cannabis is breaking, the stigmas inside the industry hold businesses back. Francesca shares an elevated mindset and practical applications that take companies from surviving to thriving. How? By making professional sales the second priority in their business. She challenges the status quo of current sales models and shows the audience how to improve revenues immediately, strengthen brand identity, and build long term success.

For those knowledgeable in cannabis but not as strong in back office practices, this session is for you. Learn the simple processes that will keep you legally compliant and help your cannabis business run smoothly. Often overlooked, Payroll, HR and Timekeeping can drive your business to success or failure. Learn the essentials from a payroll professional. Teresa will discuss 1099 vs. W2, employee handbooks and job descriptions, HR/OSHA compliance and more.

Companies operating in cannabis, hemp and CBD can face very stringent regulations and requirements. From federal taxation complexities to state seed-to-sale tracking requirements, your passion for the plant can be quickly tempered by incorrect or incomplete accounting. In this crash course, we’ll discuss the 11 basics every cannapreneur should know about accounting for your cannabusiness. Whether you’re new to the industry or a canna-veteran, you’re sure to find this session fun and informative!