The Real Cost for a California Cannabis License

Have you Ever Wondered What was the Actual Cost to Get a Cannabis License? 

How Much Is a Weed License In California?

We know all cannabis business owners want to know how much is a weed license in California. In this article, we’ll break it down for you drawing upon our experience in acquiring cannabis licenses in 3 states and participating in over 30 successful cannabis licenses. Over this time, we identified the 6 main barriers to entry. Of course, the primary concern for everyone is:

California Cultivation License Cost

You may also be wondering what is the California Cultivation License cost. However, did you know that a cannabis manufacturing Type S License allows you to buy cannabis flower from thousands of cultivators and package it as your own? As a cannabis manufacturer, you can source flower from thousands of farms in California without the headache of having to grow from scratch. This is what most businesses do today. Unless your goal is to be a farmer, we would recommend getting a Type S License as you’ll have better variety, pricing, and flexibility to create your flower brand.

How Much Does it Actually Cost to Start a Cannabis Business?

We hope our experiences can help people take knowledgeable steps so they aren’t wasting their own, investors, or other people’s resources and time. We intend this to be a mini walk through of how much it costs to start a small facility 3000 square foot manufacturing facility in California. However, most of this is easily swappable/transmutable to all other legal/quasi-legal cannabis states. So, let’s get started.

The Average Cost to Open a Cannabis Business is $750,000+

This amount is a combination of a LOT of steps which no one says anything about, mostly because everyone is trying to get ahead of everyone else, attorneys have an overwhelmingly new area to learn and navigate through so they charge a ton, and everyone puts a premium on “cannabis” because well – it’s the future holy money-making grail.

First Step – Property Identification

First and foremost is identifying property. Cannabis is vastly different from any other industry in the world. This is because unlike alcohol, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, or just purely illegal drugs – cannabis is a quasi-legal product which is not legal under federal law.

Green Zone Properties

In California, the cities and states have all the power in deciding zoning for cannabis properties. Commonly known as “Green Zone” properties, these properties automatically 2x to 5x in value if they are in the legal “Green Zone” for a city. So your first hurdle is making sure that the property you selected is even the Green Zone.

A cannabis consultant could charge anywhere between $1,000 to $10,000 or even equity depending on the length of time to go look for properties, check their zoning, then verify its location with the city. For us, it took us 16 cities and 43 different properties before we found one. Let’s just average it at $5,000 which is relatively cheap.

Leasing or Purchasing Green Zone Properties

As a result of the state vs federal law conflicts: No federal bank will give loans for cannabis properties.

Cannabis Property Costs

That’s right. This means you have two choices as a cannabis business – (1) own a property outright with NO loans or (2) Rent from a landlord who owns a property outright with no bank loans. With a 2x to 5x in value for no reason other than it’s Green Zone, this means that your property costs shoot up vastly.

Let’s average the cost for purchase at $300.00/Sqft and leasing at $3.00/Sqft. With a 3000 sqft facility, we’re looking at $900,000 (purchase) or $9,000 a month (Lease).

Second Step – City Application

The second opening cost of any cannabis application is the city or county fees. We break this down to two types of city fees: (1) Explicit Fees & (2) “Discretionary” Fees.

The explicit fees are what are publicly stated and the discretionary fees are while you are on the process – what a city a can charge you for any reason at any rate at their discretion.

Express Fees

Cannabis Property Costs and Fees

The express fees usually range from at a minimum, $5,000 to up to $25,000+ in some outlier cities. Most will charge between $5,000 – $15,000 For example, the city of Long Beach charges $5,925.45 in fees for 1 owner. If you have multiple owners – they add $145.00 for each additional owner. In Los Angeles, each license requires $8,059 per activity type. We’ll average it at $15,000.

Discretionary Fees

The discretionary fees are more interesting, in order to ensure that your premises meets the code, you’ll need to make sure your property is up to code from the local fire, police, architectural, and engineering departments – or however many departments the cities decides are necessary. Los Angeles Fire Department charges $918 + $216 for inspections exceeding 4 hours. However, they say nothing about any other departments. Basically, if a city likes you, they can charge you as little as a couple thousand and if they dislike you or think you have deep pockets – they can charge tens of thousands.

Cannabis Startup Pricing

It’s also incredibly common for a city to point out an issue and ask you make a modification so that they can come back in for another inspection, or simply put down a random number of how many hours it will take them. Most cities will also charge you a security deposit, legal fees, consulting fees, and operating agreements with the city, etc. In all of our licenses, we have never paid less than $35,000 for these discretionary fees. As a result, we’ll average these out at $30,000 to be really nice and overly optimistic.

Third Step – Premises Diagram

Almost all cities have a multiple-phase application process. At some point, you must have a premises diagram that meets all state and local cannabis codes, and specifically for cannabis. Unless you’re a cannabis architect yourself – you’ll need someone who can do this. Cannabis Architects charge a premium as they have to consider a lot of factors that most regular architects do not. Expect to pay about double to triple for cannabis architects.

Our cannabis architect states “While normally an architect would charge $1.50-5 for a commercial project – expect to pay closer to $8-$10 per square foot for a cannabis facility for a good cannabis architect.” Taking the low range of this, let’s tack on another $24,000 for premises diagrams.

Cannabis Startup Pricing & Licensing

Fourth Step – Engineering Plans

Once you have this set up, now you’ll need to get all your electrical, plumbing, and other items in order. Also known as MEP, these engineers are crucial in ensuring you have sufficient utilities coming in to operate your cannabis business. The average cost of this is probably around $2.00 – $4.00 per square foot. Taking the low range of this, another $6,000 for MEP.

Engineering Costs

Fifth Step – Interior Design

Now comes whether you want your place to look nice or not. This really is aggressive for retail but for other parts of the cannabis chain – the interior design really isn’t taken into account. So while normally it would be about $4.00 a square foot for retail, for our facilities only minimal costs were put into design costing about $1.00 square foot. We’ll tack on $3,000 for this.

Startup Pricing Design Costs

Sixth Step – Construction & Equipment

Now comes the REALLY expensive part, how much is your equipment and construction? A CO2 extraction machine goes from about $135,000 for small ones to $500,000 for larger ones. Then there is rotary evaporators, centrifuges, and much more depending on the needs of your engineer or scientist. Ultimately, the equipment probably averages around $250,000 for a small 3,000 sqft operation.

Then let’s also tack on general contractor costs (unless you are one yourself). General contractors get paid by taking a percentage of the overall cost of the completed project. Some will charge a flat fee, but in most cases, a general contractor will charge between 10 and 20 percent of the total cost of the job. This includes the cost of all materials, permits and subcontractors. The average cost per square foot for a commercial cannabis property goes from about $80 to $200.00 per square foot or more with most settling around $100 per square foot. This includes all the material, subcontractors, and labor. So let’s tack on another $300,000.

Cannabis Construction Costs

Seventh Step – State Licensing

Now that you’ve finished building out everything. Let’s assume that everything went PERFECT, and that you only need to do the final checkups. You can apply for your state licenses.

A 3,000 square foot facility with anticipated revenue of less than $500,000 – you are looking at a $1,000 application fee + $2,500 licensing fee. When you’ve received this and passed all inspection – now you can finally start operating. However, there’s a few more costs here that most people don’t account for.

Cannabis State Licensing Costs

Eighth Step – Legal Consultation

Hiring a cannabis consultant or attorney is expensive. The average cannabis attorney rate is around $750/hour being able to charge a premium as it’s a really exclusive field right now. This is coming from one of our founders who also runs a law firm specializing in cannabis contracts.

For example, the city of Los Angeles requires public notices, community meetings, pre licensing inspection etc. This includes having someone stand in front of the public population of a city at city council hearings, meet and greets with city officials, negotiations and more.

If you want to have a specialized, knowledgeable cannabis attorney – expect easily about 50 – 150 hours of legal work. Let’s take the mid area at about 100 hours.

Legal Aspects of Starting Cannabis Business

Ninth Step – Burn Rate

Here’s a super fun one for everybody. If you are leasing property – keep in mind that while you are struggling – this doesn’t mean your landlord lets you off the hook. We’ve spoken to a lot of people about the pain they have during this time frame – some are hitting about 14 months of processing time with over $30,000/month in just rental fees.

Everything above takes a long time to complete. Let’s estimate a “short” time frame of 12 months * the rent = $108,000. Let’s also add in the security deposit which is usually 3x normal rates. $108,000+$27,000 = $135,000.
TOTAL COST FOR 3,000 SQFT FACILITY BEFORE OPERATIONS BEGIN WITH GOAL OF $500,000 REVENUE

LEASE: $846,500

PURCHASE: $1,611,500

NON-REFUNDABLE AT ALL STAGES

Now comes the really fun part for us

Let’s compare the opening costs for you to start with us in making your own manufactured cannabis products versus the opening costs that everyone else has had to suffer.

My Green Network Cannabis Operational Costs

Santa Ana’s New Cannabis Law will Make the City a Cannapreneur Mecca. Here’s Why.

Cannapreneurs using California's Shared-Use Manufacturing License will see Biggest Benefits  

A new cannabis ordinance is set to make Santa Ana, Orange County’s 1st legal cannabis city, the best city in California for cannapreneurs.

Over the past few years, My Green Network has been working with Santa Ana's hard-working city staff and council. The new ordinance will create a truly beneficial environment for shared-use manufacturing using California's Type S License. Amazing organizations such as Orange County Advocacy Alliance and Santa Ana cannabis businesses have made it possible. 

Santa Ana's proposed cannabis laws, if passed, will make the City the top destination for cannapreneurs to utilize shared-use manufacturing.

Here's why.

1.    Shared-Use Manufacturing Taxes Set at 1% 

Shared-Use Manufacturing taxes will be set at 1%. This means shared-use manufacturers in Santa Ana will have one of California's lowest cannabis manufacturing taxes.

2.   Shared-Use Manufacturing SqFt. Taxes Set at ZERO 

Shared-use manufacturers will pay ZERO square footage taxes in Santa Ana. Compare this to other cannabis licenses state-wide that pay square footage tax even if they are losing money. Small businesses, cannapreneurs, and startups in Santa Ana will only pay city taxes when making sales. 

3.   Distribution Taxes Lowered from 6% to 1%

     Distribution will be set to 1% which means more distributors will start shifting their business to Santa Ana. Expect lowered distribution fees. Santa Ana is also strategically located with access to all of southern California (from San Diego to LA).  Santa Ana is set to become southern California’s hub for all cannabis distribution. 

4.   Retail Taxes Lowered from 8% to 7%, Potential 2% Tax Rebate

     Retail taxes will be reduced by 1% dropping from 8% to 7%. Retail stores that follow community benefits plan to pay prevailing wages and hire local will potentially see an additional 2% tax rebate. 

5.   Employee Livescans Finally Removed  

Previously, hiring employees required a livescan and almost a 30 day delay for badges to be issued. Cannabis businesses lost thousands of potential employees as a result. Shared-use manufacturers will now be able to hire faster, locally, and save money while getting better talent. 

6.   Owner Livescan Matches State Laws  

Previously, Santa Ana's livescan requirements were stricter than State laws deterring hundreds of potential cannabis owners. Shared-Use manufacturers can now apply with cannabis charges and convictions which would be approved by state law.

7.   1st City in Orange County to Allow Cannabis Consumption Events and Festivals  

Santa ana will be the first city in Orange County to allow cannabis consumption events and festivals. Being a shared-use manufacturer in Santa Ana means you'll be first priority for all events.  

8.   1st City in Orange County to Enable Collaborative Events between the City and Santa Ana Cannabis Licensees  

Santa Ana is enabling the City to coordinate cannabis festivals with its locally licensed cannabis businesses. Imagine a city-wide, Santa Ana 4/20 event with all local brands and retailers.  

9.   1st City in Orange County to Allow Cannabis Consumption Lounges

All Santa Ana retail stores can build attached cannabis consumption lounges. Think cannabis nightclubs, bars, cannagar bars, cafes, and a whole lot more. Expect shared-use manufactuers with unique products servicing these lounges to get the leg up. Ready-to-eat infused products? Here we come.  

10.   1st City in Orange County to Allow Cannabis Consumption Demonstration Rooms

Local dispensaries that do not have the space to create a lounge will be able to host educational and small tasting events in designated demonstration areas. Cannabis tasting flights? Senior medicinal cannabis education events? Veteran appreciation days? Expect a lot of very interesting and positive add-ons to Santa Ana's dispensaries.  

11.   All Retail Stores Given Medical and Adult-Use Designation 

A My Green Network Type-S License allows for shared-use manufacturers to create both medical and adult-use cannabis products. Either way you choose, all Santa Ana dispensaries can buy your products for their consumers. 

Summarizing it Up

Basically, shared-use manufacturers who get a Type S License in Santa Ana will be able to take advantage of the new laws and complete lack of unique cannabis products in the market.

They can enter the cannabis industry faster than anywhere else, pay the lowest taxes in California, have the best location in southern California to sell and distribute their cannabis products, and participate in Orange County's ONLY city to allow cannabis consumption lounges and festivals. 

Santa Ana has just become the best place to start a California cannabis business

Add onto the fact that My Green Network  offers the lowest cost to acquire a cannabis manufacturing license in the State, flexible memberships, guaranteed placement for licensed delivery, and more - It's clear. 

Santa Ana is set to become the mecca for cannapreneurs, shared-use manufacturing, and therefore - cannabis product innovation. 

Get Ready. Set. Go Green the Way You Want. We do the Rest. 

What are the Benefits of a Cannabis Shared Kitchen?

My Green Network - Cannabis Shared Kitchen

A cannabis shared kitchen, also known as a cannabis cloud kitchen is where cannabis manufacturers coincide together to create and manufacture cannabis products in a centralized facility. If you can make it, bake it, or create it, chances are you can do so at a commercial level through a cannabis-shared kitchen.

Here’s the inside scoop, many small business owners, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs aren’t aware of the beneficial components that come alongside a shared cannabis kitchen. They often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and facilities before ever selling a single product.

A shared cannabis kitchen facility is equipped with commercial-grade equipment to give manufacturers the leg up to create larger batches when creating a product without the crippling overhead. While in-home kitchens are a great way to produce your first product – it is mandatory to have access to a licensed manufacturing facility to be able to legally sell your products.

What is the Cost for Cannabis BusinessGet your own California Cannabis Manufacturing License

California’s DCC, also known as the Department of Cannabis Control regulates all licensing and commercial cannabis activity and manufacturing in California. In 2018, the DCC created the Type-S Cannabis Manufacturing License– allowing the creation of cannabis shared kitchens.

The biggest advantage is that when properly executed, each operator in a cannabis shared kitchen will get their own cannabis manufacturing license.

To frame it properly, if you had a choice between starting your own mocktail business vs owning an alcohol license to produce and sell hard liquor – which would you prefer? The Type S Cannabis Manufacturing License is the hard-liquor license giving opening the doors to the exclusive THC recreational/medical cannabis industry.

Get Access to Commercial-Grade Equipment & Facilities

Our shared cannabis facilities are perfect for individuals who are at-home manufacturers wanting to branch out into commercial cannabis manufacturing, as well as companies that are doing small production looking to scale, grow, and expand their business.

Being a My Green Network member means you get immediate access to facilities and commercial-grade equipment you normally would not have access to. We carefully review, perform due diligence, and select tried-and-true equipment which is purposely designed for cannabis manufacturing. If you need something special? That’s great! Our members are also allowed to bring in their own commercial-grade equipment to use during production.

All equipment within the facility can be transported and stored. or rented at a set price per day. Meaning, you will never have to worry about the “what-if’s” during your manufacturing process while creating your products in our cannabis cloud kitchen.

As a My Green Network member, you Weed License in California through a Shared Cannabis Kitchen receive immediate full access to our entire facilities as well, including conference rooms, production rooms, packaging rooms, storage rooms, etc. In addition, each business will also receive a storage locker to keep their materials in a temperature-controlled and safe environment while you are not on site.

Production, Distribution, and Experience All in One Place

Get all of your manufacturing, distribution, and experience to succeed all in one place. The cannabis industry is a nascent industry in which experience and education play a huge role in ensuring your products hit the market compliantly and saving time, money, and resources.

We have a saying in the cannabis industry – every year in cannabis is like a dog year.

Here’s an interesting fact, only licensed cannabis distributors can request the final state compliance test for a cannabis product. That means normally, a cannabis manufacturer cannot do their own state compliance – they must hire a distributor to request that test from a licensed testing lab.

Many new cannabis manufacturers are laser-focused on production thinking they’ll address issues as it comes along. However, in the cannabis manufacturing industry, even a small mistake can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes this is completely out of your control. Here’s a prime example and some free advice:

Ever wonder why 99% of cannabis products you find at the dispensary have stickers with the THC quantity, description, etc.? You have definitely thought “this would look so much nicer if they just printed everything on the package.” 

In 2019, the state of California changed labeling requirements and over the last 3 years, it has made multiple modifications such as placement, sticker size, font size, additional label information, etc. As a result, cannabis manufacturers produced their products then because they could not do their own state testing without a distribution license – they sent the products to a licensed distributor for final testing and distribution. Every time California changed labeling laws, the cannabis manufacturers lost millions of dollars because they had to recall and redo their packages, pay the licensed distributor to sticker their old packages, or just throw out their old packaging.

At My Green Network, we have production and distribution all in one place enabling our members to flexibly adapt to changes, address production/testing issues faster, and get state testing without having to waste time. We also help with the distribution for our member’s products at rates which crush the competition.

Why Choose MyGN as your Cannabis Shared Kitchen

My Green Network offers you the most professional and reliable services for our members in addition to full use of our cannabis cloud kitchen, facilities, equipment, and its benefits. Start smart with My Green Network and expand your cannabis small business into commercial cannabis manufacturing, today.

About My Green Network

My Green Network Facility

At My Green Network, our mission is to be the world’s premier platform for cannabis innovation. 

Innovation comes from inspiration, inspiration comes from leaders, and putting leaders in a community exponentially multiplies the creativity effect. To achieve our mission, the solution is clear – how do we help more leaders enter the industry?

Who We Are

My Green Network is the premier cannabis commercial kitchen platform. Our goal is to completely revolutionize how leaders get licensed, manufacture, and operate in the cannabis industry making it simpler, faster, and affordable.

My Green Network Gets You Your Weed License in CaliforniaOur biggest measure of success is when we our members succeed in their cannabis business. My Green Network thrives on its Green Leaders creating their own cannabis brands within our shared cannabis kitchen.

We’re your comprehensive support network, your biggest cheerleader, and your experienced guide as you enter one of the most exciting industries in the world. We’re here to help you enter the commercial cannabis industry and more importantly – provide you the licenses, tools, and knowledge to be successful.

What We Do

There are three things we are confident we do better than everyone else.

  • Making getting a cannabis manufacturing license simple and affordable;
  • Providing cannabis commercial kitchens ready for production;
  • Providing a comprehensive network for any cannabis company’s practical needs to be successful.

Cannabis licensing can seem overwhelming and absurdly expensive, many times costing more than $1,000,000+ before getting to produce your first product. So we work directly with local governments to streamline processing and constantly improve our process to make city and state applications easy to approve.

Once you’ve received your own city and state licenses, you’ll select a membership (adjustable anytime), choose your cannabis commercial kitchen space, and begin producing. Our cannabis commercial kitchen will be one of your greatest advantages over your competitors. With a cannabis commercial kitchen you have access to commercial-grade equipment from the out-set without any additional costs.

Our network is practical, meaning we won’t be telling you “spend $100,000 here on this service that says they’ll make you successful but guarantees nothing, give away 20% of your product, sell off 49% of your company, buy this expensive tech, etc.” Instead, we focus on finding partners for our community that are practical and targeted towards your success.

How We Can Help You SucceedMy Green Network Member Working on Manufacturing their Infused Cannabis Products

What works for a company entering the industry backed by $100,000,000 is not going to work for someone entering with $1,000,000 let alone less than $100,000. Yet, the biggest challenge we constantly see new cannabis manufacturers face is the advice they are getting is not relevant to their situation.

We help you by providing a revolutionary platform for lean and green operators with competitive advantages enabling you to compete with multi-million-dollar companies at a fraction of the cost.

Your Type S cannabis licensing is done in-house by My Green Network’s expert cannabis licensing team. Memberships start as low as $1,450 a months. All memberships come with My Green Network’s full support behind you – from access to any of our spaces, commercial-grade equipment, licensed cannabis storage, members-only ingredient requisition services (cannabis and non-cannabis), METRC manufacturing training, immediate placement on The Green Spot, and much more. We’re constantly evolving our services to make entering the industry through My Green Network, faster, better, and easier to succeed. To top it off, memberships are flexible meaning you can scale up or down any time to minimize costs and maximize profits.

The multi-million-dollar companies have a lot more to worry about. With bigger capital expenditures up front, the greater the risk, liabilities, and consequences for the smallest of mistakes. With My Green Network, the only thing you will have to worry about is manufacturing the best cannabis product you can and selling it to people who you believe want it. We’ll take care of the rest. .

Welcome to Your Green Network

Want to learn more? We encourage you to reach out and speak with one of our community experts to schedule a tour and ask us questions on how to smartly get your cannabis manufacturing license and spin up your cannabis business faster than anywhere else.

Start smart, Go Green the Way You Want. We do the rest.

What is Cannabis Shared Space?

What is a Cannabis Shared Space?

These days, it can be hard to rent out your own office space, especially as a start-up or a new business. Because of this shared office spaces have become extremely popular, especially in large metropolitan cities. These office spaces allow businesses to have an office without the stress of an expensive lease for just one company.

Confused about why shared spaces are so popular, and why My Green Network is such a big proponent of them? Here are some advantages to shared office spaces:

  1. Flexibility: Shared office spaces allow for easily adaptable environments for your business. Most shared office spaces are paid for month to month, which means that new start-ups are not going to be boxed in by year-long leases. These month-to-month dues are also perfect for a new business in its prime. For example, if your team increased significantly or decreases significantly, it is easier to switch to a different office space that is more conducive to your needs. Further, there are no fees or security deposits needed to rent out most shared office spaces, which helps to keep costs down when a business is just getting started.
  2. Networking: Businesses just getting started need as many connections in their respective industry as possible. That makes networking extremely crucial, and shared-office spaces are a perfect, easy way to make connections. With shared office spaces it’s inevitable that you will work with employees from other businesses, which can lead to collaborating with other entrepreneurs and expanding your social network. For a start-up, these connections can be crucial to the success and launch of your business.
  3. Partnerships: In addition to networking, shared spaces usually attract a lot of attention from potential investors or partners. In fact, those looking to invest might seek out shared spaces and visit them in order to find new start-ups to work with and new marketing to tap into. Therefore, working in a shared-office space will allow new businesses to easily connect with possible corporate partnerships and investors, making it the perfect space for a new start-up looking to expand their business.
  4. Amenities: Leading a space comes with the hassle of buying furniture and investing in WiFi, printers, IT support, and other office necessities. Finding these can not only be time consuming but costly. Shared-spaces change all that, as in these spaces furniture, WiFi, kitchen spaces, printers, and mail distribution is usually included. This means businesses save time and money trying to find these resources on their own, and start-ups do not have to deal with these administrative tasks.
  5. Education: Many shared office spaces generally host workshops, speaking events, or programs offered to the businesses that work there.  These events not only serve as opportunities to network, but also opportunities to learn more about the industry you are in and the latest news in the field. As a start-up, staying up to date with these new innovations is especially important.

Once businesses start in a shared office space, they can’t stay there forever. Ideally the business should expand and need to find a new private space when the company begins to gain momentum. Companies generally know it is time to find their own space when they are interested in customizing their office to fit their brand and their culture.

Overall, shared spaces are a new, efficient way to grow your business without fronting expensive costs many start-ups struggle to afford. If you’re interested in participating in a shared space, contact us at My Green Network to help get you started! Our shared spaces are brand new facilities filled with new leaders in the cannabis industry.

5 Things You Should Know Before Starting a Cannabis Business

What you Need to Know to Start a Cannabis Business

What do I Actually Need to Know to Start a Cannabis Manufacturing Business? 

Entering the cannabis industry takes a lot of courage and risk-taking because there are many obstacles that do not face other professional spaces. What makes it even more challenging is that there is no real template for how to avoid all the pitfalls, because the rules are always changing. That is not to say a person should avoid becoming a cannabis manufacturer because the experience can be very fulfilling. When consumers report the amazing benefits or explain how your products changed their lives, the reasons for being in this space become clear. There are ways to prepare for the challenges, of course, especially when you do your research.

1. Major Marketing Roadblocks

Cannabis and CBD manufacturers must deal with something expressly unique that other industries do not – extremely restrictive marketing rules. Before you even begin a marketing plan, the product label can’t even list the function. In other words, depending on the product, you may only list the product ingredients.

This can be more than a hassle for those who manufacture cannabis wellness products, especially if you want to stand out from the other brands. Additionally, there are many digital marketing challenges to face in the cannabis industry. Social media posts about products cannot imply that there are any healing properties, nor can they insinuate that any ingredients can relieve symptoms.

Companies are not even allowed to publish customer testimonials in some cases because they can be viewed as medical claims (according to the FDA). Social media platforms like Facebook penalize cannabis brands often, even when they are not selling physical products. The platforms claim that any ads related to cannabis (even non-plant touching content) violates rules by offering “drugs” to the public.

2. Ever-Changing Regulations

The regulatory framework of the cannabis industry is constantly changing, and trying to keep up can be overwhelming, to say the least. Each state that allows for medical or recreational cannabis has a different set of complex regulations about packaging, selling, and advertising products. While these states learn how to work out the kinks of a nascent industry, manufacturers must prepare for the changes.

Trying to stay up to date on every change is impossible to do alone, which is why it makes all the difference to align with a workspace that takes care of compliance certification. It can also help to hire a consultant or to add someone to your team who specializes in regulatory updates to save a huge hassle later. Making the mistake of attempting to do it all in-house will only result in a short lifespan for your product line.

3. E-commerce

Because of federal laws prohibiting the online sale of products containing THC, manufacturers have severe limitations with e-commerce. This means having to count on dispensaries and retail locations, which is already a struggle with packaging restrictions. What this means for companies is a major loss of potential profit, and a tougher journey to become visible as a brand.

4. Banking is Difficult

Every cannabis and CBD business must deal with a lack of banking options, which makes it difficult to accept different types of payment from consumers. Mainstream banking solutions refusing to align with cannabis businesses make paying for bills and other monthly maintenance a complex issue. Additionally, storing a lot of cash on-site is a major security issue, and can make payroll a nightmare.
Luckily, there are some creative banking solutions becoming more available to entrepreneurs but having access will continue to be a challenge. It helps to have the right consultants and mentors on your team to guide you through the struggles and offer creative alternatives. Being a cannabis manufacturer is hard work, but with the right team and some patience, it can be the most rewarding experience.

And finally: It’s EXTREMELY expensive
Starting a Cannabis business is expensive. You’ll have to think about the cost of licensing, legal consultant fees, property, construction, equipment, marketing, and more. And yes, all that even before making your first product sale.

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT ANYMORE. YOU CAN START SMART.

For many of these challenges, MyGN offers solutions, and they are all in one place. 5 cannabis shared-kitchens for cannabis manufacturing, guaranteed Licensing, investment, branding and packaging, and more types of resources are available for MyGN members. As the first shared cannabis manufacturing facility in the USA, we are dedicated to offering you full support to turn your cannabis dreams into reality.

Where is the Future Largest Edibles Market in the United States?

The Future of Edibles in the Cannabis Industry

Los Angeles

And the best part is that there are oceans of opportunity for anyone to be the next cannabis version of Nestle, Pepsi, or Wrigley. Let’s take a look at how we came to this conclusion of the future largest edibles market in the United States.

The Emerging Edibles Market

In 2018, U.S. Consumers Ordered Cannabis Every 8 Seconds Source – Forbes
Let’s combine this statement with another fun statistic:

Cannabis Statistic

Edibles are no longer limited to homemade brownies and cookies. Edibles today include gummies, breath strips, chocolates, beverages, mints, gum, popcorn, potato chips, etc. – if you can imagine it, someone can make it.

Non-Flower Sales %

Non-Flower Sales %

When a state legalizes cannabis, the American hallmark of innovation, free expression, and creativity shine brightly in the edibles market. Edibles sales in America exponentially rise when a recreational cannabis industry grows. The historical preference for cannabis flower takes a back seat for more convenient and discreet ways to ingest cannabis.

The reason is clear why this is the case too.

Global Trends

Less Americans Are Smoking

Less Americans Are Smoking

Smoking rates in America are falling with the adult smoking rate down to 15.5% in 2016 from more than 40% in the 1960s. But that’s not it, edible products are rapidly becoming the preferred product to sell due to a key driving factor…Edibles are the most profitable cannabis product to sell.

Flower to Infusion Journey

We’re extremely experienced in the legal cannabis industry with operator knowledge and know this is a chance that can’t be passed up. With this opportunity, it’s no wonder why billionaires are jumping into the edibles market like the billionaire Wrigley heir, Arizona Iced Tea, and other huge companies.

California is the Largest Edibles Market in the United States

We’re going to go over some mind-blowing, super fun facts here. With a GDP of $2.9 trillion, California would slot between Germany and the United Kingdom in the world’s top economies. California actually accounts for 14% of the United States entire economy.

California Population

The California population is estimated to be approximately 39.75 million making it the most populated cannabis market in the America.

In fact, the population of California is bigger than the entire country of Canada which has a population of 37.5 Million.

California is the leading state in the United States for cannabis sales.

In 2018, California legalized cannabis and had $2.51 billion in sales eclipsing Colorado’s 6 year running cannabis market by 60% in the span of 1 year.

This goes into a really interesting statement that we have personally experienced.

As of 2019, California’s edibles market is still immature.

California only started issuing commercial cannabis licenses in January 2018. It is still an extremely immature market that is poised for explosive growth if we follow the edibles market trends of every other state that went recreational.

Evolution of Recreational Cannabis Edible Markets

Year 1

Cultivators begin harvesting and get a jumpstart in the market with easy to sell packaging. Manufacturers and distributors are learning how to make products.

Year 2

Companies work out final formulations to consistently meet State THC requirements and make good cannabis edible market products.

Year 3

The third year and beyond – branding and marketing starts with aggressive competition to be “the brand” for a particular edible product. Right now, California is in its 2nd year of true legalization. As a result – the edibles market is still wide open.

It’s pretty clear that the California’s edibles market is the largest edibles market in the country (and potentially the world), now and in the future.

The Los Angeles County Cannabis Market is the largest in the United States

Fact

Los Angeles is the most populated county in the United States with over 10 million people.

If we’re talking about potential cannabis consumers, 85% of those 10 million are 21+ making it over 8 million potential customers.

Los Angeles Cannabis Statistic

Another fun fact is that “cannabis tourism” is quickly becoming a thing.

Los Angeles had over 50 million tourists in 2018 essentially 5x-ing the potential consumer market where people visit just to try California cannabis – known as the “best weed in the world”.

This makes Los Angeles the most populated cannabis county in the United States with the most aggressive potential cannabis tourism in the world.

How to Easily Enter the Largest Edibles Market in the United States

So let’s recap. We said it and we mean it that Los Angeles is the largest edibles market in the United States, now and in the future.

THE EDIBLES TRENDS

In 2018, with only 9 recreationally legal states, a handful of medical states – cannabis products were being purchased every 8 seconds. In mature legal cannabis states (those that have legalized and operated for several years), more than 50% of their sales were from edibles.

WHY THIS TREND IS HAPPENING

This is heavily influenced by a clear trend by Americans to NOT smoke + edibles have the highest profit margins in the cannabis industry.

Let’s couple it with the purchasing power and the size of the edibles market.

Purchasing power – California economy vs all other Countries – ranked 5th in the world ensuring plenty of money to spend.

Population – California vs all other states – Rank #1 beating 2nd place Texas by over 26% with almost 40 million population.

Cannabis Sales – California vs all other states – #1 in America beating the longest running cannabis market (Colorado) by 60% in less than 1 year.

Los Angeles edibles market – Los Angeles county has over 8 million potential consumers 21+ making it the largest cannabis market in the United States.

This means that entering the Los Angeles edibles market is an immediate opportunity to be part of the future largest edibles market in the United States.

The best part? It’s pretty easy to enter this market.

You don’t need to be the Wrigley billionaire or the Arizona Tea with millions of dollars of funding. You don’t even need $100,000.

Through My Green Network and its Cannabis Coworking platform – the costs to enter the largest edibles market is affordable, guaranteed, and easy. You’re also only 20 minutes away from Los Angeles situated in the largest edibles market in the United States, now and in future.

We already did all the heavy lifting and evened the playing field making it so you jump ahead of everyone else (including those billionaires) with a complete support system dedicated to your success.

Cannabis Shared Facility Makes Starting Cannabis Business Ideas Easy

Benefits of Cannabis

Expanding or starting a cannabis business is easy. 

We’re serious. In April 2020, businesses and entrepreneurs across the United States can take advantage of California’s first, truly dedicated cannabis co-working space and community.

Applicants will own a California cannabis manufacturing license in 1/10th the cost and time compared to traditional startups and with immediate access to the United States’ largest consumer market – Los Angeles.

However.

There is limited availability due to California regulations.

If you’re ready, let's begin

1. Problems when Starting a Cannabis Business Idea

Our dream to turn our cannabis business idea into reality demanded us to overcome challenges that were painful, discouraging, and lonely.

We identified 6 problems blocking cannabis companies and entrepreneurs from bringing their fantastic cannabis ideas to life in our 6+ years of cannabis industry operations.

We also created the solution.

First Problem

Starting a cannabis business costs at least $750,000

Starting a Cannabis Business

This is a fact. Each of our cannabis start-ups cost us $750,000 or more in non-refundable expenses before we could make our first product.

Some cities also require applicants to have $200,000 liquid capital or they can’t even apply.

Even if you raise enough money, the next problem can burn it all.

Compliance

The cannabis industry is ultra-regulated.
Entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners, and established enterprises face incredible hurdles. State laws are confusing. Cities and counties set their own licensing rules with multiple phase, non-refundable applications. Legal fees alone range from $50,000 to $150,000. (Trust us, we have 2 cannabis lawyers advising us).

If you think it sounds complex, scary, and bureaucratic – you are 100% right.

But before you can even start on compliance, you need.

Property

As the age old saying goes “Location, Location, Location”

Only 2 options exist to start a cannabis business

(1) Own a property in the cannabis zone outright, OR

(2) Rent from someone who owns a property in the cannabis zone.

The reality is, most owners don’t want to rent to a cannabis business. Those that do charge two to four times more as a “cannabis premium.”

This is made even worse by the next issue.

Time

Clocks Banner

Time is a resource once spent you can never get back.

For cannabis businesses, time is of the essence and licensing takes 12 to 18 months on average.

During this time, a small business easily pays over $100,000 in rent for a 3,000 square foot property. A medium business in a 7,000 square foot property will pay over $250,000, and so forth. All before making their first product.

But your cannabis business idea may never become a reality because of experience requirements.

Experience

No business wants a failing business to be their partner. It would just be a waste of time and money.

A city is a business that generates revenue through taxes. Los Angeles is an incorporated city of California. California is a state of the USA. The United States is the world’s most profitable business.

Having no cannabis experience means there is no room for error, unless you have massive financial support. As a result, many California cities now require “cannabis business experience” for applicants.

And finally.

Uncertainty

Uncertainty plagues all of the previous problems making it unclear if you will even receive a license.

Did you raise enough money? Did you comply with all the laws? Did you obtain a property? How long will it take? Do you have the experience needed to succeed?

In one instance in California, 85 companies applied for 8 available licenses in a city charging $10,000 in non-refundable application fees. As of today, those 85 companies are still in the licensing process since January 2019.

California cannabis business ideas face all these challenges before becoming a reality.

But the solution is simple.

2. California’s “Type S” License

The “S” stands for “share.” The California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) calls it “shared-use.”

We call it true cannabis co-working.

The idea is that an experienced cannabis manufacturer can rent a compliant shared-use station to others. Those businesses receive a “Type S” cannabis manufacturing license from local and state authorities and become a “Type S Licensee.”

Type S Licensees can conduct the following cannabis manufacturing activities:

Infusions
Packaging and Assembly
Extractions with butter or food grade oil
Type S Licensees require exclusive use of a shared-use station during their time. This means limited availability per station.

CDPH realized that under the current laws, starting a cannabis business idea would be virtually impossible for 95% of the population.

Cannabis co-working helps all cannabis business ideas from entrepreneurs to established enterprises avoid the cannabis start-up problem.

But the question still is:

How much did CDPH’s shared-use manufacturing solution really help?

3. The Benefits of Cannabis Co-working

The answer? – CDPH completely changes how we can start a cannabis business idea.

Since we’re the first Type S license in Southern California (yes, you heard that right) and we are the only fully dedicated, manufacturing cannabis coworking space in California (if not the entire country) – we’ll use ourselves as the prime example.

Absurd STARTUP ADVANTAGES

We used absurd because its pretty much crazy what the differences are.

Traditional Cannabis StartupMy Green Network Cannabis Coworking
STARTUP COSTS$750,000 before making your first product.$75,000 or less to make your first product and sell it.
COMPLIANCEResponsible for all city, county, and state compliance during licensing AND operations.Responsible for 3 things – clean workspace, contaminant free products, and meeting THC limits.
PROPERTYWe took 13 months, 16 cities, and 43 properties to find ONE perfect location.Register My Green Network facility as your cannabis coworking space.
TIMEAverage 12 – 18 months from finding a property to being able to finally use your space.~1 month from applying for city and state to producing and selling your first product.
EXPERIENCE1 Year+ cannabis experience as a business owner/managerNo experience needed
UNCERTAINTYEverything is uncertain.Guaranteed licensing.

We honestly don’t think CDPH realized how their laws would benefit the industry until true cannabis coworking spaces stepped in.

But there’s still more.
TYPE S LICENSEES OWN THEIR CANNABIS MANUFACTURING LICENSE

With cannabis coworking, you own a license issued by the city and state. This means complete control over your cannabis business idea.

You keep your secret manufacturing or infusion formula. Coca Cola never sold their secret recipe – why should you?

TYPE S LICENSEES OWN THEIR BRAND

Think of cannabis coworking spaces like an art class.

We provide you a canvas, ingredients, tools and everything you need to paint your vision. At the end of the day, you own what you create and sell to whoever you want.

You maintain complete control over your brand.

TYPE S LICENSEES HAVE PRIVATE USE OF CANNABIS COWORKING STATIONS

Type S Licensees have exclusive use of their station during their time.

We thought it wasn’t enough.

So, we took it a step further and also optimized our spaces for convenience, efficiency, and lifestyle by building an amazing community.

TYPE S LICENSEES GAIN QUALIFYING LICENSED CANNABIS EXPERIENCE

Cannabis coworking is an incubator.

Remember, California cities will require proof that you have operated a cannabis license for at least a year.

The Type S license counts as irrefutable evidence that you are a legal, experienced cannabis operator.

TYPE S LICENSEES CAN SELL UP TO $1,000,000 ANYWHERE IN CALIFORNIA

That’s a lot.

Wholesale edibles and manufacturing products usually sell between $7.50 to $12.50. You do the math.

If that’s not enough for you – We’ll empower you to scale your business through our “MyGN Seed Accelerator ” program.

But the biggest kicker .

4.Type S Licensees Can Sell All Cannabis Products

We’re going to let you in on an insider-only secret:

Owning a California Manufacturing License allows you to sell every cannabis product in the industry

But wait, you read that you can only do infusions, packaging, assembling, and extractions for self-use?

Let’s list a bunch of cannabis products and you’ll see what we mean.

INFUSION Covers anything you can put THC into and mix it.PACKAGING Covers packaging of any THC/CBD product.

Edibles (gummies, chocolates, mints, cookies),

Beverages (soft drinks, health drinks, green juice)

Topicals (Lotion, creams, sunblock, shampoo, sprays)

Edibles, Beverages, and Topicals

Vape Pens & Cartridges

Flower (pre-rolls, artisan flower, kief)
Extracts (shatter, resin, distillate, butter, oil )

That’s not all though. For CBD enthusiasts – you can also create pure CBD products! Full spectrum, isolate, or any other CBD compositions are all available from the cannabis plant.

This leads into the next question.

5. Who Benefits the Most from Cannabis Co-working?

The short answer is – everybody.

Whether you are already a licensed cannabis business, an aspiring “cannapreneur”, or maybe you were just curious – Cannabis Co-working provides the perfect solution.

California Prop 215 Operators

Since January 2019 it’s been rough, rebrand your 215 coop products and start putting those amazing products back in the legal cannabis market!

Cannabis Retail Companies – California

Create your own branded product for sale to your daily customers WITHOUT white labeling headaches.

Cannabis Retail Companies – All USA States

Ever think of starting your own brand? What better place than California? Test the California market immediately without a $750,000 price point. We’ll even help you make more than $1,000,000.

Cannabis Manufacturing Companies – California

Expand into edibles game from extracts and vape pens – everyone else is!

Cannabis Manufacturing Companies – All USA states

Ever think of selling your product to California? Start by selling to the United States most populated legal cannabis state.

Cannabis Cultivators – California
Create a full line of branded products using the flower you grow.
Cannabis Entrepreneurs
By yourself or with your partners, make and sell any cannabis product you want – we’re here to help.
Medical Cannabis Companies
Between recreational and medical cannabis which would you choose? – no one said you couldn’t do both.
Health and Beauty Companies
Just add one more ingredient into your secret face cream or supplement.
Professional Chefs
We love cooking too. Why not create and own your own brand of edibles?
Global Cannabis Companies
Enter the world’s biggest cannabis market for $75,000? Thank you I will.
Graduating college Students USA 21+ looking to enter the Cannabis Industry
I hear there’s 420 colleges. At My Green Network – all students can apply.

With cannabis co-working you can leap-frog ahead of all competition and immediately enter the United States largest cannabis market. However, keep in mind that there is limited space because of California’s laws.

Get Started with True Cannabis Co-working

Whether you are a new entrepreneur starting your first product or an established enterprise looking to expand – cannabis coworking allows you to easily turn your cannabis business idea into reality the way you envision.

That’s why we say “Go Green the Way You Want”

To get started, contact a community curator.

We’ll make sure to make it simple and guide you through the entire process. We love what we do and how we empower our community to truly focus and do what they want in the cannabis industry.

We focus on 2 key elements for our coworking spaces to ensure success for our community.

  • Immediate access to the most profitable cannabis markets
  • Lifestyle for inspired, productive environments

Our flagship facility has the following co-working spaces:

  • 5 state of the art commercial kitchens for all edibles and beverages infusion
  • 3 hybrid stations for all topical infusion, pre-rolls, and everything else

And we mean it when we say we got your back! Check our amenities and support services.

We’re constantly developing new benefits for our community focusing on empowering our members to succeed.

So if you’re ready to turn your cannabis business idea into a reality, contact us and Go Green The Way You Want!