By Matt Walstatter

What do almost all cannabis companies — producers, processors, retailers, wholesalers and ancillary — have in common? We are all young companies.

Some of us have been growing and selling cannabis for quite a while, but not in the context of a legal, compliant business. Some ancillary companies that also service other industries have been around for a while, but these firms haven’t been in the cannabis space for very long.

The legal Cannabis Industry, where it exists, is brand new, as are most of the companies within it. We’re like infants and toddlers, often stumbling and bumbling, trying to find our way down a dark hallway that may or may not even be built yet.

This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it can be. We rarely leave a bunch of infants and toddlers to figure things out entirely on their own. They have to learn to make their way in the world, but we typically offer adult guidance and assistance.

The problem for the Cannabis Industry is that there are no adults. Even the lawyers, accountants and business consultants, often the “adults” of the business world, are new to the industry.

So what are we infants and toddlers to do when we run into problems, especially when there are no grownups in the room?

Constant evaluation

Some problems are obvious. If sales fall three months in a row, you know you have a problem. But some problems are more insidious. And sometimes you don’t really have a problem, but rather, an opportunity to improve.Tiger Woods was the most successful golfer on the planet but even he has remade his golf swing several times because he thought he could get better.

You can identify both problems and opportunities to improve by constantly evaluating your business model and practices. Look regularly at major aspects of your business — management, marketing, HR, compliance, operations, security, etc.  Determine what is working, what is not and see if you can figure out why. Look for areas that work OK but offer opportunities to improve.

You can set monthly or quarterly meetings with your management team, or create a less formal setup, as long as you make time for this type of evaluation. We have a natural tendency to get into ruts, to keep doing something a certain way because that’s how we do it, not because it’s the best option.

This type of stagnation can cause serious problems.

Evolve as you grow

Keep in mind that a solution that works well for a younger, smaller company may become much less effective as you grow. Baby food is a great option for nourishing babies, but not so much for adults. Similarly, a marketing strategy that is effective for a company in its infancy may become problematic as your company grows and matures.

We recently found this to be the case for Pure Green. We take marketing very seriously and we pride ourselves on being at least a little bit ahead of the curve. When we first launched, this was much easier to accomplish. Any level of professionalism put a business ahead of most competitors.

But the industry has begun to catch up and while we remain proud of our marketing, we see opportunities to improve and optimize. We have recently begun a revamp of our entire marketing program. Everything is on the table and we hope to dramatically improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency of our marketing.

Do you have the right team?

Another challenge for businesses moving from infancy to toddlerhood or from childhood to adolescence involves the team. For example, the lawyer or accountant who formed your startup may not be the best person to advise you when your company is doing $50 million per year in sales.

This is a problem that can go straight to the top, to a founder or owner of a company. It may be your vision and passion that launched the company, and you may have been the best person to guide it through infancy. But, you may not have the skill set to run a much larger company, to guide your business through a complicated merger or to run the next round of fundraising.

This can be one of the greatest challenges of running a business. Nobody wants to fire someone, especially someone who has done good work for you in the past. Even fewer people want to step aside and hand their company’s reins to another jockey.

The challenge is amplified in the Cannabis Industry, where many early stage businesses have hired friends and acquaintances. Because so many of us have operated on handshakes rather than contracts for so long, our industry places a high premium on loyalty.

It is both difficult and unpleasant to end these types of relationships, especially when they are long-running relationships or involve friends. But, you have a responsibility to your company, and to your partners, your investors, your employees and your customers, to make the best decisions for your business.

Growing up can be hard. That simple statement is as true for companies as it is for humans. Strategies that work for startups must be tweaked or replaced as the company grows. Teammates who excel in one stage often falter as a business grows and evolves.

To help your company age gracefully, constantly evaluate all aspects of your business to make certain they are working and to look for ways to improve. Don’t keep a policy in place just because it’s what you’ve always done. Stay loyal to your team, but make sure everyone is capable of handling the increasing complexity and changing workload.