199
How NOT to Sell a Cannabis Startup
Most people think that cannabis will sell itself. In fact, nothing sells itself and that certainly includes finding funding. (It was different a couple of years
ago, when cannabis was a novelty.) And it will be equally true when smart, stand-out-from-the-crowd marketing is later needed to sell various cannabis products.
But now? If a million or two is needed to launch a cannabis venture? Poor marketing will no longer do it. Sure, there’s a lot more capital available, but many more new ventures are competing for it.
Fact is, most startups are doing it all wrong, and most of them won’t
get their money.
Some common mistakes:
• Opening your pitch by describing the rich cannabis market. That’s so 2015! It’s also throwing away your early-opening advantage — when you need to capture readers’ attention in the first half-minute or so.
• Presenting a mish-mash of information, diagrams and photoshopped illustrations. Hard to read and understand, therefore it won’t be read.
• Usually no persuasive startup strategy and business plan. No convincing case how the venture will make money. So you’ll be growing more cannabis?!! OK, so where’s the marketing USP — plus a whole lot more?
• No exit prospects for investors.
… and so on. It’s like that Harrison Ford baseball movie. Grow a lot of pot and they will buy it. (No, they won’t.)
________ Bottom line: Most cannabis entrepreneurs don’t know
how to sell their project.