"Careful and persistent as a tortoise with the spunk of a hare allows you to go the distance. In business, steps missed lead to success or failure. Nothing happens until the objective is identified. To win, it’s never the speed or the distance. Patients, diligence, knowledge and timely executions, are the disciplines." Christopher Netelkos, CEO, First Jersey Cannabis Corporation
Our Company has entered the race, but merely to complete, but to succeed. It will not be easy. The Cannabis Industry requires a special kind of business savvy and mindset. The federal government has made it nearly impossible to prevail, while many states have embraced cannabis as a viable, commercial commodity with benefits that outweigh negativity. With numerous roadblocks, potholes and traps, navigating the terrain are difficult. Our corporate structure and game plains are designed to be flexible and to withstand whatever obstacles we may encounter. Under Obama, cannabis-centered businesses regulated by state laws and regulations were more or less left alone, a policy that contributed to legal cannabis becoming the fastest industry in the U.S. in 2016. Current enforcement of federal cannabis laws via a Trump mandate allows aggressive action by persecutors, which appears to be opposed by both Democrats and Republicans, especially those in states with legal cannabis laws. Meanwhile, mainstream and industry executives thinking have other ideas. Indeed, cannabis is sustained by diverse community support. Through the lowly plant, people are seeking wellness, wealth and justice. No longer "potheads" but entrepreneurs, lawmakers, scientists, doctors and just original people who want to create s just and equitable future. Fo
As a commodity, cannabis is evolving into an Exit Drug, accepted for its medicinal and wellness properties; and become a standard household item, and not just another highly profitable tax generator. The growth of the industry will force the federal government’s hand and remove it as a schedule 1 drug. The result will ignite a significant shift in cannabis’ cultural and business narrative. WEED will be a forgotten word, replaced by CANNABIS. Within eight years, cannabis will be fully commoditized. Lower prices caused by mass production will open new venue; full-scale branding will market cannabis to a massive audience; a dedicated niche for specialty, artisan brands will flourish. National legalization will establish distinctions between recreational and medical marijuana; scientific research will prove its therapeutic benefits. Mega-brands will exist on a global scale. Cannabis and its derivatives will be sold in regulated environments, similar to alcohol distribution. On the production side, a few massive, multi-jurisdictional, factory growers will dominate the industry. Industrial giants like Budweiser or Coors will be the leading drivers. Today's landscape of artisan growers will not survive. Walmart, Amazon, Costco, 7-11 and similar outlets will offer marijuana in branded forms. Boutique retailer and local chains of pot stores will be competing in a low margin market.
Knowing what the future offers, we must track a path and utilize our resources for maximum results. We are the tortoise and will remain the tortoise, and be quicker than the rabbit.