This past month represents the “holiday season” in cannabis. Interfacing with operators across cannabis prepping for and dealing with 420, Hall of Flowers, deal making and general survival that is the Cannabis industry was intense. The week surrounding April 20th represents approximately a 500% spike in cannabis sales requiring all hands on deck across the industry in order to capture as much revenue and community engagement as possible. Through all this chaos, one event that I will remember from this past season showed me that anything is possible in this industry. FlowerHire, along with Elite California, hosted the inspirational and legendary Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead in our Venice office for a private show.
The Grateful Dead (a.k.a “The Dead”) symbolize the foundation of the cannabis culture that California is known for, and they have been credited for spreading the message to their fans that 4:20PM was a time for using cannabis allowing the cannabis culture to run with it from there. Aside from their participation in making April 20th a cannabis holiday, “The Dead” are also known for their “strategic improvisation”. By organically creating music in their shows and they were able to create generations of loyal fans. Their incredible talent to continually innovate their music by playing their songs in a unique way each time has direct parallels to what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur in cannabis.
As part of this industry, I know first hand how companies in today’s legal cannabis industry need to constantly adapt and pivot based on the forces at play in a hyper competitive emerging industry being built on regulatory uncertainty. As an operator of a cannabis company, the strategy directly aligns with what “The Dead” taught us with their strategic improvisation. Always expect the unexpected, roll with the punches, and turn everything into a win. In the words of the Grateful Dead, “Keep on Truckin”.
