Guest Post: Marijuana Millions – The Road Map to Your Success, Part 2

Step 2 – The Foundation for Success

Alexa Divett, founder of Maya Media Collective
Alexa Divett, founder of Maya Media Collective

By Alexa Divett, Maya Media Collective, LLC
(Read “Step 1 – Defining Your Unique Selling Proposition” here.)

How writing effective mission & vision statements can strengthen your cannabis brand

In order to ensure that your cannabusiness is successful both now and into the future, you will want to organize your business goals and objectives with a mission and vision statement. Essentially these two different statements form the foundation for your brand and business and will ensure that you stay aligned with your values and goals moving forward.

Each of these statements accomplishes a different objective but they are easily confused with each other. A mission statement describes what a company wants to do now while a vision statement outlines the company’s future goals.

What is a mission statement?

A mission statement focuses on the present and helps you define exactly what your customers expect from you while giving you clarity about the level of performance you need to be successful. It is the statement that brings your brand’s promise to life.

Your mission statement should clarify the purpose and values of your business as well as the responsibility your business has to your customers. Additionally, it should help you continue to define your Unique Selling Proposition by asking, “What do we do as a company and what makes us unique?”

Your mission statement is an important cornerstone of your brand for your employees as well. It helps you create a strategic plan that provides your employees with a clear guide on what they should do and how they should do it.

A mission statement should answer the following questions:

  • What do we do today?
  • For whom do we do it?
  • What is the benefit our product or service can provide to our customers?

What is a vision statement?vision

While the mission statement focuses on the present, the vision statement focuses on the future and should become a source of inspiration and motivation for you and your employees.

Your vision statement should be big and lofty and paint a clear picture of your organization and why it exists. In addition to describing the future of your business, your vision statement should also describe the industry that your company hopes to influence.

As you can imagine, a vision statement is incredibly important for the new and rapidly evolving cannabis industry.

A vision statement should answer the following questions:

  • What do we want to do going forward?
  • When do we want to do it?
  • How do we want to do it?

Where to start:

For startups such as new cannabusinesses, it is common for a vision statement to be created first as it may help guide the mission statement and the rest of your strategic road map.

For businesses that have been around for a while where the mission is clear, the mission statement may come first as it can help define the vision and the goals for the future.

Taking time to create a solid foundation for your business such as your Unique Selling Proposition as well as your mission and vision statements will help you create success in your cannabusiness and put you on the path to marijuana millions.


Come to the Cannabis Business Summit and Expo to hear Alexa speak about branding and marketing in the cannabis industry on June 29 – July 1 in Denver, CO. For more information about the agenda, speakers, and how to register, please visit http://www.cannabisbusinessummit.com.


Alexa Divett is the Co-Founder and Marketing Director of Maya Media Collective (http://www.mayamc.com), a Portland, Oregon-based marketing and design firm that provides brand identity packages, marketing strategies and business coaching to marijuana business owners and entrepreneurs. Maya Media Collective has been a member of NCIA since January 2014. With over 14 years of experience in marketing, public relations and coaching, Alexa helps cannabusiness owners earn marijuana millions while uplifting the cannabis industry.

Policy Update: Success in the Senate

by Michelle Rutter, Government Relations Coordinator

In the first week of June, the cannabis industry was celebrating its victories in the House of Representatives. At the end of last week, we were celebrating a victory in the US Senate, too.

At the beginning of the month, the U.S. House of Representatives debated the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill (HR 2578), which funds applicable government agencies for the upcoming FY2016. This year, there were four cannabis-related amendments under consideration in the House: the Rohrabacher-Farr medical marijuana amendment, the McClintock-Polis adult-use marijuana amendment, the Bonamici-Massie industrial hemp amendment, and the Perry CBD oil amendment. You can read about the results of the House votes in this NCIA blog post.capitolblossoms

On June 11, two cannabis-related amendments were brought before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Cannabis champion Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) offered a medical cannabis amendment, which would ban the Department of Justice from interfering with state-compliant medical cannabis businesses. In addition, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) offered a hemp amendment that would protect state industrial hemp laws from the Department of Justice’s interference. These amendments are the Senate companions to the House’s Rohrabacher-Farr and Bonamici-Massie amendments, respectively.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted with Sen. Mikulski to protect state medical marijuana laws 21-9. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) changed his original ‘No’ vote to a ‘Yes’, while presidential contender and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also attempted to change his ‘No’ vote to a ‘Yes’, but was too late. Sen. Tester’s industrial hemp amendment also passed through the committee via voice-vote.

Victory is sweet, but it’s important to remember that these appropriations amendments only protect states’ medical cannabis and hemp laws for the upcoming fiscal year. As encouraging as the appropriations season has been, it is still imperative that we pass comprehensive cannabis banking and 280E reform bills in order to be treated like every other American business.

Below is the detailed vote breakdown from the Senate committee’s vote on the Mikulski amendment:

Republicans Democrats
Thad Cochran (R-MS): No Barbara Mikulski (D-MD): Yes
Mitch McConnell (R-KY): No Patrick Leahy (D-VT): Yes
Richard Shelby (R-AL): No Patty Murray (D-WA): Yes
Lamar Alexander (R-TN): Yes Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): No
Susan Collins (R-ME): Yes Richard Durbin (D-IL): Yes
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): Yes Jack Reed (D-RI): Yes
Lindsey Graham (R-SC): No Jon Tester (D-MT): Yes
Mark Kirk (R-IL): No Tom Udall (D-NM): Yes
Roy Blunt (R-MO): Yes Jean Shaheen (D-NH): Yes
Jerry Moran (R-KS): Yes Jeff Merkley (D-OR): Yes
John Hoven (R-ND): No Chris Coons (D-DE): Yes
John Boozman (R-AR): No Brian Schatz (D-HI): Yes
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV): Yes Tammy Baldwin (D-WI): Yes
Bill Cassidy (R-LA): Yes Chris Murphy (D-CT): Yes
James Lankford (R-OK): No
Steve Daines (R-MT): Yes

CANNABIS MILESTONE: CONGRESS VOTES IN FAVOR OF THE ROHRABACHER-FARR AMENDMENT

by Michelle Rutter, NCIA Government Relations Coordinator

This week was a milestone in the cannabis industry.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives debated the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill (HR 2578), which funds applicable government agencies for the upcoming FY2016. This year, there were four cannabis-related amendments under consideration: the Rohrabacher-Farr medical marijuana amendment, the McClintock-Polis adult-use marijuana amendment, the Bonamici-Massie industrial hemp amendment, and the Perry CBD oil amendment. The results signaled a clear victory for the cannabis industry.

Rohrabacher-Farr

For the second year in a row, Congress voted in favor of the Rohrabacher-Farr medical cannabis amendment. This amendment, introduced by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA), bans the Department of Justice from spending money to prevent the implementation of state-level medical cannabis programs, in addition to removing funding for federal medical cannabis raids, arrests and prosecutions in states where medical cannabis is legal. The vote count increased from 219-189 in 2014, to 242-186 this year, with 67 Republicans voting ‘Yes.’

McClintock-Polis

For the first time ever, the McClintock-Polis amendment was offered on the House floor. This amendment, introduced by Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO), is similar to the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, but would have extended the same protections from the Department of Justice to non-medical retail marijuana businesses and consumers in states where adult-use sales have been legalized. The measure narrowly failed, 206-222, with more than 40 Republicans in support.

Bonamici-Massie

This amendment, officially named the Bonamici-Massie-Blumenauer-Polis amendment, blocks federal tax dollars from being used to prevent states from allowing the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of industrial hemp. A member of the cannabis family, hemp is a valuable agricultural commodity that can be found in more than 25,000 commercial products including food, paper, beauty products, and more. The measure passed overwhelmingly, 282-146, with 101 Republicans voting in favor.

Perry

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) proposed an amendment to the CJS bill that would protect state laws that allow the use of CBD oils, but still leaves most medical marijuana patients and their providers vulnerable to federal arrest and prosecution. The measure was overwhelmingly passed by a margin of 297-130.

Just a few years ago, pro-cannabis amendments passing Congress was something that those involved in the industry could only dream of. Now, we’re just 16 votes shy of limiting the Department of Justice’s interference with any state-sanctioned marijuana business (McClintock-Polis). Though Congress moves at a notoriously glacial pace, these amendments shed light on politicians’ evolving stances on cannabis policy. These votes prove that NCIA, and all of our members, are slowly but surely convincing Congress that the cannabis industry is to be taken seriously.

Cannabis Milestone: Congress votes in favor of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment

by Michelle Rutter, NCIA Government Relations Coordinator

This week was a milestone in the cannabis industry.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives debated the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill (HR 2578), which funds applicable government agencies for the upcoming FY2016. This year, there were four cannabis-related amendments under consideration: the Rohrabacher-Farr medical marijuana amendment, the McClintock-Polis adult-use marijuana amendment, the Bonamici-Massie industrial hemp amendment, and the Perry CBD oil amendment. The results signaled a clear victory for the cannabis industry.

Rohrabacher-Farr

For the second year in a row, Congress voted in favor of the Rohrabacher-Farr medical cannabis amendment. This amendment, introduced by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA), bans the Department of Justice from spending money to prevent the implementation of state-level medical cannabis programs, in addition to removing funding for federal medical cannabis raids, arrests and prosecutions in states where medical cannabis is legal. The vote count increased from 219-189 in 2014, to 242-186 this year, with 67 Republicans voting ‘Yes.’

McClintock-Polis

For the first time ever, the McClintock-Polis amendment was offered on the House floor. This amendment, introduced by Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO), is similar to the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, but would have extended the same protections from the Department of Justice to non-medical retail marijuana businesses and consumers in states where adult-use sales have been legalized. The measure narrowly failed, 206-222, with more than 40 Republicans in support.

Bonamici-Massie

This amendment, officially named the Bonamici-Massie-Blumenauer-Polis amendment, blocks federal tax dollars from being used to prevent states from allowing the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of industrial hemp. A member of the cannabis family, hemp is a valuable agricultural commodity that can be found in more than 25,000 commercial products including food, paper, beauty products, and more. The measure passed overwhelmingly, 282-146, with 101 Republicans voting in favor.

Perry

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) proposed an amendment to the CJS bill that would protect state laws that allow the use of CBD oils, but still leaves most medical marijuana patients and their providers vulnerable to federal arrest and prosecution. The measure was overwhelmingly passed by a margin of 297-130.

Just a few years ago, pro-cannabis amendments passing Congress was something that those involved in the industry could only dream of. Now, we’re just 16 votes shy of limiting the Department of Justice’s interference with any state-sanctioned marijuana business (McClintock-Polis). Though Congress moves at a notoriously glacial pace, these amendments shed light on politicians’ evolving stances on cannabis policy. These votes prove that NCIA, and all of our members, are slowly but surely convincing Congress that the cannabis industry is to be taken seriously.

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