Member Blog: 4 Budtender Onboarding Tips To Help Keep You Compliant

by Tommy Truong, KayaPush

A recent survey by Headset.io found that 55% of budtenders leave their jobs within the first year of employment.* But why?

Some believe improper onboarding could be a culprit.

First impressions matter – and improper onboarding can leave budtenders feeling underprepared and unappreciated. Moreover, budtenders who don’t receive proper compliance training might be terminated due to compliance infractions and could even be at personal risk for their errors.

Luckily, by setting up solid budtender onboarding SOPs that put compliance first, you are more likely to keep great hires – and avoid compliance infractions.

The following information will help dispensary owners implement hiring and training strategies to increase retention, avoid compliance infractions, and simplify dispensary onboarding.

1 – Look into legal before you hire.

Compliant onboarding starts with understanding your budtenders’ requirements to work at your dispensary.

Every state has unique requirements regarding background checks, legal age, and budtender certifications – so it is essential to research each of these elements before you begin the hiring process.

Once you have established your hiring guidelines regarding legal requirements – you can take it one step further and set up an applicant tracking system that is customized to only reach out to applicants who qualify for your set terms.

Using tools that automate these processes will make compliant dispensary hiring easy.

Social equity hiring initiatives in cannabis

While we’re on the topic of hiring for your cannabis dispensary, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the importance of researching potential social equity programs for dispensary hiring opportunities.

You can use these resources to find qualified social equity candidates for your dispensary based on the state in which you are located.

2 – Have an organized onboarding documentation process.

The next step to a smooth and compliant onboarding process is to know all the forms you need to provide and gather from your new hire.

If you are an American business owner, the forms you will need to collect from your employee include:

W2
Criminal record check verification
1-9
State Tax Form
ID or Passport
Social security information
A void check
A signed employer agreement
Any certifications you have requested they acquire

The forms you will need to share with your new hire include:

A budtender onboarding manual
Their job description
Schedule availability

3 – Use self-serve onboarding software.

Business owners who don’t use employee onboarding software manage a lot of paperwork.

From chasing new hires around for signatures or documents – to figuring out the best way to store things – it’s a time-consuming headache, and it’s not ideal.

With dispensary self-serve onboarding software, dispensary owners can eliminate 100% of their paperwork – and increase their compliance in many ways.

Here’s how it works. When a new hire joins, a dispensary owner can share their onboarding link, where their new hire will upload digitized documents directly into the system for central storage.

If any documentation is missing, the system will send a reminder to ensure they provide all the information needed for dispensary owners to stay compliant.

4 – Provide compliance training for budtenders

Compliance training should be a critical part of the budtender onboarding process – but what does that mean?

For budtenders, there are four main areas of compliance to master: How to sell products to customers and with a POS system, how to handle products, and overall regulations comprehension.

Selling products to customers training might include:

Learn how to greet guests in a compliant way
How and when to properly ID guests
Knowledge of strains, potency, and effects
Understanding different types of products based on clients’ needs

POS training might include:

Knowing how to input ID information
Learning how to ring in products correctly
Understanding product limits per customer guidelines
Knowing how to use and report sold products with a compliant POS
Understanding the compliance factors behind customer loyalty programs and incentives

Product handling training might include:

How to properly package product
How to showcase product
How to inventory product
How to handle products

Overall regulation comprehension might include:

Current cannabis laws in the state or city
Current compliant regulations
Store opening and closing SOPs for compliance
Security SOPs for compliance
How to use cannabis software tools for clock in’s and schedules.

What are other tips to stay compliant?

Compliance is one of the most challenging aspects of running a cannabis dispensary – however, if you surround yourself with the right team, use cannabis software built for dispensaries in your state, and check in often on regulatory updates – you will be alright.

*(Headset.io, 2022 An analysis of employee turnover in cannabis retail)

Author Tommy Truong is the CEO at KayaPush; the cannabis software helping dispensary owners manage their employee HR, scheduling, and payroll. KayaPush also integrates with leading dispensary POS systems. Tommy loves hot sauce, fried chicken, and running with his Boston terriers

KayaPush delivers an innovative, unified compliance solution that meets payroll and HR needs without compromising speed and accuracy. Implementing KayaPush will save you time and money and help eliminate the financial risks associated with non-compliance.

Member Blog: 7 Steps To Opening A Cannabis Dispensary

by Gary Cohen, Cova Software

As cannabis reform barrels ahead like a freight train, entrepreneurs everywhere are eyeing ways to get in on the green rush. And for those without the background or interest in cultivation or manufacturing, cannabis retail can be a very alluring — and lucrative — prospect.

Of course, that’s not to say there won’t be work involved. Just like any other business, opening a cannabis dispensary requires a lot of planning, paperwork, and, of course, capital. It also requires a lot of additional compliance hurdles not often encountered in other industries.

Today, we’re looking at the seven essential steps you’ll need to address as you seek to launch your own cannabis retail venture.

Seven Essential Steps to Opening a Cannabis Dispensary

Find a suitable location.

While it might seem counterintuitive to talk about location before licensing, the fact is that in most jurisdictions, you’ll be required to have a prospective retail location identified before you can even begin filling out the licensing paperwork.

Naturally, your dispensary location will have to align with all applicable regulations, including local zoning ordinances and state-level mandates. Researching your state’s guidelines shouldn’t be too difficult, as most maintain a checklist on their official government websites.

Obtain a cannabis retail license.

This step is easier said than done — but in the end, no license means no dispensary. Each state has their own cannabis retail licensing and application structure, so once you’ve locked down a potential location, you’ll want to begin researching the requirements and getting all the paperwork in order.

Obtaining a license may take up to a few months, so you’ll be able to work on the other components of your dispensary as you work through the licensing process. But you definitely want to know exactly what you’re up against as early as possible.

Estimate your costs.

The total cost of opening a cannabis dispensary varies greatly by state and local jurisdiction. Application and licensing fees alone can range between a couple thousand dollars up to $20k. Again, you’ll need to research your state and local permitting guides to find out exactly what you’re looking at in terms of licensing fees.

Other major cost considerations will include:

Physical location (real estate rental/purchase as well as renovation, furnishing, and finishing costs)
Professional fees (insurance, legal, financial, etc.)
Payroll
Capital investments (security/surveillance system, dispensary technology, etc.)

Write your business plan.

No serious investor is going to consider bankrolling your operation without seeing a solid cannabis retail business plan. Financiers want to know that you’ve covered all your bases, and your plan should address the following key areas:

Finances
Compliance
Dispensary staff
Sales and marketing
Logistics/operations
Security

Of course, detailed information about your planned location will need to be addressed as well.

Secure your capital.

As quickly as the industry is progressing, federal cannabis banking reform could be here sooner than later. But until then, cannabis-friendly financial services are still very hard to come by. That means your primary source of funding will likely be private investors, friends, family, or yourself. There are also some well-established cannabis-specific investment groups out there that are worth looking into.

Consider your dispensary technology needs.

As a cannabis dispensary owner, you’re going to need a technology solution that not only keeps up with the typical retail performance burdens but also satisfies your state’s compliance requirements — in other words, seed-to-sale reporting.

When it comes to a cannabis retail point-of-sale system, you’ll want to consider the following:

Compliance reporting (a platform that can tie in directly to the state’s system and automatically report all necessary data can save you untold time and labor costs)
Reliability
Ease of use

Determine your product sourcing procedures.

Finally, you’ll need to determine how you’ll source your products. This is another area that you’ll need to reference your particular state’s rules and regulations on; some states prohibit dispensaries from being involved in cultivation, and others highly encourage it. Either way, you’ll likely have to obtain a separate license if you want to get into cultivation.

Start by identifying and interviewing local cannabis producers. This is also a good opportunity to determine the types of products you’ll want to offer and ways you can incorporate them into your marketing.

Want to Learn More about Opening Your Dispensary?

Get a more in-depth look at everything involved with launching your own cannabis dispensary by downloading our How To Open A Cannabis Dispensary e-book — it’s absolutely free.

Grab your copy today!

Gary leads Cova’s charge into the legal cannabis space by guiding the vision, strategic development, ‘go to market’ plans and culture.

Before joining Cova, Gary was a principal in over a dozen tech start-ups in the mobile communications industry ranging from small VC funded companies to Fortune 100 firms, including Onavo, which was later acquired by Facebook. In those companies he led sales, marketing, business analytics and market expansions. He has also held a multitude of leadership roles with Verizon and AT&T.

Gary holds a degree in finance with a master’s in marketing from the University of Colorado.