4 Cannabis Business Ideas from the Frontier of the Legal Weed Industry

With four years of legal cannabis under our belts here in Colorado, we’ve seen some fortunes created by bringing an enormous black market online as a wholly new and regulated industry. For those that are considering the opportunity created by Election Day legalization in their home state, we can point you to some interesting business ideas.

From edibles to security, the U.S. cannabis industry has opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors with the skills that can grow the business to $50 billion within a decade.

U.S. legal cannabis sales jumped 34 percent to $6.9 billion in 2016, according to ArcView Market Research. The research firm forecasts legal sales growth of 26 percent annually for the next five years, bringing the market to $21.6 billion by 2021.

Should You Take Business Advice That Contradicts Your Instincts?

Go with your gut”: It’s an appealing phrase that encourages business owners, professionals and talented individuals everywhere to stop overanalyzing a situation, and instead rely on their instincts to make an important decision.

But, in the business world, you’ll have plenty of hard evidence, anecdotal evidence and input from others to guide your decision-making. You’ll have partners, mentors, coworkers and even friends and family members giving you advice for the development of your business.


So, what happens when your instincts contradict a piece of advice given to you by someone, or even multiple people, you respect? Should you take their advice even if it contradicts your gut feeling?

Here's a 6-Figure Service Business You Can Start for Under $100

As you go about your grocery shopping, focused on the items that you need to get, you probably don’t realize that there’s an incredible business opportunity right in front of you. Some of the people you see stocking groceries on the shelf work for that particular grocery store. There are others, however, who are stocking the shelves but they don’t work for the store. They are called “vendors.”

Some of these vendors work for large companies, such as the people who deliver and stock Coca Cola, Pepsi, Frito Lay and so on. There are another set of vendors who aren’t employees of the companies whose products they are delivering. They are independent contractors and, essentially, entrepreneurs. The company they deliver for gives them a certain percentage of their sales and a territory to deliver within. These entrepreneurs have to buy into the business and, depending on the company, that cost anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000.

Some companies that use these independent contractor entrepreneurs are companies that you don’t even realize. A few of them are Bimbo Bakeries, Snyder Pretzels, Little Debbie Snacks, Pepperidge Farms and many more. Since these independent operators are not employees, the main company they contract to doesn’t provide them anyone to cover their routes for them to go on vacation. This is where your potential business can be started. It's one that I operated for over 12 years.
The idea is to start a vacation relief service for independent business owners (vendors).