Business plans are a nice-to-have for companies operating in most industries. However, for businesses in the cannabis industry, they’re a necessity.

When starting a cultivation business, you must have a cannabis cultivation business plan to submit with your application to receive a license. Additionally, you must show investors your detailed plan for success.

Writing a business plan isn’t easy—especially when you must dive into details other industries wouldn’t have to consider, like HVAC and compliance. It takes a lot of research, planning, and time to develop a plan that lays out procedures that haven’t been practiced. Even more, it is specific to your unique operation and instills confidence in the regulatory agencies and investors.

But, all of that work will pay off when you have created a step-by-step guide to the heart of your cannabis cultivation business.

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of six components a great cannabis cultivation plan should include.

How to Grow a Great Cannabis Cultivation Business Plan

Facility Map

Provide a detailed overview of how your cultivation facility will be laid out. This includes general information, like the size, number of rooms, and number of plants.

You’ll also want to go into extensive detail to include everything from your labor processes to the air filtration system, production schedules to irrigation.

The more detailed your facility map is at the start, the easier it will be to analyze for gaps and needed changes when you audit your operation.

Security Plan

You will need to describe the physical layout of your facility, surrounding property, parking lots, and neighborhood.

Include extensive documentation to include blueprints, maps, etc—documents that layout everything from fencing and landscaping to lighting and camera locations.

Next, have your policies and procedures in place. This includes how individuals enter and exit the facility, 

Transportation

Transporting your goods from one location to another can be a tracking and compliance nightmare. This is the perfect time to make sure that you have everything you need in place for your product to arrive safely and securely.

Detailed plans should include licensed drivers, vehicles being used, shipping manifests, packaging and labeling practices. In addition, departure and arrival schedules, routes should be tracked to ensure there is a paper trail throughout the entire transportation process.

Packaging and Labeling

All cannabis product labels should include mandatory information prominently displayed in a clear and legible font.

From standard information to health and safety warnings, each statement you must use on your packaging should be clearly defined.

Regulations regarding packaging and labeling can vary state to state. Be sure to review your state’s requirements for the most accurate information.

Compliance Requirements

You must show how your business will meet the compliance requirements to operate legally in the cannabis industry.

Your cannabis cultivation business plan must show that you understand required compliance regulations. Additionally, you must show how you will ensure ongoing compliance with proper standard operating procedures and staffing.

We always suggest having a dedicated employee or a third-party consulting partner on record that knows all your operation’s compliance requirements.

Tracking Solution

Since cannabis is a heavily regulated industry with separate overseeing authorities and designated tracking systems depending on location, your seed to sale tracking software is business-critical for compliance as well as business growth.

Cannabis specific ERP software, like 365 Cannabis, goes above and beyond basic seed-to-sale software with full business management capabilities to track your plants, people, and finances all in one solution.

A well-written cultivation business plan can be the difference between securing a license and getting funding to start (or expand) your cannabis business or being passed by for another.

Start putting together a business plan that shows exactly how your cannabis business is going to be successful and profitable.

Request a demo and see how cannabis-specific ERP software can support your business