Helpful Tips for Boosting Your Team’s Morale

Being a good leader means more than producing impressive department stats. There is a major difference between being a manager and a leader, and the boosting of your team’s morale is a big reason why.  

As a leader, you are only as good as your team. It is very important to check in with each member of your team on a group and individual basis for several reasons. The first reason is trust and reliability. Having consistent check-ins will not only catch potential issues early and clear up any confusion if someone is veering off a project goal, but it will also be a chance for someone to air grievances or concerns in a safe environment without fearing any backlash. 

While long-term goals are the ones that will mean the most to a company’s bottom-line, having short-term goals that can be celebrated is a great way to motivate people. Success breeds success, so encourage friendly rivalry among your team to achieve small goals and then celebrate by rewarding everyone, such as with a team lunch. People also love being publicly praised, so give people the opportunity to nominate anonymous shout-outs to peers who went above and beyond, and then read those affirmations in a company-wide setting. Sometimes it helps to be silly. If you aren’t in a customer-facing industry, designate one week for high school spirit week-type shenanigans. Declare Halloween in July or Dress Like Your Boss day.

Communication works best when it’s a two-way street. In addition to performance reviews, ask your employees to give honest feedback about your performance as well. It takes some of the fear out of the equation because it’s viewed as a learning exercise, and it also lets employees see a more human side of you. People will work harder for a leader they respect and admitting we are all fallible is a great way to earn that. 

Sometimes as a leader, you need to make tough decisions and deliver bad news, sometimes devastating. Explain fully and honestly the reasoning behind your decision and what the other options were, and open the floor to any questions, both publicly and in private. If a sacrifice had to be made for the greater good of the company, make sure the team knows that.

How to Build a Successful Cannabis Company

Legalized cannabis is a relatively new industry in America. To date, there are 11 states, plus D.C. that have laws regarding the legal use of smoking, distributing, and growing marijuana recreationally, while 33 states have made it legal for medical purposes. There are many entrepreneurs who want to jump on board this period of growth before the market becomes too saturated. Just like with any business venture, however, there are reasons why some people fail and others succeed. Every niche has its own unique way of doing things, which is why it’s so important to listen to the experts when it comes to any type of start-up venture. 

The cannabis industry has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and shows no signs of slowing down. Many have compared it to industry growth after the end of prohibition. It is still very early in the marijuana game. However, despite all of these changes, it’s important to remember that the federal government still considers cannabis to be a Schedule 1 controlled substance. By definition, that means cannabis is still viewed as an illegal substance with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical purpose. 

This is also a difficult industry for expansion since every state comes with its own regulations and laws when it comes to each phase of this product. Having no federal regulations means that rules can vary widely across state borders. In addition, since this is still an illegal product at the federal level, cannabis companies cannot deduct ordinary business expenses like mainstream businesses and they must pay taxes based on their gross income, rather than net. In addition, some states charge an excise tax on top of the federal tax. 

The cannabis market also has many players – from cultivators to distributors, so the first decision is to know your link in the chain. Ask yourself whether you have the availability and the experience to be on the agricultural side. Licensing and permitting are going to be areas you will need knowledge of. The cost of getting licensed isn’t cheap. Cultivators and dispensaries should be prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout the process.

Money continues to be a problem in other ways, such as financing. Cannabis industries face a much harder time getting a traditional line of credit or even a business account, which not only makes it harder to get first-round funding, but it also means most businesses operate at a cash-only level. This makes it a target for theft and relies heavily on manual bookkeeping for salaries and bills.