DOPE CFO

I've been in the cannabis industry almost 15 years. The last few weeks have changed it more than the previous decade did.

When I tell people that outside the business, most of them don't see what I'm talking about. They saw the rescheduling headline, registered it as news, and moved on. They aren't in the operators' inboxes the way I am. A guy in my hometown who owns three dispensaries texted me a few days ago. He's been trying to sell for two years. He told me his asking price is 30% higher than it was two weeks ago, and they aren't even talking to anyone yet.

He's not wrong to hold the price. Medical cannabis is now Schedule III. For dispensaries with a proper financial foundation already in place, 280E no longer applies to medical sales. The tax savings come immediately, cash flow responds, and over time the valuations climb to reflect both.

The second piece is the June 29 hearing. There's a real chance the entire industry moves to Schedule III, not just medical. Investors who were skeptical two months ago are watching that date. Capital that sat out the cannabis cycle is paying attention again.

Change like this moves outward unevenly. The operators feel it first, in their inboxes. The professionals advising them feel it in their calendars not long after. Most everyone else reads about the shift months later, when prices have already moved.

That's the part I keep coming back to. If you're working with cannabis businesses right now, this is the cycle to stay in.

One of our newer VIP members lives in a small rural town in Oregon, hours from Portland. Not exactly a cannabis hub. But she'd been reading the local paper and noticed a dispensary nearby that kept showing up in community stories. They'd donated $250 to the high school graduation and they'd sponsored a $2,500 summer event. They were clearly trying to be good neighbours in a small town.

So she drove over, walked in, bought some CBD oil for her dog, left her business card, and told the manager what she does.

That same evening, the owner emailed her and they've got a meeting set up this week.

This is what networking looks like when you're not in a major city and there's no expo to attend. You pay attention, you notice who's active in the community, and you show up in person, because in a small town, showing up means something different than it does online. And you lead with genuine curiosity about the business, not a pitch about your services.

The same member had already been connecting with people in New Mexico's cannabis association, which only formed last August. She met the executive director, a board member who's running his own events, and offered to help set up their chart of accounts as a favour. That kind of generosity compounds. The board member has connections across the state. The executive director knows every operator in the programme. A free favour today turns into an introduction tomorrow that you couldn't have engineered any other way.

You don't need a conference badge or a booth. You need to be paying attention to what's happening around you, and then actually walk through the door.