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Cannabis Businesses – Get Ready to Sit at the Bargaining Table

Written by Stephen Trimboli

Cannabis Businesses – Get Ready to Sit at the Bargaining Table

Cannabusiness. The mere utterance of this word generates excitement at the thought of the new business opportunities available. But those with visions of operating a cannabusiness in New Jersey need to be aware that other than “microbusinesses,” all licensed producers, growers, transporters and vendors will be required to enter into union agreements or face having their licenses revoked. Having a “labor peace” agreement with a labor union – that is, an agreement not to contest the union’s efforts to organize one’s workers, often in exchange for the union’s promise not to strike or picket – is a requirement for applying even for a temporary license. Once the license is granted, the licensee must maintain the labor peace agreement or enter into a collective bargaining agreement (or at least make good faith efforts to conclude such an agreement) within 200 days of opening for business. Failure to do so can result in license suspension or revocation.

Cannabusiness entrepreneurs face obstacles unique to that industry. But collective bargaining, even in a harmonious, constructive union relationship, imposes a new set of mutual rights and obligations that cannabusiness entrepreneurs may not be aware of. A short article can only skim the surface of these rights and obligations. But some key points are critical to understand.
First, an entrepreneur cannot simply begin to bargain with any union he or she chooses.

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Thriving During COVID and Beyond

Written by Machen MacDonald

2020 into 2021 is anybody’s guess. As business owners and as citizens, the quality of our lives is in direct proportion to our ability to handle uncertainty. We can’t control situations and circumstance we find ourselves in. However, we always have the power to choose the brightest perspective.

We have a unique opportunity to build our mental and emotional strength by frequenting the G.Y.M (Guide Your Mind) each day. Philosopher Marcus Aurelius stated, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” In this case the G.Y.M. can also mean - Guard Your Mind. Once a thought, concept, or vision, get’s in, it can be hard to get it out. Be the ultimate guardian of what you let in.

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Promotional Products and a Pandemic

Written by Fred Taffer

BAM!

One minute you’re working hard to grow your business and then out of nowhere...silence. With no warning or time to prepare, every industry was quickly affected by Covid-19. There’s no telling how long before we are safely beyond this pandemic and fully functioning, so we are all left with one choice...adapt.

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Is the Pandemic a Good Time to Launch a Business or Invest in a Franchise?

Written by Alan Goldberg

It just might be!

Previous financial crises have given rise to many new high-profile companies; Airbnb, Disney, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Slack, Uber, and Venmo, to name a few.

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Personal Protective Equipment Shortages

Written by Marc Roberts

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review highlighted the continuing shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as other medical supplies.  Nine months into the Pandemic, and it is hard to believe that shortages of PPE and other critical healthcare supplies remain in short supply.

Why is this important to your business?  With the climbing COVID case numbers and the coming cold weather, there could be more extreme shortages of supplies.  The Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health have expressed deep concern that the combination of the flu season and increased indoor time will create significant issues for the United States with rising levels of illness.

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Healthy Morning Routine: 5 Morning Habits to Adopt

Submitted by Theresa Semple

What does your current morning routine look like?

If you're like most people, you snooze your alarm clock a few times, scroll social media, and roll out of bed a half-hour after your alarm. Maybe you get a shower, brush your teeth and grab your coffee before you rush out the door.

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A Few Cocktail Napkins + A Business Plan

Written by Ivy Slater

It was many years ago, I was out with some friends at a bar in New York City and we started talking about a new idea I had that would expand my business. No one knew the conversation was going to go there. We had no paper and this was before our phones had the capability to take notes, so I did the next best thing and grabbed a stack of cocktail napkins.

We borrowed a pen and started outlining ideas and ended up designing a business plan, right there, on our tiny, blank canvases.

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6 Tips to Avoid the BLACK HOLE of Your Inbox

Written by MerriLyn Gibbs

The biggest time-waster in my opinion is the all-mighty inbox. I call it the ​ Black Hole.​ It seems once you start going through your inbox, you suddenly notice that 2 hours just went by and you feel like you literally got nothing done. Well, no more, let's start practicing these 5 tips to make you more time-efficient with the all mighty inbox.

1) Schedule Your Time​ : Start with segmenting when you look at your inbox. I suggest 3 times a day. Once to start your workday, sometime in the middle of your workday, possibly right after lunch and then once to end your day.

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A New Website – Leveraging Your Company's Strengths

Written by John Rod

When starting the task of developing a new website for your company’s brand, how do you best leverage your strengths. Every company is unique and so should every website be equally unique in telling the story of your brand. What techniques are most important for successful leveraging your company’s strengths?

When creating your website brand, many things should be taken into consideration. Priorities should aimed at search engine ranking in your area, creating web pages that are sticky, formulating unique content for keywords, or “calls-to-action” connecting potential customers with the sales team. Creating content also means professional photography and professional video which engages the audience.

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3 Things to Never, Never, Never, Do in a Virtual Professional Meeting

Written by Michael Goldberg

It’s easy to forget that the impression you leave matters. Especially when you’re taking meetings from your backyard, dining room table, and even when walking the dog.

These virtual meeting scenarios would never take place if you were in the office or actually working with a client pre-COVID. At least in most cases.

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Places to Go...

Written by Michael Goldberg

...to network. To make connections. To meet important people. Say important things. Learn important stuff. Make important friends. And to find out about better places to go, more targeted people to meet, and more insightful things to say.

With me?

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Communication Strategies for Networking

Written by Michael Goldberg

You need them. And good ones too!

When you’re participating in (not just attending) networking events, cocktail parties, chamber mixers, golf outings, association meetings, alumni events, service clubs – are you asking the right questions? Are you asking any questions? How are you getting your message to your network and into your marketplace? Are you? Do you know how to start a conversation (with a stranger that is)? Maintain a valuable conversation (beyond talking about the weather and other idle small talk chit chat)? End or transition out of a conversation – for good reasons and bad? And do you know what to say when someone is interested enough to ask you about what you do?

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You Absolutely Need a Target Market

Written by Michael Goldberg

Why? So you know how to spend your marketing time! Having a target market helps you determine what to learn, what to read, what to write, where to go, what to say, who to meet, and how to refer you. How’s that for a value prop? Bottom line – having a target marketplace makes you much more focused (advisors are notoriously not) and much more referable.

You might think, “Isn’t everyone my target market?” Everyone needs what you offer in terms of protection plans, asset management, and retirement strategies, right? Well, not really because everybody’s situation is different. Besides, you can’t market to everyone! In fact, if you’re looking to meet everyone, anyone, someone – the result is very often no one. Or a long time before no one becomes someone. Still with me? In other words, if everyone is your target market then no one is your target market. And no one equates to no business.

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