Inspiring Conversations with Sara Gullickson of The Cannabis Business Advisors

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Gullickson.

Hi Sara, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I have spent the last decade building and scaling businesses inside and outside of the cannabis industry as an entrepreneur and investor. My first venture was a cannabis consulting firm that I led over the course of eight years.

It included multiple brands as well as a tech platform for cannabis business and licensing templates. In 2018, the firm and its assets were acquired by a publicly traded cannabis company.

After stepping away from the industry for a few years, I established The Cannabis Business Advisors (CB Advisors) in 2020. CB Advisors is a national consulting firm headquartered in Phoenix. In my role as CEO, I guide stakeholders on corporate structure, financing, and operations to better position their companies for growth and potential exit. I also recently launched “How to Open a Dispensary,” a digital platform with educational course content for the cannabis industry.

Beyond my ancillary cannabis business ventures, I am also a license holder in multiple states with six operations being minority or women-owned cannabis entity.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Over the past decade, I’ve watched the cannabis industry change and transform exponentially. There have definitely been pain points, but I appreciate my journey despite the obstacles. When I first entered the cannabis space, I couldn’t find answers to industry questions online, and much of my experience was gained firsthand. Now there are hundreds of sites that offer insight into how to write a cannabis application or how to open a dispensary. For those of us who started out early, a lot of it was trial and error.

Beyond cannabis, and on a more general business level, one of the hardest challenges has been managing my career while raising a family. My advice is it’s important to create a network of support. When you have strategic partners in place, reaching your business, personal, and parental goals becomes more manageable.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cannabis Business Advisors?
The Cannabis Business Advisors is a national consulting firm that provides strategic business guidance for cannabis license applicants and current license holders throughout all stages of growth.

We offer a comprehensive suite of services, including application and licensing preparation, operational analysis, merger and acquisition support, policy and procedures, exit strategy guidance, and business development planning.

We also launched a digital platform with educational course content. “How to Open a Dispensary” is designed for entrepreneurs interested in breaking into the highly regulated and competitive cannabis industry. Serving as a single source information hub, subscribers can learn how to secure a cannabis license, launch an operation, and for those who are new to the market, what entry points exist in the industry through an online career quiz.

“How to Open a Dispensary” features downloadable templates, state-specific resources, dispensary opening checklists, and business and operational plans. Topics covered include cannabis licensing, application preparation, real estate, inventory management, security and safety, storage, customer/patient education, environmental, dispensing, financial, community benefits, staffing and training, and recordkeeping.

We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Being successful in business is all about adapting and adjusting. Early on in my career, I was more attached to projects, but now I understand how to be more fluid in my approach.

There have definitely been pain points because I truly believe there is no shortcut to success. You’ve got to put in the time. I worked really hard early on in my career and it eventually paid off.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecannabisbusinessadvisors.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecbadvisors/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCBAdvisors/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecbadvisors
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecbadvisors/

Image Credits
Carl Schultz