July 15, 2020
Uxbridge marijuana startup's advice to would-be entrepreneurs: Stay lean
PHOTO/ZACHARY COMEAU
Marijuana entreprenuers Kevin MacConnell (left) and Tim Phillips got their start in Colorado but are now operating a cannabis growing and manufacturing company in Uxbridge, which is Phillips's hometown.
In an interview on the WBJ Podcast, the co-founders of Uxbridge cannabis startup Blackstone Valley Naturals said the key to surviving Massachusetts' long and expensive regulatory process is to stay as lean as possible.
Kevin MacConnell & Tim Phillips, whose company is doing business under the moniker Yamna, said the hardest part about the two years it took them to obtain their license from the state Cannabis Control Commission was having to pay rent on their space in Uxbridge, which was necessary at the onset for them to secure a host community agreement to operate in the town.
A key to stomaching those payments, they said, was they only rented enough space to meet the minimum requirements for their agreement, and not the amount of space they would need once the license was approved. They advised other would-be local cannabis entrepreneurs to think the same way.
"Stay as lean as possible," MacConnell said during the interview on the podcast The Weekly Business Report. "Prepare for a very long time going through this. Only spend money on things you absolutely need ... If you are applying for a 5,000-square-foot grow license, you don't need to start with 5,000 square feet of operational grow space. You can always build out.
"You are going to spend a lot of money waiting," he said.
Yamna specializes in a handful of products, notably higher-end cannagars (cigars with cannabis instead of tobacco) with longer burn rates than the typical ones on the market.
To listen to the entire interview with MacConnell and Phillips on the WBJ Podcast episode "A marijuana startup's two-year fight to open its doors" click here or on the widget below.
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