Cannabis Stands Out Despite COVID-19

Just one day before Spannabis, I was sitting in my flat in Barcelona and suddenly received notice of the festival’s cancellation. At this moment, I realized the virus had reached my circle and the economic impact was felt instantly. Visiting companies would lose thousands of dollars in travel and investments. Barcelona’s cannabis social clubs would shutter all operations and, to this day, will probably stay closed until at least May 1st.

While the impact has been widespread across all business sectors worldwide, the cannabis industry here in the United States is generally enjoying the protections given through being classified as essential services. The money is still flowing for our federally illegal operations.

As most cannabis businesses won't see help from the US government due to federal limitation, it is vital to ensure that businesses throughout the cannabis supply chain can continue to operate without issue.

Over the last 8 quarters I've had the pleasure of managing Outspoke.io's growth as CEO, and what is most apparent about this unfortunate global situation is that the legal cannabis industry desperately needs data-driven and united supply chains. These tools existed 2+ years ago as California transitioned from medical to adult-use— so why not now?

Despite the fact that it took a global pandemic to convince licensed operators of possible value in diversifying their supply chain, COVID-19 may be the only opportunity in the next 3 years for a licensed operator to improve their use of technology and their business strategy. It’s time for cannabis businesses to get ahead of the next 2-year cycle and beyond. And a full suite of digital improvements are available to make it possible.

In anticipation of Outspoke.io's Friday webinar – which features voices from several states that represent different license positions throughout the supply chain – I'm very excited to see how these operators will be incorporating technology and data solutions into their immediate and long-term approaches.

While we don't have anyone from CNBC or Fox News hosting like our good friends at New Frontier do for their event on Thursday April 2nd, I'm sure Matt and Stefan from Outspoke will be bringing cable news-worthy perspective to your computer screens.

If there's anything you're wondering about or interested in the panel covering, feel free to send your questions or thoughts – before, during, or after the webinar – to mattdell@outcrowd.group.

Hope to see you there!