May 14, 2025 • 11 mins
Live from the heart of MJBizCon 2024 in Las Vegas, we sit down with Mike, Chief Corporate Officer of House of Dank, to talk all things cannabis, hustle, and the legacy behind one of Michigan's most iconic cannabis brands. Mike shares his personal journey from law school to leading HOD, dives into what motivates him, and drops some serious wisdom for cannabis retailers navigating tough times.
It's real, raw, and full of gold for anyone in — or curious about — the cannabis business. 🔍 Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an industry vet, or just love hearing from people who keep it authentic, this is one convo you don’t want to miss.
⏱️ Timestamps:
It's real, raw, and full of gold for anyone in — or curious about — the cannabis business. 🔍 Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an industry vet, or just love hearing from people who keep it authentic, this is one convo you don’t want to miss.
⏱️ Timestamps:
- 0:00 – Welcome to MJBizCon + Introducing Mike from House of Dank
- 1:47 – Mike’s cannabis origin story: from law to legacy
- 2:16 – House of Dank’s 10-year journey & staying authentic
- 3:37 – Motivation, mindset, and doing the work
- 6:53 – Advice for struggling cannabis retailers
- 10:23 – Redefining success: what it really means to win
- 11:21 – Closing thoughts & future collabs
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yo, it's what everybody welcome to I'm j Biscon of
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm canad Dave, I have Summer Sky and we got Mike,
Chief corporate officer of House of Dank.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Thank you for joining us today, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Man, it's awesome to be in Las Vegas again this year,
where you know, the whole industry gets together and you know, exchange.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
His ideas and products and has a good time.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And you know, sometimes that's at four o'clock in the
morning at a club and sometimes at twelve o'clock right
here in the convention center.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So I appreciate you guys both having me out. Hey,
that's absolutely correct and right. We had a couple of questions,
so let's a good roll.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Absolutely, Thank you for joining us here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Mike, it's at ama. You can ask me anything. Hi, Joe,
all right, perfect?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
So tell me how you got into cannabis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You know, I think that initially it was a passion
for smoking weed, you know, I mean I first started
smoking weed when I was nineteen. The first bag I
ever bought was an ounce, So I went all in
right off the rip. Okay, And you.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Know, all through college and law school and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Is my career as a practicing attorney, you know, we
was always part of my identity. I mean, this was
something that whenever you met me throughout my life, I
always had a couple of bags lead.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
It was always something that I was really really into.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And then look, I took a charge with a lot
of people in this industry, you know, back in twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, just sort of is what it is.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
So when the opportunity came, you know, in twenty sixteen
for me to transition from what I was doing as
a financial services attorney into this new growing industry that
I was already passionate about, you know, something that I
used every day, something that I really believed in, it
was a perfect match.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So I was able to transition with my legal skills.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And my background has always been in finance and business,
never in like divorce or criminal or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So it was very seamless for me to move over
to doing some cannabis law.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And then you know, I ran into the house of
dank guys and they've been absolutely incredible to give me
some authority and empower me to come in and be
their chief op Office, and I've been there almost four
and a half years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Oh wow, they're good people.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
They really are hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
You know, in an industry full of a lot of
really tough people that aren't thinking long term. I think
that we in Halsadink are really lucky that we have
both sides of it. We've got this authenticity of being
a true cannabis brand. I mean, next year, twenty fifteen,
ten years in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
We're going to be at selling weed either the HOV
Mothership on.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Eight Mile mind medical days.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So that's impressive. Ten years ten your anniversary in this
business is meaning absolutely those the culture builds a brand.
So guys, you're so powerful insight.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, you know, it's authenticity and I think that look,
whether you're in cannabis or crans for that matter, you know,
authenticity is what sells to the worldwide. In the Americas soup,
you know, we can all see through it. We're all
fed so much bullshit on social media and advertising that
we can immediately spot whether it's a hustle and a
big brand.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And I think that you can see that in cannabis
as well.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So the fact that we've got those natural rooms in
passion to the plan and taking risks when you know,
we weren't.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Talking about cannabis.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
On CNBC or fancy podcast and still done in cash
in back alleys and otherwise having that legacy life style
AISLE has contributed to our authenticity and the brand success
for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I love it. Awesome. What do you got next? Let's go?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
So what motivates you to strive for success and put
in that one hundred and ten percent effort?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
For me, it's intrinsic, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know, I'm certainly a believer and I'm trying to
get as much out of myself as I can, you know,
to leave it for the world, you know what I mean. Like,
you know, I'm a fifty year old guy, don't have kids,
so I mean this is what I have, you know,
when we talk about leaving the legacy or leaving it
all on the field, this is kind of how I
look at it, and I certainly ascribed as the theory
that you know, I think money follows and doesn't lead.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You know, I don't think that you should live a
life where you're chasing money.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I think you should be chasing learning new things, experiencing,
pushing yourself and if you're doing it right, the money
will follow exactly, And so I think that that's what
I use. It's all inside. I want to make sure
that I'm being the best I.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Can be, because then what kind of life have I led?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And that's something I kind of came to terms with,
I think six or seven years ago before I transitioned
to cannabis. You know, obviously successful practicing attorney, but something
was missing, you know, and it was that pass and
that ability to be like, am I really am I
getting everything I can out of myself?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So I think that that is what what drives me.
I love that, you know, I'm trying out here, you know, like.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
The money does follow, and look at me, pret.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And if you're doing it for somebody else, you're always
going to be chasing somebody else.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
There's got to be something inside you that makes you
want to do good work.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Or take the extra time. And look, it's hard today too,
because everybody's looking for a shortcut, right, everybody in life.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I don't care where where you're at, and shortcuts and
what ultimately kill you. I think, So take the long road.
It's worth it. And you know, the journey is part
of the fun, right, so I see it.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
At least yes, you know, and they know and ah
D and cannabis.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
It's all been like that from where we started, you know,
with the limited access to banking and only having a
couple of stores only being medical.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It's not where we are and even the industry, you know,
each I come out with empty biscon.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It's kind of a mixed bag, right Like, as it's
as the business has grown and it's become more corporate,
you know, this event has also become a little bit
more corporate.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You know when you go back six seven years ago,
different vibe, all right, let me be honest about it,
different people coming out here. So it's good that they're
still trying.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
To keep some of that authenticity as the industry sort
of moves into the mainstream.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Love that, you know, So okay, I appreciate that, Mike.
I first, I appreciate you guys for sure. Yes, everything else.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yeah, So for the final question, it's definitely a very
popular topic in the industry right now. Do you have
any advice for retailers that are struggling to pay their bills?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know, it is a very tough time in the
industry for that.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I think that you know, if you're struggling to pay
your bills, I think the first thing you have to
look at is are you managing.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Your inventory properly every day? Are you over buying?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I mean, look, the number one thing in our industry
and a lot of industries, particularly in retail, is you
have too much inventory.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
It's going to be a problem.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Right. You have to match your inventory with your volume
to make sure that you don't end up in that situation.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean in general, particularly in mission.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Again, I think that the vendors that are out there
are tremendously helpful.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It will work with you and extend your terms. I
mean it is not unusually when you get thirty day
terms in this business.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
If you're managing your inventory the right way and buying
that which you need or not necessarily that what you want,
you should be able to move through that inventory within
your thirty days to get.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Your bills paid. Now, look, it sounds easier than it is.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, as a recovering financial services attorney, I would
argue that anybody that is having a hard time.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Paying your bills, the number one thing you should not
do is ghost the people you owe money through.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Okay, like under those circumstances, doesn't that work all right?
You know what we have seen in both this industry
and other industries is, you know, let's say you've got
a payable problem and you owe a couple hundred thousand
bucks or whatever it is to a variety of vendors.
What you can do, and a lot of vendors will
work with you, is you have to acknowledge the problem.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So you go to them and say, hey, look, you
know I owe you on these back several invoices.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
But if I stop getting shipments from you, I can't
continue to sell to raise money.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Right. This is under the old theory that you know,
if you kill.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
The person that owes you money, you'll never get your money.
You have to keep them alive and working or else
you're never gonna get paid.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Right exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So when you go to your vendors and say, hey, look,
I owe you a couple hundred grand, here's what I
want to do. I want to spread that couple hundred
grand over say, six months, and then I'm gonna try
to go cod with you on new orders coming in,
and then you right size your orders, get those a
little bit lower. Go on cood and that vendor relationship
is going to improve and they're going to work with it. Okay,
certainly in Michigan and I imagine in many other states,
(07:32):
but again certainly in Michigan.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
You know, the vendors need the retailers as well.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I mean it is very important that the vendors have
their product in different stores.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So again, so long as you're not completely ghosting your.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Your vendors and you and your creditors, you should be
okay if you.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Have to work some exactly, you can't just burn a
bunch of bridges.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
You can't, you know, and it's arrived, you won't survive,
particularly in this industry because it is a very very
tight community. Even in Michigan with over one thousand cultivation
facilities in eight hundred and fifty different retail stores.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You know, there's really only.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So many people that you're going to run into and
again finished products or you know, you can maybe get
away with it for flower for a while, right because
everybody's selling flower, and you know the outdoor season just
hit and like this, that and the other thing. Well,
when you get down to your cards, particularly with branded products,
the stuff that you have to have in your store.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Let's use a great example of Jeter. Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You know, Junior's one of the top selling products in
Michigan and the number of other states.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
You know, if you owe geter money, the worst thing
you can do is stop selling geer. Okay, Like you
need to reach out to them and figure out how
to do this, you know what I mean. But we
talk about too the idea of like how do you
define success?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
And I think that that comes to I think that
a lot of people that are smaller retailers, you got to.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Find your niche in this business.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Were not everybody is going to end up being purely
for truely or even house to day. Yeah, you know,
we've been very lucky and got in very early. But
you know, the average store in the state of Michigan
sells three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a leading. Okay,
So if you are doing that, and let's say you're
slightly below average, Okay, let's say you're.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Doing say two to seventy five money, all right, and.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
If you run a tight ship, and you know, maybe
it's you and some cousins or you know, just a
few people working there, but you are owner operated, you know,
you could probably pull out of that ten to twelve
percent that net, so you can make twenty five thirty
grand a month potentially out of a store. Now, look,
if you're one of those men or women that want
to buy a cannabis store, AI, you're a manager and
(09:26):
they go down to Miami and have the check sent to.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
You every month, not gonna work if you're not gonna work, okay,
But if we're talking about it or not, you know,
we're talking about your you know, a community, or if
you were looking at buying say a gas station or
a party store or a grocery store, and you transition
to cannabis, I think that you can make more money
and work a little.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Less hard in this industry, even if your store is
below average. But you got to put in the work,
all right, like you can again a higher manager and
expected this passive income is going to come in.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
You got to be in there every single day. Let's
do a new thing.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
But last I checked, you know, if you make a
twenty five to thirty brand a month, like bro, I
mean you can look okay, okay, right, maybe you don't
have a G.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sixty three you know out back, but like you do
it just right.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I think that you know, I know you asked about vendors,
but when I talk to a lot of spider and
entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry or otherwise, you know, I
always come back to this idea. You have to define
what your success is going to be. You can't let
it be like I said, these massive companies. You've got
to decide when you're successful, to find it up front,
because otherwise you're just chasing or you don't even know
(10:28):
what you're chasing, you know what I mean. And we
talked about this earlier, this intrinsic motivation. It's the same
sort of thing, like what are you trying to achieve?
And my definition of success maybe making an extra twenty
grand a mark? Your definition of success, maybe making a
million dollars a month. We can both be successful, right,
you know, you know, and live. So I think that
that is is sort of the philosophy I take too
(10:49):
when I'm talking to young people.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Are entrepreneurs, are otherwise about what's going next. I really
appreciate your insight, like this is great, this is awesome.
Maybe for sending this up some early, Yeah, I rob it.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Come on, I love talking canabis I love to talk
about House of Bank and uh, you know I've never been.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Showing under candle. You know, think she bring you on
the podcast back in Michigan. Maybe if it's something to
interest you for our episode could get more of the
House of Bank as well. I would love to bring
someone on us too. And other than that, I don't
like anything else but as always were here that advocate,
educate and inspire. The next time y'all woos, Thank you
so much. Be good.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Who
Yo, it's what everybody welcome to I'm j Biscon of
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm canad Dave, I have Summer Sky and we got Mike,
Chief corporate officer of House of Dank.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Thank you for joining us today, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm great. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Man, it's awesome to be in Las Vegas again this year,
where you know, the whole industry gets together and you know, exchange.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
His ideas and products and has a good time.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And you know, sometimes that's at four o'clock in the
morning at a club and sometimes at twelve o'clock right
here in the convention center.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So I appreciate you guys both having me out. Hey,
that's absolutely correct and right. We had a couple of questions,
so let's a good roll.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Absolutely, Thank you for joining us here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Mike, it's at ama. You can ask me anything. Hi, Joe,
all right, perfect?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
So tell me how you got into cannabis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You know, I think that initially it was a passion
for smoking weed, you know, I mean I first started
smoking weed when I was nineteen. The first bag I
ever bought was an ounce, So I went all in
right off the rip. Okay, And you.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Know, all through college and law school and.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Is my career as a practicing attorney, you know, we
was always part of my identity. I mean, this was
something that whenever you met me throughout my life, I
always had a couple of bags lead.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
It was always something that I was really really into.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And then look, I took a charge with a lot
of people in this industry, you know, back in twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, just sort of is what it is.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
So when the opportunity came, you know, in twenty sixteen
for me to transition from what I was doing as
a financial services attorney into this new growing industry that
I was already passionate about, you know, something that I
used every day, something that I really believed in, it
was a perfect match.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So I was able to transition with my legal skills.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
And my background has always been in finance and business,
never in like divorce or criminal or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So it was very seamless for me to move over
to doing some cannabis law.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
And then you know, I ran into the house of
dank guys and they've been absolutely incredible to give me
some authority and empower me to come in and be
their chief op Office, and I've been there almost four
and a half years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Oh wow, they're good people.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
They really are hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
You know, in an industry full of a lot of
really tough people that aren't thinking long term. I think
that we in Halsadink are really lucky that we have
both sides of it. We've got this authenticity of being
a true cannabis brand. I mean, next year, twenty fifteen,
ten years in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
We're going to be at selling weed either the HOV
Mothership on.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Eight Mile mind medical days.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So that's impressive. Ten years ten your anniversary in this
business is meaning absolutely those the culture builds a brand.
So guys, you're so powerful insight.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, you know, it's authenticity and I think that look,
whether you're in cannabis or crans for that matter, you know,
authenticity is what sells to the worldwide. In the Americas soup,
you know, we can all see through it. We're all
fed so much bullshit on social media and advertising that
we can immediately spot whether it's a hustle and a
big brand.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And I think that you can see that in cannabis
as well.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So the fact that we've got those natural rooms in
passion to the plan and taking risks when you know,
we weren't.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Talking about cannabis.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
On CNBC or fancy podcast and still done in cash
in back alleys and otherwise having that legacy life style
AISLE has contributed to our authenticity and the brand success
for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I love it. Awesome. What do you got next? Let's go?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
So what motivates you to strive for success and put
in that one hundred and ten percent effort?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
For me, it's intrinsic, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You know, I'm certainly a believer and I'm trying to
get as much out of myself as I can, you know,
to leave it for the world, you know what I mean. Like,
you know, I'm a fifty year old guy, don't have kids,
so I mean this is what I have, you know,
when we talk about leaving the legacy or leaving it
all on the field, this is kind of how I
look at it, and I certainly ascribed as the theory
that you know, I think money follows and doesn't lead.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You know, I don't think that you should live a
life where you're chasing money.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I think you should be chasing learning new things, experiencing,
pushing yourself and if you're doing it right, the money
will follow exactly, And so I think that that's what
I use. It's all inside. I want to make sure
that I'm being the best I.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Can be, because then what kind of life have I led?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And that's something I kind of came to terms with,
I think six or seven years ago before I transitioned
to cannabis. You know, obviously successful practicing attorney, but something
was missing, you know, and it was that pass and
that ability to be like, am I really am I
getting everything I can out of myself?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So I think that that is what what drives me.
I love that, you know, I'm trying out here, you know, like.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
The money does follow, and look at me, pret.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And if you're doing it for somebody else, you're always
going to be chasing somebody else.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
There's got to be something inside you that makes you
want to do good work.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Or take the extra time. And look, it's hard today too,
because everybody's looking for a shortcut, right, everybody in life.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I don't care where where you're at, and shortcuts and
what ultimately kill you. I think, So take the long road.
It's worth it. And you know, the journey is part
of the fun, right, so I see it.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
At least yes, you know, and they know and ah
D and cannabis.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
It's all been like that from where we started, you know,
with the limited access to banking and only having a
couple of stores only being medical.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It's not where we are and even the industry, you know,
each I come out with empty biscon.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It's kind of a mixed bag, right Like, as it's
as the business has grown and it's become more corporate,
you know, this event has also become a little bit
more corporate.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You know when you go back six seven years ago,
different vibe, all right, let me be honest about it,
different people coming out here. So it's good that they're
still trying.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
To keep some of that authenticity as the industry sort
of moves into the mainstream.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Love that, you know, So okay, I appreciate that, Mike.
I first, I appreciate you guys for sure. Yes, everything else.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Yeah, So for the final question, it's definitely a very
popular topic in the industry right now. Do you have
any advice for retailers that are struggling to pay their bills?
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know, it is a very tough time in the
industry for that.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I think that you know, if you're struggling to pay
your bills, I think the first thing you have to
look at is are you managing.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Your inventory properly every day? Are you over buying?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I mean, look, the number one thing in our industry
and a lot of industries, particularly in retail, is you
have too much inventory.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
It's going to be a problem.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Right. You have to match your inventory with your volume
to make sure that you don't end up in that situation.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean in general, particularly in mission.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Again, I think that the vendors that are out there
are tremendously helpful.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It will work with you and extend your terms. I
mean it is not unusually when you get thirty day
terms in this business.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
If you're managing your inventory the right way and buying
that which you need or not necessarily that what you want,
you should be able to move through that inventory within
your thirty days to get.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Your bills paid. Now, look, it sounds easier than it is.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, as a recovering financial services attorney, I would
argue that anybody that is having a hard time.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Paying your bills, the number one thing you should not
do is ghost the people you owe money through.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Okay, like under those circumstances, doesn't that work all right?
You know what we have seen in both this industry
and other industries is, you know, let's say you've got
a payable problem and you owe a couple hundred thousand
bucks or whatever it is to a variety of vendors.
What you can do, and a lot of vendors will
work with you, is you have to acknowledge the problem.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So you go to them and say, hey, look, you
know I owe you on these back several invoices.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
But if I stop getting shipments from you, I can't
continue to sell to raise money.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Right. This is under the old theory that you know,
if you kill.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
The person that owes you money, you'll never get your money.
You have to keep them alive and working or else
you're never gonna get paid.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Right exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So when you go to your vendors and say, hey, look,
I owe you a couple hundred grand, here's what I
want to do. I want to spread that couple hundred
grand over say, six months, and then I'm gonna try
to go cod with you on new orders coming in,
and then you right size your orders, get those a
little bit lower. Go on cood and that vendor relationship
is going to improve and they're going to work with it. Okay,
certainly in Michigan and I imagine in many other states,
(07:32):
but again certainly in Michigan.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
You know, the vendors need the retailers as well.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I mean it is very important that the vendors have
their product in different stores.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So again, so long as you're not completely ghosting your.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Your vendors and you and your creditors, you should be
okay if you.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Have to work some exactly, you can't just burn a
bunch of bridges.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
You can't, you know, and it's arrived, you won't survive,
particularly in this industry because it is a very very
tight community. Even in Michigan with over one thousand cultivation
facilities in eight hundred and fifty different retail stores.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
You know, there's really only.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So many people that you're going to run into and
again finished products or you know, you can maybe get
away with it for flower for a while, right because
everybody's selling flower, and you know the outdoor season just
hit and like this, that and the other thing. Well,
when you get down to your cards, particularly with branded products,
the stuff that you have to have in your store.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Let's use a great example of Jeter. Okay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You know, Junior's one of the top selling products in
Michigan and the number of other states.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
You know, if you owe geter money, the worst thing
you can do is stop selling geer. Okay, Like you
need to reach out to them and figure out how
to do this, you know what I mean. But we
talk about too the idea of like how do you
define success?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
And I think that that comes to I think that
a lot of people that are smaller retailers, you got to.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Find your niche in this business.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Were not everybody is going to end up being purely
for truely or even house to day. Yeah, you know,
we've been very lucky and got in very early. But
you know, the average store in the state of Michigan
sells three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a leading. Okay,
So if you are doing that, and let's say you're
slightly below average, Okay, let's say you're.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Doing say two to seventy five money, all right, and.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
If you run a tight ship, and you know, maybe
it's you and some cousins or you know, just a
few people working there, but you are owner operated, you know,
you could probably pull out of that ten to twelve
percent that net, so you can make twenty five thirty
grand a month potentially out of a store. Now, look,
if you're one of those men or women that want
to buy a cannabis store, AI, you're a manager and
(09:26):
they go down to Miami and have the check sent to.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
You every month, not gonna work if you're not gonna work, okay,
But if we're talking about it or not, you know,
we're talking about your you know, a community, or if
you were looking at buying say a gas station or
a party store or a grocery store, and you transition
to cannabis, I think that you can make more money
and work a little.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Less hard in this industry, even if your store is
below average. But you got to put in the work,
all right, like you can again a higher manager and
expected this passive income is going to come in.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
You got to be in there every single day. Let's
do a new thing.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
But last I checked, you know, if you make a
twenty five to thirty brand a month, like bro, I
mean you can look okay, okay, right, maybe you don't
have a G.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sixty three you know out back, but like you do
it just right.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I think that you know, I know you asked about vendors,
but when I talk to a lot of spider and
entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry or otherwise, you know, I
always come back to this idea. You have to define
what your success is going to be. You can't let
it be like I said, these massive companies. You've got
to decide when you're successful, to find it up front,
because otherwise you're just chasing or you don't even know
(10:28):
what you're chasing, you know what I mean. And we
talked about this earlier, this intrinsic motivation. It's the same
sort of thing, like what are you trying to achieve?
And my definition of success maybe making an extra twenty
grand a mark? Your definition of success, maybe making a
million dollars a month. We can both be successful, right,
you know, you know, and live. So I think that
that is is sort of the philosophy I take too
(10:49):
when I'm talking to young people.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Are entrepreneurs, are otherwise about what's going next. I really
appreciate your insight, like this is great, this is awesome.
Maybe for sending this up some early, Yeah, I rob it.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Come on, I love talking canabis I love to talk
about House of Bank and uh, you know I've never been.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Showing under candle. You know, think she bring you on
the podcast back in Michigan. Maybe if it's something to
interest you for our episode could get more of the
House of Bank as well. I would love to bring
someone on us too. And other than that, I don't
like anything else but as always were here that advocate,
educate and inspire. The next time y'all woos, Thank you
so much. Be good.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
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