Elective
Opening Dispensary
End-to-end pre-launch coursework for the people building a cannabis store from zero. The arc opens with the business case (markets, moats, realistic returns), market selection at state and local resolution, and the unforgiving startup-cost reality. Licensing walks the application process, zoning and siting, and the local political reality that decides whether a project even reaches inspection. Real estate covers the cannabis lease (landlord education, use clauses, exit rights), build-out cost benchmarks by market and format, and store design from customer flow through consultation zones. Technology covers POS selection, the integrated stack, and the integration reality you have to budget for. Finance covers banking and accounting setup. Team covers pre-open hiring sequence and training. Assortment covers initial stocking and launch marketing. The course closes with the operator's playbook for week one through day ninety, and the capstone: your full launch plan.
20 lessons9.1 hours0 section quizzes7 chapters
Begin courseFree during early access
What you'll master
Outcomes you can defend.
- Build a defensible business case for a new dispensary (markets, moats, realistic financial returns)
- Navigate licensing, zoning, and the local political process that gates every cannabis project
- Negotiate a cannabis lease that cannabis-savvy landlords actually sign, including exit rights
- Build the technology stack, banking relationships, and accounting infrastructure that survive launch
- Hire and train the pre-open team in the right sequence to be productive on day one
- Operate the first ninety days with a playbook that anticipates the failure modes most launches hit
Curriculum
The full syllabus.
Every lesson, in the order we recommend you take them. Click any lesson to begin. Your progress saves automatically.
Part 01
3 lessons • 80 minPre-Launch Strategy
- 01The Dispensary Business Case: Markets, Moats, Realistic ReturnsHow to read a dispensary opportunity through the lens of market maturity, defensible moat, capital intensity, break-even math, and return on assets, accounting for the April 2026 partial rescheduling of state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III and the ongoing federal tax regime.27 min
- 02Market Selection: State and Local Dynamics to EvaluateHow to pick a state, a city, and a parcel for a new dispensary by reading legality tier, license model, local opt-outs, trade area math, and the macro tourism and demographic forces that drive sustainable revenue per door.24 min
- 03Startup Cost Reality: The Numbers That Show Up at ClosingWhat it actually costs to open a single-location dispensary, line by line, with the surprises that wreck first-time budgets and a break-even calc that tells you whether your model survives day one, accounting for the April 2026 partial rescheduling of state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III.29 min
Part 02
3 lessons • 67 minLicensing and Local Approval
- 04The Licensing Process: Application Strategy, Social Equity, and TimelinesHow cannabis dispensary licensing actually works, from picking the right state model to assembling a winning competitive application, qualifying for social equity programs, and budgeting realistic timelines from intent to opening day.21 min
- 05Zoning and Siting: Finding a Location That Actually Passes ApprovalHow to read state and municipal cannabis zoning rules, draw a green-zone map for your target market, evaluate sites against the buffer plus zone plus landlord plus physical-feasibility stack, and build a primary, secondary, tertiary trade area model that survives both regulator review and the actual customer drive.23 min
- 06Local Politics, Community Engagement, and Municipal ApprovalsHow to read the municipal layer that decides whether a state-licensed dispensary actually opens, including opt-in/opt-out politics, host community agreements, conditional use permits, and the community engagement playbook that gets a council vote across the line.23 min
Part 03
3 lessons • 88 minReal Estate and Design
- 07Cannabis Leases: Landlord Education, Use Clauses, Exit RightsHow to negotiate a cannabis lease that survives federal exposure, license loss, and a forced exit, including the dozen clauses that separate a defensible cannabis lease from a generic commercial template, and the break-even math that tells you when a 30 percent rent premium kills the pro-forma. Note: State-licensed medical cannabis operations gained Schedule III status effective April 22, 2026, with significant 280E relief going forward; adult-use cannabis remains Schedule I.33 min
- 08Buildout Cost Ranges by Market and FormatHonest dollar ranges for cannabis retail buildout by market tier and store format, the line items that quietly blow up first-time budgets, and a payback calculation that tells you whether a premium fit-out earns its capital back before the lease is up.23 min
- 09Store Design: Customer Flow, Consultation Zones, Back-of-House LayoutHow to lay out a dispensary so the age-gate, sales floor, consultation zone, vault, and pickup flow stop fighting each other; with the cross-industry zoning logic, planogram math, and back-of-house adjacency rules that keep labor cost down and conversion up.32 min
Part 04
3 lessons • 69 minTechnology Stack
- 10Choosing a POS: The Decision FrameworkHow to pick a cannabis POS without getting locked into the wrong platform for the next three years; covers the five questions that actually drive the decision, the per-segment shortlist, switching costs, and the contract traps to negotiate before signing.22 min
- 11The Full Tech Stack: Ecommerce, CRM, Compliance, Analytics, SignageHow to assemble the five non-POS layers of a dispensary tech stack (ecommerce, CRM/loyalty, compliance, analytics, signage), what each costs, which integrations matter, and the all-in-one vs. best-of-breed decision that shapes every other vendor choice.28 min
- 12Integration Reality: What Breaks and How to Budget for ItHow a cannabis tech stack actually fits together once you leave the sales demo, where the integration seams break in production, and the line items first-time operators leave out of the tech budget.19 min
Part 05
2 lessons • 64 minFinance and Banking
- 13Banking Relationships: Where to Actually Get an AccountHow to find, evaluate, and onboard a cannabis-friendly bank or credit union before opening day, including the three institutional archetypes, the 60-120 day onboarding clock, the dollar cost of doing it wrong, and the treasury-diversification posture that survives a 30-day closure notice.30 min
- 14Accounting Setup: Chart of Accounts from Day OneHow to stand up a 280E-aware chart of accounts, accounting stack, and CPA relationship before the doors open, so the first tax year is a discipline rather than a disaster. As of April 22, 2026, state-licensed medical cannabis is Schedule III, but adult-use cannabis remains Schedule I; 280E relief for medical operators applies to future tax years only.34 min
Part 06
4 lessons • 109 minTeam and Launch
- 15The Pre-Open Org: Who to Hire FirstHow to sequence the first eight to fifteen hires at a new dispensary so that compliance, inventory, and floor operations all show up to opening day fully trained, badged, and proportionate to forecast revenue rather than to enthusiasm.31 min
- 16Training Program: From Day 1 to Ready to OpenHow to build a 30-60-90-day training program that takes a brand-new dispensary team from licensing paperwork on Day 1 to a clean soft-open four to six weeks later, with state-mandated certifications, role-specific skill milestones, and supervised floor reps that survive contact with real customers.30 min
- 17Initial Assortment: What to Stock on Day 1How to build the day-1 product mix for a new dispensary using budget allocation by category, vendor count discipline, and a model stock that survives launch week without trapping cash in dead inventory.22 min
- 18Launch Marketing: Legal Channels, Community, and the Soft-OpenHow to acquire the first 1,000 customers in a market where Meta, Google, TikTok, and most billboards are off the table; the legal channels that actually work, the unit economics behind them, and how to use the soft-open as a marketing event rather than a private rehearsal.26 min
Part 07
2 lessons • 69 minFirst 90 Days and Capstone
- 19Week 1 Through Day 90: The Operator's PlaybookA week-by-week, decision-by-decision playbook for running a brand new dispensary from grand opening through day 90, built around the three operator disciplines that decide whether the store ever becomes profitable: forecasting, buying, and labor.25 min
- 20Capstone: Your Full Dispensary Launch PlanAn end-to-end launch plan for a single-location dispensary, sequenced across market selection, license, real estate, capital, tech, and opening week, with the gates that kill bad deals early and the artifacts an operator should walk into closing day holding.44 min
Ready when you are
Opening Dispensary starts with one lesson.
The Dispensary Business Case: Markets, Moats, Realistic Returns, 27 minutes. Pick it up here whenever you have time.
Start lesson 1