The medicinal use of hemp plants and the CBD they contain may date back over 4,000 years to Ancient China, but today’s rising demand for it is driving a new wave of CBD business growth. While a CBD business is simply a retailer that sells products of any kind that contain CBD, it’s a little more complicated than starting your average retail business.
Before you can sell CBD products, you need to understand where to get high-quality and tested products, how your area regulates their sales, and how you’re limited in advertising them. Before rushing to launch a CBD business, make sure you’re handling all the steps correctly with this guide.
Develop a Solid Business Plan for Your CBD Business
First, decide what part of the CBD industry you want to participate in. You can become a hemp grower, a processor for deriving hemp oil and CBD from the raw product, or a retailer for the finished products. Most people interested in the CBD market will find starting a retail business the easiest option, whether it will be online, offline, or both. The cannabis industry is generally highly regulated, but growers and manufacturers face much stricter regulations than retailers. By choosing already manufactured products with your own label on them, you can focus on the rest of the business, like reaching customers and shipping products if you choose.
Or you can try a CBD vending machine business where you only have to stop by and restock.
Other CBD Business Opportunities:
- Reselling CBD wholesale to other retailers, even if you didn’t produce it
- Selling CBD products in existing retailers through sales agreements
- Opening a store or delivery business to sell your own CBD brand
- Delivering CBD products to restaurants, cafes, and other businesses that use it in food
- Making your own products like skin or hair care mixtures with CBD added.
CBD Business Plan
No matter the type of CBD business you plan to start, you’ll need a solid business plan. This will cover where you’ll get your products, how you will sell them, how you plan to advertise, and many other details. You may want to work with a business plan expert to make sure you’re covering everything necessary to secure leases and loans, a crucial part of figuring out how to start a CBD business. Unless you have the savings to invest in your own small-scale CBD oil business, you’ll need funding from a cannabis industry lender. A well-written business plan is the key to securing it.
Regulations and Requirements for a CBD Business
Another challenge you’ll run into as you start a CBD business is working around the many local, state, and federal regulations regarding advertising and packaging. For example, you can’t make concrete claims about health benefits like “CBD cures X or Y disease.” That’s a federal regulation set by the Food and Drug Administration. On the more local level, your city or state may have many restrictions on where you can advertise, how you advertise, and how you control who buys your products.
Some areas have set laws stating CBD can’t be sold to people under 21 or 18. Make sure to check at every level for relevant regulations before launching a CBD business, even if you only plan to sell online. There are also complications to consider if you plan to ship between states that can have varying regulations on CBD sales.
Find the Right Suppliers for Your CBD Products
You need to trust the testing and certification of your supplier when setting up a CBD business. Turning to a highly-rated supplier like Botanical Stores will ensure you don’t run into any issues with pricing, availability, or legality. All wholesale CBD products you plan to sell after starting your own CBD business must have 0.3% THC content or below to remain federally legal to sell, so find a supplier that tests every batch to protect your business.
Develop a Private Label CBD Product
The key to building a CBD business online or off is to use private label CBD products. CBD private label products let you put your name and images on the product, but you don’t have to mess around with the manufacturing, testing, and packaging of those CBD products yourself. Private label products are used in many industries like food, drink, and apparel. You give the private label producer your company’s packaging designs and receive CBD oil and other products that are ready to sell. This trick alone can make all the difference between success and failure when launching a CBD business.
Marketing Strategies for Scaling Your CBD Startup
Building a CBD brand means going beyond just the basics of retail. Marketing is the key to establishing a CBD business that lasts, yet it’s also beset by many limitations and regulations that can vary from state to state and even on the county level. Consider working with a cannabis industry advertising agency to ensure you’re not running afoul of any marketing limitations.
CBD Business Opportunities
1. How to start a CBD business?
Identify your target market, choose a type of business, find a supplier, write a business plan, and apply for loans.
2. What are some CBD business opportunities?
CBD is often sold through other retailers like health food stores, convenience stores, and tobacco and alcohol retailers. You could also try CBD vending machines, delivery services, or products shipped across the country.
3. How much money is needed to start a CBD business?
Costs vary depending on the type of business, from around $2,500 for a vending machine opportunity to $100,000 for a complete retail store.
4. What do I need to open a CBD business?
Experience in retail business and a good knowledge of local CBD regulations are both must-haves.
5. Is a CBD business profitable?
When you have a good deal on wholesale products and a motivated customer base, a CBD business can produce a high profit margin.
6. What CBD products sell the most?
In general, CBD oil tinctures and vape cartridges tend to sell the most, followed by edible products like gummies.
7. What does CBD stand for?
CBD stands for cannabidiol, a compound found in both cannabis and hemp.
8. How do I get started with CBD?
Creating a CBD startup is the easiest if you seek out training and information from established experts in the cannabis industry.
9. How much can you make from CBD?
Profits vary depending on your market and the products you choose to sell.
10. How do I make and sell CBD?
Making your own raw CBD extract is a complex and expensive process. Buying wholesale CBD products is a much faster path to getting started in the CBD industry.
