Silly idea...

[JollyPete]

My state just legalized recreational, 4 plants per household and I had the grand idea of trying to set up a consultation/home visit/DIY assistance for new guys/vets/the elderly, etc.

Has anyone done something similar?

Obviously its a huge grey area right now as nothing has actually happened yet but a feller can dream!

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

I considered it but the liability scared me away. Someone burns their house down, floods their basement, gets arrested etc.... even if you weren't actually at fault you could be tied up in court for years. People love to litigate these days. You'd have to carry a huge liability policy. I mean, you could stick to people setting up really simple grows but there's no money there. How much can you reasonably expect someone to pay to you to set up $300 in equipment? At a certain point, if someone has the money to pay you a decent hourly rate for advice, they could just go to the dispensary as well. I'm just not sure it's a viable business plan at the moment, which is why it hasn't caught on in any of the already legal states.

 

[JollyPete]

I considered it but the liability scared me away. Someone burns their house down, floods their basement, gets arrested etc.... even if you weren't actually at fault you could be tied up in court for years. People love to litigate these days. You'd have to carry a huge liability policy. I mean, you could stick to people setting up really simple grows but there's no money there. How much can you reasonably expect someone to pay to you to set up $300 in equipment? At a certain point, if someone has the money to pay you a decent hourly rate for advice, they could just go to the dispensary as well. I'm just not sure it's a viable business plan at the moment, which is why it hasn't caught on in any of the already legal states.

I was thinking more focus on outdoors, simply due to the ease and lack of real equipment needed, liability and such being a little more limited that way as well.

Maybe an "Intro to cannabis" kind of "class", teach them the basic fundamentals on soil, topping, sexing, and the like, provide them some gear and stay in touch for consultation and the like.

Just spitballin' ? happy to hear I'm not the only one who's thought of it, though!

 

[Dbear]

My state just legalized recreational, 4 plants per household and I had the grand idea of trying to set up a consultation/home visit/DIY assistance for new guys/vets/the elderly, etc.

Has anyone done something similar?

Obviously its a huge grey area right now as nothing has actually happened yet but a feller can dream!

If you have the patience to deal with people who are too lazy to figure it out themselves (or do any research for that matter) it's not a bad idea.
If you have the patience to deal with people who just regurgitate everything they read on the internet, it's not a bad idea.
If you have the patience to deal with endless stupid questions via text, email, & phone calls, it's not a bad idea.

Not all clients fall into this parameter, but I have certainly dealt with my share of green growers & hard headed idiots who dont understand it's NOT just plug em in, water, & a few weeks later boom you got grade a buds.

Basically you need to have obedient customers who are actually gonna do what you say to do because when they dont & their plants start to look all fd up they are gonna point the finger at you & your gonna have no idea what they REALLY did (green growers are like little kids, they dont wanna tell you when they've fd up)

I walked away right after finishing a 45k build out because the client started telling me what to do & that I was behind schedule, costing him money etc. Guy wanted plants in the building while we were still doing drywall & was really taken back when I told him, "we aren't ready, would you have surgery in an operating room that's still being built?"

Some people think money just makes everything happen, they dont understand the work that goes into it.

 

[Dbear]

Oh yeah & six months later everything was torn down & sold off because the guy couldnt figure it out himself, he didn't wanna just say sorry & let me run things, & I even heard another grower filled my spot & quit two months later for pretty much the same reason ?

 

[Dbear]

I considered it but the liability scared me away. Someone burns their house down, floods their basement, gets arrested etc.... even if you weren't actually at fault you could be tied up in court for years. People love to litigate these days. You'd have to carry a huge liability policy. I mean, you could stick to people setting up really simple grows but there's no money there. How much can you reasonably expect someone to pay to you to set up $300 in equipment? At a certain point, if someone has the money to pay you a decent hourly rate for advice, they could just go to the dispensary as well. I'm just not sure it's a viable business plan at the moment, which is why it hasn't caught on in any of the already legal states.

True story. Sensei who taught me was tied up in court for over 3 years because someone he knew got busted. Busted guy said, "he set up my timers & told me when they would be running". Cost him a lot of time & money but he did eventually win, all for randomly setting up a few timers cuz he happened to be there, literally no other associations with that operation at all.

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

I was thinking more focus on outdoors, simply due to the ease and lack of real equipment needed, liability and such being a little more limited that way as well.

Maybe an "Intro to cannabis" kind of "class", teach them the basic fundamentals on soil, topping, sexing, and the like, provide them some gear and stay in touch for consultation and the like.

Just spitballin' ? happy to hear I'm not the only one who's thought of it, though!

I think a class is actually not a bad idea. Especially for older people who don't use the internet as much, or people in rural areas where internet access is less reliable. But still would have to be prepared for people blaming you when they didn't follow instructions. And I'm still not sure it could be anything more than supplemental income to start with. There's so many free resources, your target clientele would be really limited, and would only get more so as internet access becomes more ubiquitously reliable.

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

True story. Sensei who taught me was tied up in court for over 3 years because someone he knew got busted. Busted guy said, "he set up my timers & told me when they would be running". Cost him a lot of time & money but he did eventually win, all for randomly setting up a few timers cuz he happened to be there, literally no other associations with that operation at all.

It's insane. People will try to blame anyone but themselves when shit hits the fan.

 

[JollyPete]

Oh yeah & six months later everything was torn down & sold off because the guy couldnt figure it out himself, he didn't wanna just say sorry & let me run things, & I even heard another grower filled my spot & quit two months later for pretty much the same reason ?

? sounds like a headache and also every customer service oriented job I've ever had!

I think a class is actually not a bad idea. Especially for older people who don't use the internet as much, or people in rural areas where internet access is less reliable. But still would have to be prepared for people blaming you when they didn't follow instructions. And I'm still not sure it could be anything more than supplemental income to start with. There's so many free resources, your target clientele would be really limited, and would only get more so as internet access becomes more ubiquitously reliable.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't dream of quitting my day job or anything like that. I'd just do it as a side hustle. "Luckily" for me, I do live in a depressed, rural location so that might be the key to it all.

 

[Badmofo529]

I could see it working if you partnered up with a local hydro store and did a once a month class on the basics or something. They can do the advertising and turn part of the cost into a raffle for a promo product or something to get people in the door.

 

[InfiniteIndo]

You can do it. Maybe don't get too close with the people you consult so they can't hold you liable? (Because they don't really know you, your name etc.) I know people who consult in my city.. they're not even thinking about liabilities or anything.. just making good money. But then again.. they weren't only consulting but actually building grow spaces and stuff as well.

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

You can do it. Maybe don't get too close with the people you consult so they can't hold you liable? (Because they don't really know you, your name etc.) I know people who consult in my city.. they're not even thinking about liabilities or anything.. just making good money. But then again.. they weren't only consulting but actually building grow spaces and stuff as well.

Definitely way more money in sourcing and assembling equipment. Still, I wouldn't mess around with that myself unless I was set up proper. Licensed electrician on tap and everything. Doing that stuff under the table works until it doesn't.... sure, you could go a decade without an issue, but the second your work causes a house fire or something your screwed. The homeowner is going to narc so fast it'll make your head spin.

Now if your talking straight up illicit grow ops that's different. Obviously your not worried about liability in that situation cause the whole thing is illegal anyways. Even if you had insurance they won't cover you if your building illegal grow ops lol. But I got the feeling @JollyPete was looking to do something more legit here.

 

[InfiniteIndo]

Definitely way more money in sourcing and assembling equipment. Still, I wouldn't mess around with that myself unless I was set up proper. Licensed electrician on tap and everything. Doing that stuff under the table works until it doesn't.... sure, you could go a decade without an issue, but the second your work causes a house fire or something your screwed. The homeowner is going to narc so fast it'll make your head spin.

Now if your talking straight up illicit grow ops that's different. Obviously your not worried about liability in that situation cause the whole thing is illegal anyways. Even if you had insurance they won't cover you if your building illegal grow ops lol. But I got the feeling @JollyPete was looking to do something more legit here.

I wasn't referring to electrical work per se but mostly carpentry work. Building frames and what not to hang lights from, installing wall mounted fans.. People are getting such high end equipment they end up having to pay like 15k total between consulting, equipment and installation. I believe the people doing this in my area were certified to do HVAC work so they were setting up mini split ACs and the works. And this is all for like a 10x10 area.. lol not even illegal grows.

 

[Amos Otis]

? sounds like a headache and also every customer service oriented job I've ever had!

Oh yeah, I wouldn't dream of quitting my day job or anything like that. I'd just do it as a side hustle. "Luckily" for me, I do live in a depressed, rural location so that might be the key to it all.

Wise County?

 

[JollyPete]

Wise County?

I'll disclose come July ;p

 

[Amos Otis]

I'll disclose come July ;p

No big thang mang. The coal mining areas near southern W Va is what popped in my mind, though it could just as easily be southside along Hwy 58.

Supposedly there was a big movement of sorts for sw Va to secede and join the state of W Va after the last governor's election. Great idea, as the western part of Va bears no resemblance at all to the north and east part of the state.

 

[jaguarlax]

Ya I don't think this is a silly idea at all... My state just went full legal, but forgot to include home grow. So once that actually comes through, I fully intend on building something similar.

I used to build and maintain salt water reef tanks as a side hustle when I lived down in Miami. I think I would mirror that business model. I think I would charge a monthly rate to come by every month or so. I figure it might also be a good idea to sell genetics as part of the package.

I think the toughest part of it all would be securing normal every day business shit. Bank accounts, credit card processing, all that good stuff that doesnt exist because cannabis is still federally illegal.

 

[JollyPete]

I think the toughest part of it all would be securing normal every day business shit. Bank accounts, credit card processing, all that good stuff that doesnt exist because cannabis is still federally illegal.

I think there's good news on the horizon; The SAFE banking act has made it past the House for the second time, hopefully it'll be approved and ratified this go round!

 

[Jewels]

Step 1: you give me VanillaMastercard
Step 2 : I call the 800 number to ✔ the balance
Step 3: we good to go.

 

[JollyPete]

So, I've been slowly going through and making this a reality; here's the draft of my consultation agreement, does anyone have anything to add, subtract, reword, etc? Am I missing anything major? Legaleese is not my expertise lol