Michael Graham is the Vice President of Retail Solutions & Strategy for Hyosung. In this role, he helps retail customers make decisions about transformation products and unlock the value of those investments. Prior to joining Hyosung, Michael worked at Wells Fargo Bank in both the Retail Banking and Technology business units, developing and implementing many transformative solutions and products.
Key Take-Aways
• The establishment of cash security “best practices” for Dispensary Owners can be the difference in running an effective cannabis dispensary or running from a 10,000 lb. gorilla.
• Hyosung offers industry inspired cash management solutions to optimize cash handling operations, provide increased cash security and thus greater customer service.
• Hyosung is proud to make available financing options for dispensary owners, partnering with Loanvisor to source the best financing options from lending partners that specialize in servicing the Cannabis, Hemp and CBD industries.
If you’re an existing Cannabis dispensary owner or planning to become one, your ability to effectively manage cash will ultimately determine if your business becomes the eighth wonder of the world or is exiled to Skull island.
• Due to stringent federal regulations, most traditional banks are unwilling to take in cash from dispensaries.
• U.S. Cannabis sales increased by 67% in 2020 with estimated cash pile of ~$10B ‘sitting’ in dispensaries today.
• Today, an estimated 70% of all dispensaries operate on a cash-only basis due to cumbersome regulatory requirements.
• Credit and debit transactions are federally regulated, thus most dispensaries operate as cash-only businesses to avoid conflict.
Kong-like challenges of managing dispensary cash can easily overwhelm dispensary owners.
• Internal theft – According to a Forbes article last year, nearly 90% of cash loss in the cannabis industry has been attributed to employee theft.
• No paper trail – Cash payments don’t leave a paper trail, making it difficult for owners to reconcile the books with confidence each day.
• Time consuming – Counting cash takes serious time. Some dispensaries report up to four hours of register reconciliation per day, a serious dent in the pocketbook in the long-term.
The establishment of a few ‘best practices’ for your business can truly mean the difference for an effective, profitable cannabis dispensary.
1.Standard Cash Operating Procedures – Develop, document and adhere to Standard Operating Procedures for Cash. The net is that there should be a very clearly defined procedure in place for any situation where employees have to handle cash. This is significantly important for vendor payment processing and daily bud tender balancing processes … make sure you avoid loose and ambiguous language that can lead to money disappearing without a trace.
2.Launch employee cash procedures training and compliance – Dispensary employees are defense line #1. If they see gaps in processes or lack of controls, they will be tempted to exploit them. The net is effective training, good processes and governance will reduce the risk of employee theft which also help prevent tax and audit issues down the road.
3.Implement employee access and permission controls. If you don’t have good internal controls, identifying theft and loss will be challenging to spot.
4.Automate your Cash-Related Processes. Automated cash handling device provide an automatic, efficient, and accurate way for cash-heavy enterprises to effectively track, maintain, and balance incoming and outgoing currency with ease.
5.Partnering with Hyosung will ultimately allow you to tame the proverbial cash ‘beast’ within your dispensary.
Hyosung solutions provide benefits to efficiently and confidently manage the entire cash ecosystem of your dispensary. Our solutions provide for secure cash storage, accurate accounting software and ensures your employees spend more time with customers versus counting cash.
Hyosung’s cannabis solution set includes: Cash Recyclers, Cash Management Software including employee permissions and a patented transit cassette interface.
For example, the MS500 Cash Recycler can improve customer service, maximize your bud tender’s time with customers, reduce internal theft and minimize cash in transit costs.
For all these reasons and more, Hyosung’s MS500 is the best investment choice to automate your dispensary cash processes.
Hyosung understands that access to capital for your new or growing business can be a challenge, not to mention finding a bank to support your lending needs as a Cannabis-based business can be difficult. We are proud to offer financing options for customers looking to optimize their cash handling operations and provide increase cash security with greater customer service. Hyosung has partnered with Loanvisor to source the best financing options from lending partners which specialize in servicing the Cannabis, Hemp and CBD industries. From traditional equipment finance agreements and a variety of equipment leases to flexible capital we’ve got you covered. We do the leg work to put the best options at your fingertips so you can focus on your business. Best of all, the service doesn’t cost you a dime.
Sources: Forbes, CannaBiz– January 2022, Bloomberg – Feb 2022
