Mr Just Puff
420 Member
Any advice on how to replace my income and be a Michigan caregiver full time would be very appreciated!
Hello I am a new grower interested in leaving my current job to be a full time care giver
- Thread starter Mr Just Puff
- Start date
Read and fully understand all the current laws that have anything to do with medicinal cannabis in the state of Michigan. Start monitoring websites that publish information about new bills in the Michigan legislature so that you never need to worry about getting caught with your pants down in the future.
Grow a lot of cannabis, and do so successfully. That's a no-brainer, but... People respond best to (and want) different strains. That means you'll need to be capable of (and comfortable with) growing multiple strains simultaneously. Also... It depends on the specific condition(s) they're dealing with, their tolerance levels, et cetera, but people tend to go through a lot of cannabis. And "Sorry, I {screwed up / got hit with pathogens/diseases / tried to grow too many plants/strains and it caused me to do poorly / lost power/water indoors and/or got hit with bad weather/bugs/rippers outdoors / overestimated a strain's yield / broke both arms when I fell of the roof / just didn't grow enough / et cetera}" isn't going to cut it when you come up short and have to explain it to the people who depend on you (and who YOU depend on).
Find one of the forums/websites where Michigan medicinal-use growers "hang out" and spend lots of time reading the threads written by people who are bitching about the glut on the market that caused the price of cannabis to tank, the "extra" expenses they encountered, et cetera.
While you're successfully growing a lot of cannabis, take lots of pictures along the way, so that you can develop a portfolio of sorts. Document everything! End up with something substantial that you can use when communicating with prospective clients, so that they will know you're not just some kid with a dream, and that they can depend on you. Especially when you're new to the industry, you need to be "not just as good as, but better than," as they say - and you need to be able to prove it.
Speaking of portfolios, develop a large portfolio of strains. Instead of thinking, "I'll just scrounge up whatever it is that someone wants me to grow," you should already have multiple viable choices in your possession and know them well enough - through lab testing, which should also be documented - that YOU can help current and prospective new clients choose strains. Keep a wide variety of mother plants - and, if at all possible, keep a duplicate set in a separate location, so thatwhen if disaster strikes, it's merely a costly setback instead of a game-ender.
Buy more equipment than you think you'll need. And buy backups. You won't be growing for yourself (at least in terms of making a business out of this), you'll be growing in order to supply other people. When it turns out that even a piece of expensive lighting can fail (and you know better than to purchase cheap shit, right?), it's nice that it's still under warranty, the company you bought it from is actually still in business, and your claim won't be denied - but, hey, it's 12:01am Sunday morning and your plants can't wait on that whole "ship it back and the company will eventually get around to shipping you a repaired or replacement device" thing, or even for the local business to open 33 hours later and someone there to give you an immediate exchange (assuming the business has what you need in stock, and doesn't inform you that they'll have to send it back to the manufacturer and see what the company rep has to say). You need to be able to walk to the storage room and immediately lay hands on whatever it is that just failed.
Learn to operate as if you're operating a business - because you will be. Find an insurance agent that is known to work with people involved in the cannabis industry, and finance his next vacation. The owners of sole proprietorships don't file ONE tax form, lol, and they sure don't do so once per year. And you sure don't want to do something else, e.g., go "partners" with someone else, because you really don't want to find that you've been doing most of the work and then end up being responsible for ALL of the bills and having NONE of the money (and, possibly, possessing none of the plants
). If you do end up finding that you need help, don't get a partner - hire an employee (and if you even CONSIDER hiring a relative, just shoot yourself in the head now instead of waiting until you end up learning just how fun and sensible that little decision... isn't). Don't offer them a share of the profits (profits, lol?), and don't stick them on salary - pay them an hourly wage. Have them "clock in and out." Again, it's a business.
As it is a business... Get a lawyer, get a lawyer, GET A LAWYER! Don't go thinking, "Yeah, okay, if I end up needing one, I'll just grab a phone book and call someone." Best thing to do would be to put one on retainer, but at least develop a good working relationship with one NOW. Make sure he/she is experienced in (and successful at) business law, and has a good grasp of it specifically in regards to cannabis.
Buy property of your own. Yes, people lease property to use for their business, and sometimes everything works out. But sometimes, it all comes crashing down, lol. The landlord sells the property and retires to Florida. Or gets nailed by the tax man, suffers a life-changing medical issue, gets arrested, etc. and has to come up with many thousands of dollars, yesterday and, again, sells the property (or it gets taken by the court). Or... that wonderful person you met and decided to rent from actually turns out to be a douche bag and you've just entered into a contract to turn your entire life into a nightmare. So... buy property of your own. When you're trying to row across the lake, life will send enough storms your way (and drop enough rocks into your boat) without you willingly attaching the extra deployed boat anchor that is Other People's Problems/Issues to it.
Save up a whopping great pile of cash before you even think about starting. No, not the whopping great pile you'll need for supplies, equipment, taxes, fees, replacement equipment, plumbing disasters in the middle of the night, more supplies, care & feeding of your lawyer, paid labor, security services, et cetera. That's the pile that's strictly for your business. I'm talking about the whopping great pile you'll needwhen if disaster strikes and you're suddenly left without an income and realize that, hey, you cannot simply flip a switch and turn a fresh set of cuttings into a dried/cured/sold harvest. Months without an income but oh look, you're definitely without bills, living expenses, the desire to eat... That whopping great pile of cash isn't looking so great now, lol, but since you've already had to learn how to pare your normal expenses to the bone, surely you can get through it if you can just learn to live in a cardboard box and eat air, right? So, since you're still in the planning stage and haven't actually gotten to the point of waking up and realizing that you've just dreamed of the days when you could walk into a grocery store and grab a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk without stopping to calculate whether that extreme expenditure will push you over the edge into bankruptcy (or homelessness)... Supersize that whopping great pile of cash.
Oh, yeah, and don't quit your day job. Do all of the above (and more, much, much, more - that stuff is merely what came rolling out when I read your post, lol, not what I could come up with after spending five minutes actually thinking about it) while you are still gainfully employed. You think the boss you have now sucks? You think the paychecks you're getting now are low? Wait until you're working for yourself. . . .
Grow a lot of cannabis, and do so successfully. That's a no-brainer, but... People respond best to (and want) different strains. That means you'll need to be capable of (and comfortable with) growing multiple strains simultaneously. Also... It depends on the specific condition(s) they're dealing with, their tolerance levels, et cetera, but people tend to go through a lot of cannabis. And "Sorry, I {screwed up / got hit with pathogens/diseases / tried to grow too many plants/strains and it caused me to do poorly / lost power/water indoors and/or got hit with bad weather/bugs/rippers outdoors / overestimated a strain's yield / broke both arms when I fell of the roof / just didn't grow enough / et cetera}" isn't going to cut it when you come up short and have to explain it to the people who depend on you (and who YOU depend on).
Find one of the forums/websites where Michigan medicinal-use growers "hang out" and spend lots of time reading the threads written by people who are bitching about the glut on the market that caused the price of cannabis to tank, the "extra" expenses they encountered, et cetera.
While you're successfully growing a lot of cannabis, take lots of pictures along the way, so that you can develop a portfolio of sorts. Document everything! End up with something substantial that you can use when communicating with prospective clients, so that they will know you're not just some kid with a dream, and that they can depend on you. Especially when you're new to the industry, you need to be "not just as good as, but better than," as they say - and you need to be able to prove it.
Speaking of portfolios, develop a large portfolio of strains. Instead of thinking, "I'll just scrounge up whatever it is that someone wants me to grow," you should already have multiple viable choices in your possession and know them well enough - through lab testing, which should also be documented - that YOU can help current and prospective new clients choose strains. Keep a wide variety of mother plants - and, if at all possible, keep a duplicate set in a separate location, so that
Buy more equipment than you think you'll need. And buy backups. You won't be growing for yourself (at least in terms of making a business out of this), you'll be growing in order to supply other people. When it turns out that even a piece of expensive lighting can fail (and you know better than to purchase cheap shit, right?), it's nice that it's still under warranty, the company you bought it from is actually still in business, and your claim won't be denied - but, hey, it's 12:01am Sunday morning and your plants can't wait on that whole "ship it back and the company will eventually get around to shipping you a repaired or replacement device" thing, or even for the local business to open 33 hours later and someone there to give you an immediate exchange (assuming the business has what you need in stock, and doesn't inform you that they'll have to send it back to the manufacturer and see what the company rep has to say). You need to be able to walk to the storage room and immediately lay hands on whatever it is that just failed.
Learn to operate as if you're operating a business - because you will be. Find an insurance agent that is known to work with people involved in the cannabis industry, and finance his next vacation. The owners of sole proprietorships don't file ONE tax form, lol, and they sure don't do so once per year. And you sure don't want to do something else, e.g., go "partners" with someone else, because you really don't want to find that you've been doing most of the work and then end up being responsible for ALL of the bills and having NONE of the money (and, possibly, possessing none of the plants
). If you do end up finding that you need help, don't get a partner - hire an employee (and if you even CONSIDER hiring a relative, just shoot yourself in the head now instead of waiting until you end up learning just how fun and sensible that little decision... isn't). Don't offer them a share of the profits (profits, lol?), and don't stick them on salary - pay them an hourly wage. Have them "clock in and out." Again, it's a business.As it is a business... Get a lawyer, get a lawyer, GET A LAWYER! Don't go thinking, "Yeah, okay, if I end up needing one, I'll just grab a phone book and call someone." Best thing to do would be to put one on retainer, but at least develop a good working relationship with one NOW. Make sure he/she is experienced in (and successful at) business law, and has a good grasp of it specifically in regards to cannabis.
Buy property of your own. Yes, people lease property to use for their business, and sometimes everything works out. But sometimes, it all comes crashing down, lol. The landlord sells the property and retires to Florida. Or gets nailed by the tax man, suffers a life-changing medical issue, gets arrested, etc. and has to come up with many thousands of dollars, yesterday and, again, sells the property (or it gets taken by the court). Or... that wonderful person you met and decided to rent from actually turns out to be a douche bag and you've just entered into a contract to turn your entire life into a nightmare. So... buy property of your own. When you're trying to row across the lake, life will send enough storms your way (and drop enough rocks into your boat) without you willingly attaching the extra deployed boat anchor that is Other People's Problems/Issues to it.
Save up a whopping great pile of cash before you even think about starting. No, not the whopping great pile you'll need for supplies, equipment, taxes, fees, replacement equipment, plumbing disasters in the middle of the night, more supplies, care & feeding of your lawyer, paid labor, security services, et cetera. That's the pile that's strictly for your business. I'm talking about the whopping great pile you'll need
Oh, yeah, and don't quit your day job. Do all of the above (and more, much, much, more - that stuff is merely what came rolling out when I read your post, lol, not what I could come up with after spending five minutes actually thinking about it) while you are still gainfully employed. You think the boss you have now sucks? You think the paychecks you're getting now are low? Wait until you're working for yourself. . . .
Bush Doctor 77
Well-Known Member
I have a close friend that started up his dispensary when the law in Montana first went into effect. TS hit the nail on the head. I only have a bit more and that is about grow method: hydroponic indoors, but grow the most you can outdoors. Really, really have your grow act together!!!
I just remembered that there's a member who is sort of doing what you're wanting to do (making a living). Well, I assume he's at the making a living stage. He could still be in the red, I suppose. You're welcome to ask him. But he's put a lot of thought into things, and hasn't suffered too many setbacks. I think he has 30 or 40 years worth of cannabis gardening experience, so he'd probably be capable of answering most questions. Here is his thread/journal:
The Happy Cola Company's Official Ground Up Medical Cannabis Grow Op
Honestly, I had planned to start a build thread nearly a year ago, however we have been SO busy trying to pull this dream of ours off, time has literally flashed by. Now that the building is up, it's time to start to document this biggest venture of either of our lives . I guess I need to offer...
www.420magazine.com
Welcome to the forum @Mr Just Puff 
Seriously, too many people, think that now it's legal (in some states) that their going to make a living on it...how about
just supplementing your income at first and see how it goes
...Dad always said, "Don't put all your eggs in 1 basket". Or in this case, all your buds in 1 jar
Yep, get a job, and grow some plants
Seriously, too many people, think that now it's legal (in some states) that their going to make a living on it...how about
just supplementing your income at first and see how it goes
...Dad always said, "Don't put all your eggs in 1 basket". Or in this case, all your buds in 1 jar - Thread starter
- #6
Mr Just Puff
420 Member
Thank you for the comments. This is what i am currently working with.
TorturedSoul than was a very helpful post and i appreciate it!
TorturedSoul than was a very helpful post and i appreciate it!
Learn to dry and cure properly and you'll have customers for life.
JohnnieJC3
Well-Known Member
Yup, nothing worse than discolored cannabis that's HARD to get rid of or even really enjoy. Either it's dried to fast, or TOO slow and wet, and put in the jars or turkey bags TOO early. It takes me 4-6 weeks minimum to get my buds where I like them. Just because there in the jar in 6-7 days, doesn't mean there ready to smoke and dry. There is plenty of moisture in the middle of the buds to burp for a month NO problem. I'm still working my God Bud and Lemon Candy and there roughly 5 weeks in the jar. Not every day, this late in curing, every 2-3 days let them breathe. Back in the Coco commercial days, we used turkey bags for faster production push where you can get em' flippable within a week and a half two weeks, strain dependent. If you go faster, potency IS compromised in my experience.
What part of Michigan are you in?
Yea lol my first visit to Canada I walked into a dispo and boy they must have had 10(1) strain(s) and each 1 is in a box that has a loupe so you can look at it and then a hole u slide open to smell it. I was on vakay and didn't bring Any on the plane, was so excited to try. But I swear all how ever many genos they Said they had out, they were all different same plant horrible.. Lol I have a buddy that's a licensed grower up there and he said the way the government controls it all they do is grow it and package it so sometimes not dry so had mold nor do they need to cure it.
Side note tho I have. Another buddy in cali with 3 legal ops 7 years took him to get where he's at small batches so like 20-30 lb harvest but usually 4-6 different strains at a time something always new bc a new pheno will drop especially out there and that's all the people want. But he does slow n low 14 or so day dry n cure, tags it and bags it and it's amazing. When I was out there I said 90 days is ideal he laughed and said no one out here cures longer then 21 days. But SWEATING IS KEY. His bud is all Topsfield so its all hand trimmed. Even tho I was visiting I jumped in and helped. I was impressed with it cola size and consistency, oil, resin and trichromes n aroma. But after a proper sweat OMG u wouldn't even think it was the same bud u seen/smelled/touched a day or two prior. He had many of fails tho to get where he's at. Pulling now upwards of 4-5lbs per 4x8 I wanna say 4x4 area but his tables are 4x8.
Your going to wanna learn to scrogThank you for the comments. This is what i am currently working with.
TorturedSoul than was a very helpful post and i appreciate it!
Ganjagrandaddy
Well-Known Member
I went the other way . quit as a carer professionally and took up growing.lol. All about the outlets to make the income worthy. Once u built initial grow room and dependant on routes taken for cost saving ect.. ,1st plant pays for the cost if over 3oz anything after is profit and investments . Rhentsl can storm imit with 4 no problem. Mars underestimated on purpose to avoid dissapointment. I use one and have just took 11oz ish from one light 3 plants it now has 4 flowering under it. More than enough light for the tent. have a look into l.s.t to help use all the light available too , it can help max the weights. buds are made solid and dense by this light amd for flower it is even better with extra red. great choice.
JohnnieJC3
Well-Known Member
Your buddy knows the way... SWEATING out the moisture from the middle IS the KEY. When you have a 24 light grow, TURKEY bags ALL day or even Garbage Bins(Totes...being careful). For me now my little personal passive setup, I can do jars(half gallon) for long term storage. I had an old Purple Crack I grew years ago and I savored that flavor for almost 3 years. It was still sticky just a little darker and tasted amazing. She was a mutant, only developed 7 mains instead of 8(outside). My bronze pheno GDP was a mutant as well, 5 arms instead of 6(Inside). The node never grew or even looked like it was going to. Anyway, this last plant, went 10 days drying, and another 4 to get them where I like in a jar. Sweating will also tighten the buds up like we are used to seeing for that top shelf experience. Big thick Paper Bags help in a pinch if your buds are too wet for jars or bags.
- Thread starter
- #14
Mr Just Puff
420 Member
Just outside of Detroit. I have access to 40 acres and I've been doing my thing for a long minute.
Sweet I was trying to get class a , had access to an acr3 for facility but zoning must have changed now resort/residents
Oldhippie59
Well-Known Member
Wow! It would be great to grow to help people in need of medical cannabis but I see that you have to really be on top of it all the time to keep a good supply of strains. Very interesting thanks for sharing.Read and fully understand all the current laws that have anything to do with medicinal cannabis in the state of Michigan. Start monitoring websites that publish information about new bills in the Michigan legislature so that you never need to worry about getting caught with your pants down in the future.
Grow a lot of cannabis, and do so successfully. That's a no-brainer, but... People respond best to (and want) different strains. That means you'll need to be capable of (and comfortable with) growing multiple strains simultaneously. Also... It depends on the specific condition(s) they're dealing with, their tolerance levels, et cetera, but people tend to go through a lot of cannabis. And "Sorry, I {screwed up / got hit with pathogens/diseases / tried to grow too many plants/strains and it caused me to do poorly / lost power/water indoors and/or got hit with bad weather/bugs/rippers outdoors / overestimated a strain's yield / broke both arms when I fell of the roof / just didn't grow enough / et cetera}" isn't going to cut it when you come up short and have to explain it to the people who depend on you (and who YOU depend on).
Find one of the forums/websites where Michigan medicinal-use growers "hang out" and spend lots of time reading the threads written by people who are bitching about the glut on the market that caused the price of cannabis to tank, the "extra" expenses they encountered, et cetera.
While you're successfully growing a lot of cannabis, take lots of pictures along the way, so that you can develop a portfolio of sorts. Document everything! End up with something substantial that you can use when communicating with prospective clients, so that they will know you're not just some kid with a dream, and that they can depend on you. Especially when you're new to the industry, you need to be "not just as good as, but better than," as they say - and you need to be able to prove it.
Speaking of portfolios, develop a large portfolio of strains. Instead of thinking, "I'll just scrounge up whatever it is that someone wants me to grow," you should already have multiple viable choices in your possession and know them well enough - through lab testing, which should also be documented - that YOU can help current and prospective new clients choose strains. Keep a wide variety of mother plants - and, if at all possible, keep a duplicate set in a separate location, so thatwhenif disaster strikes, it's merely a costly setback instead of a game-ender.
Buy more equipment than you think you'll need. And buy backups. You won't be growing for yourself (at least in terms of making a business out of this), you'll be growing in order to supply other people. When it turns out that even a piece of expensive lighting can fail (and you know better than to purchase cheap shit, right?), it's nice that it's still under warranty, the company you bought it from is actually still in business, and your claim won't be denied - but, hey, it's 12:01am Sunday morning and your plants can't wait on that whole "ship it back and the company will eventually get around to shipping you a repaired or replacement device" thing, or even for the local business to open 33 hours later and someone there to give you an immediate exchange (assuming the business has what you need in stock, and doesn't inform you that they'll have to send it back to the manufacturer and see what the company rep has to say). You need to be able to walk to the storage room and immediately lay hands on whatever it is that just failed.
Learn to operate as if you're operating a business - because you will be. Find an insurance agent that is known to work with people involved in the cannabis industry, and finance his next vacation. The owners of sole proprietorships don't file ONE tax form, lol, and they sure don't do so once per year. And you sure don't want to do something else, e.g., go "partners" with someone else, because you really don't want to find that you've been doing most of the work and then end up being responsible for ALL of the bills and having NONE of the money (and, possibly, possessing none of the plants
As it is a business... Get a lawyer, get a lawyer, GET A LAWYER! Don't go thinking, "Yeah, okay, if I end up needing one, I'll just grab a phone book and call someone." Best thing to do would be to put one on retainer, but at least develop a good working relationship with one NOW. Make sure he/she is experienced in (and successful at) business law, and has a good grasp of it specifically in regards to cannabis.
Buy property of your own. Yes, people lease property to use for their business, and sometimes everything works out. But sometimes, it all comes crashing down, lol. The landlord sells the property and retires to Florida. Or gets nailed by the tax man, suffers a life-changing medical issue, gets arrested, etc. and has to come up with many thousands of dollars, yesterday and, again, sells the property (or it gets taken by the court). Or... that wonderful person you met and decided to rent from actually turns out to be a douche bag and you've just entered into a contract to turn your entire life into a nightmare. So... buy property of your own. When you're trying to row across the lake, life will send enough storms your way (and drop enough rocks into your boat) without you willingly attaching the extra deployed boat anchor that is Other People's Problems/Issues to it.
Save up a whopping great pile of cash before you even think about starting. No, not the whopping great pile you'll need for supplies, equipment, taxes, fees, replacement equipment, plumbing disasters in the middle of the night, more supplies, care & feeding of your lawyer, paid labor, security services, et cetera. That's the pile that's strictly for your business. I'm talking about the whopping great pile you'll needwhenif disaster strikes and you're suddenly left without an income and realize that, hey, you cannot simply flip a switch and turn a fresh set of cuttings into a dried/cured/sold harvest. Months without an income but oh look, you're definitely without bills, living expenses, the desire to eat... That whopping great pile of cash isn't looking so great now, lol, but since you've already had to learn how to pare your normal expenses to the bone, surely you can get through it if you can just learn to live in a cardboard box and eat air, right? So, since you're still in the planning stage and haven't actually gotten to the point of waking up and realizing that you've just dreamed of the days when you could walk into a grocery store and grab a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk without stopping to calculate whether that extreme expenditure will push you over the edge into bankruptcy (or homelessness)... Supersize that whopping great pile of cash.
Oh, yeah, and don't quit your day job. Do all of the above (and more, much, much, more - that stuff is merely what came rolling out when I read your post, lol, not what I could come up with after spending five minutes actually thinking about it) while you are still gainfully employed. You think the boss you have now sucks? You think the paychecks you're getting now are low? Wait until you're working for yourself. . . .
Oldhippie59
Well-Known Member
Welcome my friend!
- Thread starter
- #18
Mr Just Puff
420 Member
Thank you. Your post was very informative and useful. I am very good as a grower not so much as a business man. However after reading your post I have some better direction and some things I need to be more on top of. I followed you and look forward to learning more from you.
Oldhippie59
Well-Known Member
I think that growing a plant and caring for it until harvest to make it turn out just right for a person who needs it for medication is a very honorable thing to do. It’s heartbreaking sometimes to watch a person suffer with an illness that interferes with there daily life and all they need is a little pain relief or sleep and are forced to rely on strong prescription drugs as an only option, it is very sad indeed. There are some really organized members on the site who grow and have great grow journals I look at them and I get so many answers be sure to check them out.
