COLLATERAL
BASE.

Cannabis business consulting

For the business you’re building.
And the one you’re running.

Explore support for a cannabis license application or a focused review of an operating dispensary. Choose the work that fits your next decision.

Already operating a dispensary?

Find what’s costing your store money and time—and decide what to address first.

Dispensary Business Audit · From $2,500

Explore the dispensary audit

One agreed store scope. Written findings and a 30-day plan.

Pursuing a cannabis license opportunity?

A valuable application begins with a worthwhile opportunity. Start with your target jurisdiction, license type and project.

Licensing & application consulting

Explore application consulting

Application projects are scoped separately from operating audits.

For operating dispensaries

Which question keeps coming back?

You don’t need to know the cause before asking for help. The audit starts with the pressure on your business, then uses the agreed records to work toward a decision.

01 / PROFIT

Sales are coming in. What is left?

Understand what pricing, discounts and product costs leave behind.

02 / CASH

Why are bills still a squeeze?

Look at stock, purchasing and payment timing alongside the money coming in.

03 / CUSTOMERS

Are people coming back?

Examine repeat visits and promotions where the available records support it.

04 / COSTS

What are we paying for twice?

Question overlapping tools, duplicated work and spending that has lost its purpose.

05 / OWNER TIME

Why does everything land on me?

Identify recurring work that needs a clearer owner, process or decision.

A defined review. A usable next step.

  • Written findings for one agreed store scope
  • Three ranked priorities
  • A 30-day action plan
  • A 30-minute findings session

From $2,500. Records, fee, participation and timing are agreed before payment. Implementation is separately scoped. Recommendations depend on the evidence; no financial result is guaranteed.

Request an audit

An example of the work

Your reports show numbers.
The question is what to do next.

A useful finding connects the numbers to a decision: what may be happening, what still needs checking and what management could test.

Your accountant and managers may already have the answer. The reason to commission an audit is a decision that remains unresolved—not simply to produce another report.

See the audit scope →

FICTIONAL EXAMPLE · NOT CLIENT RESULTS

A promotion lifts sales.
Does it leave more gross profit?

Suppose a product costs $30 and normally sells for $50 before sales tax. A 10% discount cuts the selling price to $45.

Gross profit per unit: $20 → $15
Units needed for the same gross profit: +33⅓%

This arithmetic is a comparison, not a forecast or recommendation to stop a promotion. Product cost is held constant; operating expenses are excluded.

Read the sample finding and test

Fictional inputs

Illustrative product economics
Input Value
Regular selling price, before sales tax $50
Product cost per unit $30
Promotion discount 10%
Baseline units in comparison period 100

Calculation

Regular gross profit: 100 × ($50 − $30) = $2,000. Promotional price: $50 × 90% = $45. At $15 gross profit per unit, matching $2,000 requires 133⅓ units, or at least 134 whole units. That is a 33⅓% theoretical increase, rounded up to 34% for whole units.

What could change the answer?

A vendor allowance could reduce product cost. Customers could buy other products, shift a purchase they would have made anyway, or return later. Clearing aging stock could be worthwhile even at lower gross profit. The two periods might not be comparable.

Evidence to check

Product invoices, allowances and credits; item-level sales and discount records; comparable trading periods; whole-basket gross profit; stock availability; and repeat-purchase information where lawfully available. An allowance is not assumed until supported.

Proposed test

The store manager and finance lead could first review one completed promotion against an agreed comparable period. Confirm costs and discounts, compare gross profit across the whole basket and record competing explanations before changing prices.

Stop/go rule

In this simplified example, 120 discounted units produce $1,800 gross profit—$200 below the baseline. That alone does not support expanding the promotion. At 134 units, gross profit is $2,010, only $10 above baseline before any added cost. Treat that as insufficient proof of a worthwhile change if measurement uncertainty or extra costs exceed $10.

A result that supports no change

If a documented $5-per-unit vendor allowance applies to every discounted unit, net product cost falls to $25 and gross profit returns to $20 per unit. At 100 units, the simplified gross profit matches the baseline. Do not recommend removing that promotion merely because a discount appears in the POS.

Effort and limits

Illustrative validation budget: one manager hour and one finance hour to locate and check records, plus a 30-minute joint review. Actual effort must be agreed. No savings, annual benefit, audit payback or cash available for debt service is established by this example.

For applicants & expansion teams

Start with the opportunity.
Then the application.

A license is a route into a business. Its value depends on the market, license rights, a workable site, capital and the competition you will face.

Collateral Base’s application consulting addresses the project you are pursuing. An operating-store audit is a different engagement.

Explore application consulting

  1. Define the target

    Identify the jurisdiction, license type and application opportunity before planning the work.

  2. Examine the business case

    Consider competition, site feasibility, capital requirements and operating economics—not just the ability to submit.

  3. Scope the project

    Agree the team, deliverables, fee and responsibilities for the specific engagement. A license award is not guaranteed.

One question is enough to start

What would you like your store to do better?

Start with the audit scope and the business question you want answered.

Request an audit