California is about to Legalise Weed: Here is How to Cash in As a Techpreneur

It is more obvious than ever, that California will legalise marijuana this November. A recent state wide poll shows nearly 60% of likely voters in support of it. The number of people on the fence on the matter dropped to just 4%.

The Los Angeles Times poll, also shows that people aged 18 to 29 are the biggest supporters of the legalisation while just 46% of people aged 64 and above are in support. The recent results echo sentiments in various sectors, showing that California is finally on the verge of joining Washington and Colorado on the marijuana map.

One of the main footprints of marijuana legalisation everywhere it has happened is increased profits for government and private institutions. In Washington and Colorado alone, the government has brought in over $200million in tax revenues. That points to healthy profits for people who were able to secure licensing to get into the industry. Unfortunately, not many people are well positioned to get into the front end of the marijuana business. In this piece, we will see your options for cashing in on the impending boom as a small to medium tech company.

1 Create an e-commerce store

Creating an e-commerce store where you can sell cannabis flowers, edibles, topical and concentrates is a good way to get your foot in the front door. You don’t need to buy these products in bulk. You only need to fulfil orders by buying from wholesalers. Setting up an e-commerce shop is straight forward and starts with purchasing a domain name for as little as $10. You can find good domain names here.

What to do

• Register a domain name
• Design the e-commerce website
• Source for products and go into partnerships
• Spend some money on marketing

• Monetisation method: Direct Product sales, Affiliate Marketing
• Monetisation method: Adverts and affiliate marketing
• Register a domain name
• Design a website (with question and answer functionality if you can)
• Hire content managers and writers
• Spend some money on marketing
• Monetisation method: Adverts and affiliate marketing

2 Create a marijuana finder/comparison website

When the legislation comes into effect, it will take time for many to figure out which dispensaries to go to or what the price situations across different dispensaries look like. This is another good gap to bridge. Create a website that can provide price comparisons across different dispensaries and display shop locations for users based on their location.

What to do

• Register a domain name
• Design a website
• Integrate price comparison features or work out how to find prices
• Add geo-location features to match queries to the individual’s location
• Spend some money on marketing

3 Create a California-centric marijuana information site

As mentioned earlier, people will need to find information on where to buy their products. However, there are other questions that need answering. These include questions about medical uses, information about different strains, health tips, and lessons on usage, legislation concerns and more. Creating a comprehensive portal that addresses all of these concerns is a great way to be in the marijuana niche without actually getting involved hands-on.

What to do

These are top three ways to cash-in on the impending marijuana boom. You can combine ideas 2 and 3 or ideas 1 and 3 for a more robust solution to your target audience. Apply all the standard procedures for creating a successful website and you could be getting your fair share of the cake each year.