TALIA WATSON Entrepreneur Mentor

We have a great group of professionals who are jumping in to serving cannabis businesses whole hog, but we need more to cover all of NYS. We need accountants, contractors, equipment specialists, real estate professionals, POS providers, inventory management, fleet management, energy and building analysts, etc etc etc

Created an entirely private platform for cannapreneurs and professionals to connect over topics, region, specialization. It's a little like a cannabis chamber of commerce, but way more fun and less stuffy. members.igreennewyork.com

Grow a burgeoning industry into the powerhouse for social change it has the potential to do. Cannapreneurs are a unique brand of visionary and green revolutionary and it's about time they have the leeway to undue some of the social harms done by marijuana prohibition.

I'd like to take what I learn and pass both knowledge and the connection down to my network of businesses needing their advice and the potential for a fruitful business relationship.

Cannabis Counsel New York is a newly launched firm providing cannapreneurs in NYS with the insight they need to make their Adult-Use Cannabis Licensing Application stand out from the crowd, get approved, and ultimately launch a successful business. We have a network of cannabis-experienced professionals to help with all aspects of the business plan, license application, and business launch. Lastly, our service technology keeps our clients compliant with the state's myriad of regulations so they stay in business and making money.

As a fiduciary, it is both my moral and legal obligation to provide the most accurate and useful advice that I can for everyone, whether they are a client or not. My professional experience started in marketing and business development with startups, and now, have a vast number of intellectual resources supporting me. I have worked with businesses in a variety of industries--- healthcare, security, nonprofit, sole proprietors, etc.--- to better ensure that plans for growth and expansion stay funded and that they continue to get excellent ROI from their marketing activities. I am proud to be an influence in the development of BusinessLeadersOfColors.com, a network built for women and minority business owners with a high level of interpersonal support.

I am currently launching Cannabis Counsel New York to help aspiring cannapreneurs secure an Adult-Use Cannabis license, launch a business, and get the social support they need to succeed. Also, stay compliant so they stay in business and continue to profit.

I would hope that any business I work with comes out of a consultation with clarity and sense of direction. Building a business can be the most difficult adventure we face in our lives, but we certainly don't have to do it alone.

I solve difficult business problems-- most with financial origins. When someone has a goal they need to attain and not sure how to get there, I am able to guide the business through creating an equitable plan. It's important to me to look at all sides of the business to solve those financial problems. The sales team needs to be communicating effectively with operations and marketing (and vice versa) in order to achieve short-term cashflows and long-term business goals. It's amazing what can be missed when stuck inside the problem. I take a lot of joy in pulling the team out of that bubble and looking in from the outside.

I can probably provide the most value in being a creative mind that is not entrenched in old-ways of doing business. I am professionally trained as a fiduciary, but I'm also well acquainted with the fact that modern ways of conducting business are ever-evolving, ever varying, and so any advice given needs to mirror each individual business's structure and paradigm.

Show up. Be on time for meetings, be present, be engaged, and be willing to do the work. If you can't show up, it's not me you're disappointing, it's your future self. If you won't step into the person and role you want to embody now, you won't be able to later.

Vision, dream, search your heart. And be prepared to start saying "No" a lot more in your life. Life of an entrepreneur requires a little bit of obsessive tunnel vision and ability to not get pulled away in too many directions.