As marketing Director of Green Life Business Group Inc., the largest cannabis business brokerage in the world for California, Eric Espinoza knows a thing or two about the growing cannabis industry. He discusses the perceptions of the industry and how he hopes to improve them and outlines what he thinks is in store for the cannabis market in 2021.
What is your role with Green Life Business Group Inc, and how long have you been involved with business acquisitions?
I have been involved with Green Life Business Group, Inc. since the beginning, now going on 4 years. My role as Marketing Director has been to conduct my business honestly and ethically, promoting the highest level of transparency and improving the public perspective of Realtors/Brokers in the Cannabis Industry. Accomplished through continued education and fully developing and challenging my talents. Through successful pursuit of this commitment, I expect to maintain recognition as a top producer and respected as a leader within the Cannabis Industry.
How would you describe the market during Covid in 2020 and how do you see the Cannabis Market in California trending in 2021?
The sudden demand for cannabis created opportunities for operators that were able to meet that demand, such as offering curbside pickup, mobile deliveries and much more. Simply put Covid created an upswing for the Cannabis Market. With every lockdown order the people stocked up on cannabis products, creating a shortage and an increasing demand for more and more cannabis. With new markets opening all across the state we anticipate 2021 to be the busiest year for Mergers and Acquisitions in the state, as many MSOs and private companies will try and capture as much of the market share as possible.
What types of Cannabis Businesses are currently selling the most and are people buying more turn key revenue generating opportunities or more pre revenue licenses?
This year we have seen a demand increase for Retail, Delivery & Cultivation businesses. For the most part, buyers are looking for businesses that are already generating income from day one as to not play catch up with a start-up company. They want to capitalize on the current demand with an existing brand that the customers are familiar with.
What things do you think people should know before jumping into the cannabis industry?
This whole industry is a learning curve there’s no experts. In other words, it’s something that once you get involved in and do it, that you understand it. There’s just no books written on the subject, but I will tell you that I’m associated with professionals that really understand the game. It’s just something that’s learned through immense growing pains. It’s constantly developing and there’s rules, regulations, etc changing all the time. One must have their finger on the pulse at all times to see which direction its heading to next.
Why is the perception of evaluation on these businesses all over the place?
Mainly due to the fact that the market was slow to develop. California passed Proposition 64 in 2016 and we did not see state issued “temporary” licenses until 2018. As an investor would you pay Millions or Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a license that says “temporary”? I would assume not, but the moment the state issued more secured licenses they were sold to the highest bidder in 2018. But now at the end of 2020, investors have seen the rise and fall of many public companies that overpaid for these assets, not having enough capital to survive, will not make the same mistakes going into 2021.
How has Green Life Business Group Inc. developed such a Massive Brand and has become the leaders in the cannabis business brokerage world for California?
A key factor in our success has been that prior to starting the Brokerage we came from the operational background, back in the Prop. 215 days. We were able to bring that “behind the counter” knowledge and use it to bridge the gap between both worlds of business. Another factor that differentiates us from competitors is that we focus on Exclusive Listings and making sure we have a pulse on the constantly evolving marketplace. Further into the deal stage we have the transactional process, where there is no uniform “one method fits all” tactics. We must tailor our methods to the specific parties involved in the transaction to ensure its success. Which leads me to my closing argument, execution. We at Green Life Business Group, Inc are in the business of selling businesses not just listing them, plain and simple. We push such a large volume of business transactions that in the small world of cannabis operators, word gets around quickly on who can get the job done and who cannot.
Thank you Eric for your time!
You can follow up with Eric Espinoza, Marketing Director
DRE LIC CA #02077927
Cell: (858) 245-6324
[email protected]
https://greenlifebusiness.com
