Oh geez. I have been (unsuccessfully) sued by a client. I have also sued clients. This is why being transparent and forthcoming is very important, not just a financial shark. I try to be as genuine with people as possible The AgTonik you see on Future is the AgTonik you see in real life.
1 Like
2 Likes
I donāt do much for advertisement and rely mostly on referrals and existing connections, but I do provide a few deliverables/services that I hope set me apart from my clientsā previous consultants. For context, most of my consulting revolves around installing proprietary process technologies in hemp/cannabis labs in North America. Some examples are:
- Thorough GMP quality BOPs and SOPs, complete SDS for all chemicals used, and detailed drawings/PFDs of equipment. The goal is to provide enough detail in our documentation that the client can run the process independently (after training) and train future generations of operators. Its also nice to provide quality documentation that can be implemented in a GMP environment, should the opportunity arise.
- Exhaustive procurement lists for all projects which allow the client to independently purchase replacement parts and consumables for the entire lifetime of the process under their roof. This generally involves introducing clients to a vendor list that circumvents a great deal of the cannabis industry markups.
- Some amount of free ongoing support in our professional service contract. Usually something along the lines of 8 hours remote technical consulting per month for such-and-such months after implementation of a process. The amount of months varies depending on the complexity of the process/project.
4 Likes
Great topic. I get requests all the time. I keep a spreadsheet with tabs for different skills. When I get a request, I often recommend at least 2 or 3 consultants right off the bat. They sell themselves, different clients click with different consultants.
I enjoy spending a few minutes talking to the client before the referral, to really make sure they have a clear ask with a defined outcome in mind.
Honestly, Iāve given away a thousand consults to the information on this forum. A few months ago, a lab manager reached out to me with some questions in my Instagram messages. I just started giving him links to this forum. Blewš Hisš Mindš
He is managing a huge lab as a trained chemist, not from cannabis. He had no idea anyone was having these conversations. I get immeasurable joy by introducing people to this platform.
10 Likes
You make me sound like less of a degenerate than I really am.
I just learned that a holistic approach works better on living organisms.
Continuing on with the thread, I turn down any consultation that I donāt think is mutually beneficial and write contracts that only guarantee 75% of what I know Iām capable of. Leads to a few very happy customers that share their experience. I honestly started doing consults by accident and have never advertised.
With the current trends in my local market, Iām strongly considering no longer consulting unless they give up equity or profit sharing. Weāve turned around a few running at worse than -100% margin, and looking back, we offered more value than a 1 time fee.
6 Likes
I just give people the future4200 link to the post with my leaked linked in profile
I think I have worked for more extraction equipment companies than any other human alive(@Sidco_Cat how many for you? Donāt count cascade twice and cheat lol)
Bhogart
Precision
Sweetleaf
Ironfist
Some frat boys company
Former CEOs potential startup
A super crap company Iāll never mention
4 Likes
Thereās something anyone doing build-outs NEEDS to have
1 Like
I thought of another one - I clearly tare all my containers WITH and WITHOUT the lids. And I make every trainee I work with do the same. Somehow in 2022 I still get buckets of raw materials with no tare weight.
Youāll thank me later when you wanna know how much compound is in your container, even when the lid is across the room or misplaced (;
5 Likes
Straight up,
After cleaning new jars, have an employee weight out every jar one by one and scribe the TW on every jar. Before adding product in jars, get the total weight of the jar with lid on and add that with sharpie on the lid. Even if you misplace lid, you can do math based on scribed TW.
5 Likes
17 years of pharma experience in regulatory compliance and dealing with quality bullshit.
Basically that means I can make a lot of paperwork. And that paperwork passes the auditor sniff test most of the time. Which means I get things done faster, with limited review comments, and that means saving time which means making money sooner.
Oh and - Iām an organic chemist. Which for some reason means most people look at me pretty squirrelly, but also means I know how to read and understand things and since I spent almost a decade doing natural product synthesis, means I can figure things out from basic principles when necessary.
I think thatās what sets me apart from others. There are others out there and more joining the ranks all the time, but for a while there I think I was the only one that had been at licensed DEA facilities who was also willing to work with the plant so I knew the red tape already, you know?
8 Likes
Old world hash, solventless, 20 years of experience with cannabis. Also keeping honest numbers and over communicating seems to help.
4 Likes
I never hesitate to admit I donāt know the solution to a problem, but 99.9% of the time I know exactly who to call on thanks to this forum 
So my hook would be that I am resourceful. I often refer the appropriate professionals when itās out of my purview or break bread when I call on them for a specific issue under a broader umbrella of needs that I have confidence in fulfilling.
7 Likes
I always start with transparency:
āHereās what I know, here is how I did it, and here is the proof.
Hereās what I donāt know and what I have not done.
Hereās what believe will work but have not tried.ā
Iām never afraid to bring on higher level expertise - I constantly recommend it. I also personalize every consultation and have really never done the same job twice. I often put a lot more time and energy into it than the client expects or that I agreed to initially.
I am very well balanced between production-scale and research-scale activities and have a good understanding of utilizing each to benefit one another in the same workplace. I work extremely well alone but have also directed multiple shifts up to 24-hour operations.
I have worked with several different plants and fungi, and I plan to continue exploring more. This helped develop my thought process when it comes to scaling up and also sharpened some skills that would have been relatively untouched if I only worked with cannabis.
I write/review very detailed SOPās daily and ensure consistency from one SOP to another. I try to make sure operations are process-dependent, not personnel-dependent to ensure this consistency and efficiency. We love our personnel but dammit we might love consistency more! I have tons of data too.
I have additional skills such as AutoCAD modeling which I use to assist in my pressure vessel and piping designs; I also recently started applying my 3D printing by making custom centrifuge inserts for jars and have been working on prototyping some very useful tabletop lab equipment.
I approach everything with the intent of learning. I have been through plenty of ups and downs of both the traditional and corporate markets. Thereās not a gut punch I canāt roll with and always find a way to apply my knowledge and network to this industry in a mutually beneficial way.
Thereās really nothing I do that I donāt believe someone else can do. But I like to think I offer it in a nice package, fully transparently - when met with positive energy and some common ground, itās truly amazing what we can build together.
7 Likes
Letters of recommendation and verified success of previous clients.
4 Likes