For me, a niche membership group that caters to the cannabis processor industry has easily been my most lucrative position in the industry. It doesn’t make as much money as consulting or slinging packs, but it requires a fraction of my time and makes more than enough for me to be able to separate how I make money and how I spend my time.
Anything requiring overhead, especially purchases that can’t be written off, is going to be tough as a business owner due to 280E tax issues. I’ve seen far more losing CEO/Founders than winning ones. I’d rather be a lab director than an owner.
If starting a business is your goal, I strongly suggest looking for unfilled niche positions, especially ones focused around “waste” streams.
Repurposing spent biomass, material you can get paid to come pick up, is gold.