Making the jump from small- to large-scale cultivation is a high-stakes process. It demands more money, more skill, and a whole lot more effort. Before you commit to this tough undertaking, here’s what you need to know.
Top Concerns When Setting Up a Large-Scale Room
MAINTAINING PRODUCT QUALITY
Your ability to maintain high-quality product can make or break your business, and it remains one of the biggest challenges across the entire cannabis industry. When you’re ultra-focused on scaling your operation, it’s easy to let it slip through the cracks.
GETTING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT
One of the biggest mistakes growers make when expanding their cannabis operation? Trying to apply their basement growing equipment to large-scale cultivation.
OPTIMIZING YOUR GROW SPACE
Of course, commercial growers want take full advantage of their large grow rooms and avoid the costs of unused space, but it’s not always clear how to approach this without sacrificing product quality or burning out their employees.
FINANCING YOUR OPERATION
It’s no secret that large-scale cultivation is an expensive endeavor. What’s harder to come across, however, is a method of financing commercial grows. Funding organizations often have tight restrictions on lending to organizations in the cannabis industry.
How Do You Address Them?
PLAN TO GROW VERTICAL
Opting for mobile vertical grow racks, as opposed to traditional single-level stationary benches, is arguably the easiest way to optimize your grow space. In advantage of a room’s square footage and volume, mobile vertical racks integrate well with automation technology, meaning you can achieve year-round production without driving up labor costs.
STREAMLINE YOUR STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
In such a highly-regulated industry, having a fine-tuned set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) isn’t just a good best practice. It’s also key to ensuring you stay compliant with local laws and regulations. To streamline the creation process, many growers leverage management software, like our Glide Operating System, which comes with all the tools growers need to manage and track the complete cultivation process.
INVEST IN COMMERCIAL-GRADE EQUIPMENT
Basement growing equipment just isn’t compatible with large-scale cultivation, so you should be looking into commercial equipment options from the start. We know this process can be intimidating for new large-scale growers, which is why we created Room Generator technology so you can see the full value of investing in a high-quality system.
KNOW YOUR FINANCING OPTIONS
When you choose Grow Glide’s industry-leading growing solutions, you get access to three different financing options. No matter how you go about funding, however, it’s essential to have built a sound business model that shows risk-averse investors why they should commit money to your operation.
Cannabis KPIs: What to Expect From a Successful Large-Scale Setup
YIELD COUNT
Moving from a small cultivation footprint to a large-scale commercial operation will, naturally, increase your yields. But how much cannabis are you producing per room? Per square foot? Commercial cultivators that grow vertically almost always see higher overall yields.
PHYTOCANNABINOID & TERPENE CONTENT
Quality is just as, if not more important than yield, and measuring cannabinoid and terpene profiles and content will tell you how consistent your product is from harvest to harvest. Difficult to control, these metrics can be either an indicator of success or a sign that you need to rethink your environmental controls.
ENERGY COSTS
Energy is critical to the success of your large-scale grow operation, but if you’re spending astronomical amounts, you may need to rethink your equipment and switch to more efficient airflow and lighting systems.
Ready to take your grow operation to the next level? Reach out today to discover how we can help you tap into your growing potential with our trusted solutions process.