Growers and retailers in the Cannabis industry have a wide range of software products from which to choose. Wholesalers and processors have much fewer options!
I've had numerous requests for a Quickbooks to Metrc connector. All of these requests have come from wholesalers and/or processors. Many of these same companies expressed an interest in syncing an eCommerce system to Metrc. Some shared concerns and struggles in terms of inventory tracking. Concepts from enterprise resource planning came up in conversations as well. The bottom line is, wholesalers and processors are experiencing pain that software can likely solve. Why shouldn't I be the one to solve it?
The big question is . . . HOW should it be solved? I've explored a wide variety of approaches. Hidden agent processes running on a back room server could continually probe existing systems and ensure the various data sources stay in sync. A POS approach works for retailers, and how cool would it be to build manufacturing control and monitoring systems with Raspberry Pi's?!?!
In the end, I can't see any reason why a good ol' web app isn't the right way to go.3 Obviously it will need to provide a better experience than using the various other systems individually. So, though I'm more of a back end engineer than a user experience artist, I'm working on a front end prototype to demonstrate how a wholesaling and processing solution might work. I'll look for feedback to determine where to go from there.
If you're interested in getting a look at what I'm working on, let me know you'd like to review the prototype. I'd also love to hear any suggestions or ideas you have on what should be included in a software offering for marijuana wholesalers or processors!
1. I guess this is a good learning opportunity?!?
2. There are many other challenges for wholesalers and processors when it comes to ecommerce. Access must be restricted to other licensees (and possibly only to retailers, especially in competitive markets). You can't just leverage the postal service's api to calculate delivery charges. And though banking options are becoming more available, capturing credit card payments can still be problematic.
3. At least to get started. Even though I'm starting out with a web solution, I'd still love to put together hardware for processing stations. I initially though growing was the only place where Pi's would be useful (http://icodeforfun.com/cannabis), but since processing is essentially manufacturing, there's a lot of potential there too. Give me a Pi, a label printer and a handheld barcode scanner, and I'll show you a packaging station any operator would be happy to oversee.
