Cory Waggoner, CEO & Founder of Higher Yields Consulting – Interview Series

Cory Waggoner founded Higher Yields Cannabis Consulting in 2015 with the goal of bringing structure, stability, and quality assurance to the budding cannabis industry.

Built on his four pillars of healthy cannabis businesses – Strong Startup, System Design & Implementation, Brand Development & employment, Growth & Scaling – Waggoner designed Higher Yields Consulting to solve the most complex and problematic issues in the cannabis industry.

You’ve been involved in legal cannabis since 2008, what initially attracted you to the industry?

I used this plant through college to help me calm my mind and study for class. Most people think cannabis makes you sleepy and tired but the effect it had on me helped curb anxiety, stress and pressure. There was also a lot of news about cannabis and how it helped people with cancer and other ailments. I was seeing the industry start to get going out west and felt that if there was ever a time to take a big chance this what it.

Could you discuss these early days when you assisted operators with developing commercial cultivation sites in Northern California?

Initially, in CA I was an operator aka a “Caregiver” in those days. There weren’t a lot of regulations and everything was grey but there were a lot of growers who just wanted to do things right and mitigate as much risk as possible. I supported these efforts with the development of operational and strategic business models to support the growth and sale of the product to other licensed caregivers in CA.

You’ve previously discussed what you believe are the four pillars of a healthy cannabis business. Could you provide some details on what these pillars are and what makes them important?

The cannabis industry creates a lot of complex challenges for entrepreneurs and operators. As a previous operator and one of the original pioneers in CO, I learned a lot of hard lessons about compliance, commercial construction, branding and how to grow a business.

When I developed the foundation of Higher Yields Consulting [HYC] I recognized that those entering the industry while they may not have had any experience in cannabis, had been successful at something in their lives that put them in a position to invest in the industry.

In 2015, you launched Higher Yields Cannabis Consulting. What was the inspiration behind launching a consulting firm?

I saw a need for guidance to new ventures in the space. To help those entering to better understand what they were getting into, what the costs were, and what the issues and things to look out for. It was a chance to take my hard-learned lessons and alleviate those pressures for clients in getting their businesses set up and scaling them into new markets.

You’ve helped the federal government of Mexico to develop regulations and standards for the cannabis industry. What are some of these standards that you assisted with?

The first priority is always public health and safety. We must always have the consumers in mind when creating a new program. We supported Mexico with the development of security planning, operational requirements, and regulations so that they could begin building a cannabis program that would support their infrastructure and help the country and the citizens benefit from a cannabis economy in a healthy, legal way.

You’ve also assisted with developing and elevating the cannabis market in South America and the Caribbean. What are some of the challenges with working with these smaller governments that are often inefficient?

Each client, project, and territory creates its own specific challenges and adversities that we must overcome. In the Caribbean, the governments are a bit less formalized in some areas than in other areas we have worked. This isn’t always a bad thing because in most cases it's a bureaucracy that slows down the programs.

At the same time with smaller governments, there isn’t always the best infrastructure set up to deploy things properly and a lot of times departments are not working together and in a streamlined communication with one another which creates a lot of going back and rethinking things that we already felt were solidified. It’s kind of the nature of a new industry in a new territory but we have affected our approach to ensure we have thought through the necessary departments in each territory to help expedite the acceptance and deployment of cannabis programs.

Is there anywhere in South America or the Caribbean that you expect will announce positive new regulations in the foreseeable future?

Not that we can announce yet but in the next six months we will have a big announcement to make.

You’ve also partnered with Malta to develop supply chains and international deals to the EU, what are some of the key highlights of these new deals?

We worked on this project about four years ago. Malta is an interesting place in terms of the ability to get products into the EU. The project we developed took a lot of creativity and additional operations in other places around the globe such as Africa.

Malta is a very small island that was in need of some sort of economic development. They approached cannabis and at the same time cryptocurrency with open arms, which always helps with the new industries. When we have governments working with us, in parallel to develop these programs it's so much easier and the programs are so much better for the end consumers and the businesses that develop the products.

For someone who is interested in Higher Yields Consulting, what are some of the consulting services that are offered?

We provide consultative and professional services to both the national and international cannabis and hemp industries. We’ve broken our services into four major verticals: [1] Start-up Systems; [2]. Design & Build Facility Systems; [3] Marketing as a Service/Demand Generation Systems and [4] Growth Services.

• Our start-up services – include business planning, feasibility, assessments, budgetary roadmaps and timelines along with financial modeling. We also provide grant procurement services.
• Our design and build systems – we take our clients from concept through operational excellence developing mechanical, agricultural, environmental, and security systems for cultivation, manufacturing/extraction, and retail dispensary design and build.
• Our Marketing as a Service (MaaS) or demand generation systems. This involves brand development and/or enhancement, digital and traditional marketing strategies developed to create demand in the marketplace. Brand guides, logo design, messaging and positioning strategies in developing an ideal customer profile.
• Our Growth Services – in addition, we help our clients who are further down the road in the development of their projects in the industry. Growth, expansion, and scaling, along with value chain support. With our vendor/supplier and developing investor ecosystems, we provide that support to fill gaps in the operational functions our clients seek to elevate. This could be compliance audits and training, human resource procurement, commercial cannabis real estate, or creating international supply chains.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Higher Yields Cannabis Consulting.