Job cuts were up 15% last month, according to a new report from workplace consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas — and even celebrities aren’t safe as the ax continues to fall.

In the last few days, the media industry has been rocked by several bombshell firings. Fox News Media announced that it had “agreed to part ways” with prominent host Tucker Carlson. Not to be outdone, leading CNN personality Don Lemon wrote on Twitter that he had also been sacked. Those both came on the heels of NBCUniversal dismissing CEO Jeff Shell.

These men may be household names, but clearly fame isn't enough to insulate some employees from termination. The challenge for businesses is determining whether your star talent is worth keeping, or if your company would be better off if you gave them the heave-ho. 

Certainly, if you have a toxic employee wreaking havoc in your business, cutting ties could be your best bet in the long run. Knowing when to fire an employee is essential; otherwise, you might find yourself with an organization weighed down by too much baggage — even if it's of the A-list variety.

Up in smoke: Let’s get blunt about starting a cannabis brand.

Rich Dad: A classic book is back as a personal finance podcast.

Liquid Death: Canned water company’s ironic branding is killer.

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California-based cannabis retailer MedMen was supposed to be the “Apple Store of weed.” Valued at $1.65 billion in 2018, MedMen opened dozens of locations in numerous states; the interiors were bright and clean with touch screens everywhere. 

But the company’s hype, burn rate, and real estate investments got out of hand, its stock crashed, and executives filed a byzantine series of lawsuits against each other. MedMen, however, remains operational despite being millions in debt. 

Cannabis is still big business — the domestic industry could be worth $72 billion by the end of the decade. However, for individual players, the “green rush” of easy profits is over, due to competition both legal and illegal.

Other obstacles include:

The IRS limits tax deductions for cannabis companies to only the cost of goods sold (COGS), making profit margins thinner than in most industries.

Intense regulations vary from state to state, and compliance is another financial burden.

Banking and credit card processing are big challenges. Many financial institutions are unwilling to get involved.

Even with federal legalization possible, it could take years to craft regulations and untangle everything that would bring the industry fully into the operational clear nationwide.

Fortunately for George Sadler, Platinum Vape — which he and his son founded with proceeds from selling off their dirt bikes — sold in 2020 for a cool $60 million. Having built several other businesses, including a restaurant and a flooring company (along with current project Gelato Canna Co.), Sadler knows that the cannabis industry is a different animal. 

Sadler shared his thoughts with b. on its current state and growing pains.

“High” Turnover

One of the main challenges that cannabis companies face is extreme turnover rates compared to other industries. Though it sounds like an issue of stoners flaking on their shifts, Sadler explains that retention issues are largely due to high vice taxes on cannabis products — making it difficult to pay employees competitive wages. If a budtender can earn more as a barista, why wouldn’t they?

Sadler has been able to avoid turnover by growing his businesses at a slow and steady pace. (More on that later.)

🤿 DIVE DEEPER:

• How to Successfully Launch a Legal Cannabis Business
• Up in Smoke: Should Businesses Still Drug Test for Marijuana?
• Buzzkill: How to Talk to Your Employees About Drug Use

You Need to Brand Your Bud

When Sadler entered the industry in 2010, no one really cared about cannabis brands; just strains and delivery methods (vape, tincture, etc.). With entrepreneurs jumping through various regulation hurdles when only medical marijuana was legal even in California, they tried to keep a low profile. This was the antithesis of branding.

Thanks to recreational legalization and increased competition, the opposite is true for cannabis companies today. “Until there is a [recognizable] brand created, all of us are expendable,” Sadler says.

With other industries, Sadler has focused on building a solid product first and branding it later, but with Gelato he put money and time into a strong identity from the outset. “Branding leads to building,” Sadler says.

The Get-Rich-Quick Mentality Is a Buzzkill

Some entrepreneurs entered the cannabis space because they were passionate about the cultivation and the culture. Others just wanted to make an overnight fortune in a new market they barely understood.

Instead of growing too fast, Sadler suggests doing what he did with his son: Work hard, invest in yourself, and always live within your means instead of being tempted by large investors. Even though Sadler got in on the green rush early, his strategy for sticking around has remained the same: “Don’t be in a rush; there is no rush.”

Great business leaders don’t do — or accomplish — anything alone. Great leaders delegate. As a business leader, your time and attention are pulled in a lot of different directions. What if delegating, even just five tasks, to someone you trust could save you 15 hours each week?

With BELAY, you no longer have to own every task as a business leader. When you delegate, you have more time to focus on the things only you can do — growing your business. Our friends at BELAY have been helping leaders like you get their time back by delegating to a virtual assistant. Check out the top 25 tasks you can delegate to a BELAY Virtual Assistant today.

Remember that old book your dad got you for high school graduation? Well, it’s back as a modern podcast.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki’s The Rich Dad Radio Show features economists, investors, entrepreneurs, authors, executives, and other business gurus with no-nonsense financial insights. If you’re looking to build on those old lessons that got you (and 30 million other readers) thinking about money in a different way, this is the podcast for you.

The Rich Dad Radio Show airs once a week and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Need some reading material? In addition to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, check out our picks for the best leadership books for small business owners. Rather listen? Tune into the best business podcasts of 2023.

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How did a company founded in 2018 that sells water in cans — not exactly a novel concept — grow to a $700 million valuation? By being over-the-top hilarious.

Liquid Death, the brainchild of former Netflix creative director Mike Cessario, has been imploring consumers to MURDER THEIR THIRST and bring DEATH TO PLASTIC with environmentally friendly, fresh mountain water. From the hyper-macho, beer-like design of its tall cans to a series of outrageous commercials — such as electrocuting its social media haters —  Liquid Death’s tongue-in-cheek approach trusts the audience to get the joke.

Laughter isn’t actually the best medicine, but it can be the best marketing.

(Source: Twitter)

Written by Lauren Vino and Ali Saleh.

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