By Marijuana Business Daily staff
Cannabis professionals are bullish on the future these days.
About 40% of marijuana entrepreneurs, founders and executives from across the industry predict that their businesses will boom this year, with those in testing, wholesale cultivation and retail among the most optimistic.
The figure – which stems from a survey of nearly 1,000 professionals taken for the Marijuana Business Factbook – indicates that many executives are confident not only in their own companies but also in the overall market.
Whether their predictions will materialize is an entirely different question, and some businesses expecting big growth could certainly be in for a rude awakening. But the relatively high levels of optimism are a good sign nonetheless.
Forty-four percent of wholesale growers expect their business to boom this year, which reflects the rise of new rec and MMJ states that allow stand-alone cultivators to exist.
However, wholesale cultivators in more mature markets are facing some serious headwinds as prices decline and competition increases. Case in point: 7% of wholesale growers expect their business prospects to be “slightly” or “a lot” worse, the most of any major sector of the industry.
Some retailers are facing similar challenges, as a handful of markets are becoming saturated.
On the bright side: not one respondent in the infused products, testing and ancillary services sectors expects any type of downturn this year.
Half of cannabis executives who took the survey expect that their companies will perform “slightly better” this year, while less than 10% think business will be flat.
These figures reflect the high level of uncertainty in markets that are facing regulatory changes, which makes it difficult to plan for the future.
