August 2018

Entrepreneurial siblings Jeff Koz, left, and Roberta Koz Wilson, right, co-founded Dr. Norms, a cannabis-infused cookie producer in Southern California. Photos courtesy of Dr. Norm’s attention. You need to have a good product, no question – one that sets itself apart. But you also need to be on the street, and making phone calls and site visits, and sending text messages and emails. You have to be able to be told ‘no’ 19 times and keep going back.” Anticipate Market Changes Product development and timing have been critical to Dr. Norm’s rapid growth, Koz said. Before California legalized adult-use marijuana, the Koz siblings sold low- dose chocolate chip cookies (5- and 10-milligram single-servings of THC) in addition to 25- and 75-milligram prod- ucts for medical marijuana patients. In California’s new recreational market, the higher dose products had to be pulled from shelves because they exceeded the new regulations, but the Kozes already had established brand recognition for Dr. Norm’s compliant- dose cookies. “We were very well positioned for the adult-use market,” Koz said. “We had a fully compliant product before a lot of others, and that helped fuel our growth. The first quarter of 2018, we started to get calls from dispensaries, and they’d say, ‘I heard from another business that you have compliant product.’” After discussions with budtenders about in-demand products – specifically August 2018 • Marijuana Business Magazine • 89