Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business consulting and services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lucas McCann, Co-Founder of CannDelta Inc., located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
CannDelta is a global cannabis consulting firm that builds world-class business strategies for start-ups focusing on pharmaceuticals, cannabis, controlled substances, and other regulated industries. From legalization to large-scale research and development, CannDelta is the expert consulting firm that will develop the vision of entrepreneurs into sustainable and profitable companies.
Tell us about yourself
I am an organic chemist by training. After 13 years of academia, I left grad school with a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry. From there, I moved to the government and got a job at Health Canada at the Health Products branch. Working in the government exposed me to working in a quality lab and understanding compliance with regulations, which is what the pharmaceutical and cannabis industries are founded on. Following that, I worked as a sales engineer for an educational technology start-up and traveled the US and Canada helping to sell digital, interactive chemistry textbooks. I ended up penning my own, which is still for sale on their digital marketplace. This experience was fundamental for understanding how to grow and scale a business and develop a strong foundation for sales and professional services. Around this time, cannabis was being legalized. Along with another Health Canada employee, we founded CannDelta, first out of a response to favors from friends responding to questions, then to contracts, and then to a team of 20 consultants with offices in Hackensack, New York, and Toronto.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is seeing the company grow from a start-up to a medium-sized business in such a short time. As a small business or start-up consultant focused on regulated industries, it's certainly strong social proof that we can assist entrepreneurs with their own goals. With the opportunity on the horizon for expansion into global markets, CannDelta is poised to continue to develop and scale.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Working in a new and regulated industry certainly has its ups and downs. We have seen a great deal of fluctuation and have experienced a lack of predictability in being able to forecast how our company will grow (or contract). For any small business owner, we have experienced such uncertainty with external influencers that I won't name since we're all tired of hearing about them. There have been times when we've wondered if what we were doing was worth it.
Having the community that we have developed, we have created our support systems internally and have leveraged the strengths of our team to offer new services and help our company grow in a market with slowed growth. Finally, aligning ourselves with other firms, such as law offices and financial accounting firms, has allowed us to chase bigger and more meaningful projects, such as creating regulatory frameworks for communities or countries. As such, we have begun to offer new services we didn't previously envision and have expanded into new markets around the globe.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Leverage your employees' strengths and lean on them in times of need.
- Make friends, talk to everyone, network and let people know what you do.
- Offer real value. People will talk about the services you provide, so the most important bar is the quality of work you produce.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://canndelta.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canndelta/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canndelta/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CannDelta
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-mccann-phd/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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