The cannabis industry is expanding and evolving from one year to the next. To ensure cannabis quality and accuracy, the government has provided a set of regulations. Due to the same reason, regulators keep quality control and testing to be part of the cannabis license screening. Every dispensary owner needs to comply with these quality control parameters in their SOPs to obtain a license and avoid fines, penalties, and other repercussions.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how to ensure consistency and quality control through SOPs in cannabis dispensaries for lasting growth and success in the long run.
What are SOPs?
SOPs stand for Standard Operating Procedures are the documents, systems, protocols, policies, and procedures that the dispensary must adhere to run routine tasks efficiently and seamlessly. SOPs are pre-determined processes that a business relies on to ensure that services & products are delivered consistently each time. Cannabis dispensary SOPs keep the business in place and reduce day-to-day issues for smooth functioning.
In other words, standard operating procedures are in-depth yet comprehensive approaches that explain how to perform daily tasks and which process should be followed in specific situations.
Why do you need Cannabis Dispensary SOPs?
SOPs are the backbone of any business, it’s a set of step-by-step instructions on how supervisors and managers instruct their teams to perform assigned work. When SOPs are not well-written, then operating a retail store would be challenging, and translating procedures and policies would be time-consuming. Implementing SOPs in business will ensure quality control and consistency.
As the cannabis industry has rigid regulations and corresponding infractions, SOPs can contribute an effective and streamlined method to many operators’ success. SOPs are useful for managing record keeping, inventory management, and everything in between.
The well-written and documented SOPs promote consistency and help uncover what, where, and when things go otherwise. Well-documented bookkeeping not only explains what to do, and how to do it but also uncovers methods on how to be prepared to handle emergencies.
Major takeaways:-
- Eliminate the risk of theft, stealing, financial losses, and other risks.
- Effective way to keep your business and staff stay compliant
- Helps increase revenue and profitability
- Provide standard routine practices to run the store smoothly
- Streamline transactions, customer service efforts, and day-to-day retail store procedures including store opening and closing time.
How to ensure consistency and quality control through SOPs?
Standard operating procedures are indeed a vital part of your application screening and performing daily tasks efficiently but they play significant roles in ensuring consistency and quality of your dispensary store. SOPs cover the following areas.
Security
The high demand for marijuana certainly justifies the need for extra security in the cannabis industry. Moreover, every commercial marijuana application screening process has a complete section dedicated to security. Here are some pointers that should be included in your SOPs.
- Alarm system, surveillance system, lighting, and perimeter
- Record-keeping security to avoid stealing and theft incidents
- Security personnel and armed guards
- Verification of an individual & employee identification
- Limited access to storage and other areas
Quality Control
Cannabis regulations vary from state to state and many of them have rigorous requirements for buying and selling marijuana. The government has provided some guidelines to ensure products are of the highest integrity. To operate the cannabis store legally without fines and penalties, quality assurance is the top priority.
- Environmental controls for manufacturing, cultivation, distribution, and storage
- Sanitation provisions for eliminating contamination and cleanliness
- Inspecting inbound/outbound shipments of marijuana and marijuana products
- Inspecting product packaging and labeling.
Quality control Testing
To ensure the quality of marijuana and marijuana products, there are some tests and inspections which you can conduct at different stages to prevent microbial and chemical contamination.
- Pesticide testing
- Potency testing
- Heavy metal testing
- Microbial testing
- Residual solvent testing
Storage- Marijuana product receipts & records
Whether you’re opening a dispensary store or already running one, almost all dispensary owners require in-depth knowledge of meticulous record keeping such as marijuana receipts and entries of purchase. Every store owner should be able to produce original and unaltered copies of each sale/purchase to state, federal, and local authorities when requested.
- Cannabis dispensary SOPs must contain information like:
- Ensure secure storage of record-keeping
- Limited access to selected employees
- Time duration for record-keeping
- What information must be kept as customers’ and employees’ records?
What your SOPs must cover?
Just like any other business, the cannabis industry also depends upon proper record keeping, following compliance with regulations, and performing daily routine activities with consistency and efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to rely on SOPs that are effective to make your business a hit.
- Quality Control
- Facility sanitation & maintenance procedure
- Standard hiring procedure
- Record keeping of product receipt and storage
- Inventory control
- Point of sale procedure
- Recall Procedure
Final words:-
The cannabis industry focuses on producing top-notch products that can help them stand out against its competitors. And that’s where SOPs come into the picture. SOPs are the core foundation to manage and run a store smoothly, but they tend to overlap. Although, well-created SOPs can help maintain consistency and quality control while performing day-to-day tasks and dealing with new & existing consumers. Moreover, SOPS ensures the quality of the product is tested on set time intervals to prevent microbial contamination.
