Inside ShowGrow: Real Insights From Behind the Dispensary Counter

Standard Operating Procedures That Actually Work in a Dispensary

Why most dispensary SOPs fail in practice, and how to build procedures that staff actually follow during real shifts, peak hours, and inspections.

Managing Peak Dispensary Hours Without Burning Out Your Team

How dispensaries can handle peak-hour volume without exhausting staff, sacrificing compliance, or creating operational instability.

Training Dispensary Staff for Compliance and Speed

How effective training systems allow dispensaries to stay compliant without slowing down service, and why speed is a result of preparation, not pressure.

Staffing a Dispensary: Roles, Headcount, and Common Mistakes

How to structure dispensary staffing for compliance, throughput, and sustainability, and the most common mistakes that create burnout, inefficiency, and avoidable risk.

Running a Dispensary Day-to-Day: What Actually Matters

A practical look at the operational priorities that keep dispensaries running smoothly, compliant, and profitable long after opening day.

Why Strong Operations Matter More Than Financial Models in Dispensaries

Why even the best financial models fail without disciplined dispensary operations, and how execution, not projections, determines long-term success in regulated retail.

What I Got Wrong About Cannabis Retail (and How We’re Fixing It)

A finance-first reflection on the assumptions that didn’t hold up in cannabis retail, the operational realities that changed our approach, and how ShowGrow adjusted to build more durable dispensary businesses.

Cash Flow Challenges Unique to Cannabis Retail

An explanation of why cash flow is often the hardest problem in cannabis retail, even for profitable dispensaries, and what makes regulated markets fundamentally different from traditional businesses.

Dispensary Profit Margins Explained for New License Holders

A clear explanation of how dispensary profit margins actually work, what new license holders often misunderstand, and why margin alone is not a reliable indicator of financial health.

What Surprised Me About Dispensary Economics Coming From Traditional Finance

A finance-first perspective on what makes dispensary economics fundamentally different from traditional retail, and the assumptions that don’t carry over into regulated cannabis.

Hiring the Right Contractor for Dispensary Construction

What license holders should look for when hiring a dispensary construction contractor, and why standard retail experience alone is not enough in regulated cannabis projects.

Dispensary Construction vs Tenant Improvements: What License Holders Need to Know

An explanation of how dispensary construction differs from standard tenant improvements, and what license holders should understand before signing a lease or starting a build-out.

Designing a Dispensary for Speed, Not Just Looks

Why the fastest-performing dispensaries are designed around flow, staffing, and transaction speed, and how construction decisions directly impact throughput long after opening day.

How City Zoning and Building Codes Impact Dispensary Construction

A construction-focused explanation of how zoning rules, building codes, and change-of-use requirements shape dispensary build-outs long before construction begins.

Dispensary Security Requirements: Construction, Cameras, and Vaults Explained

A construction-focused explanation of dispensary security requirements, including camera coverage, vault construction, and the physical infrastructure inspectors verify before approval.

The Biggest Dispensary Construction Mistakes That Delay Opening

A construction-level breakdown of the most common mistakes that delay dispensary openings, and how early planning decisions often determine whether a project opens on time or stalls for months.

Dispensary Build-Out Timeline: From Lease Signed to First Sale

A realistic, step-by-step look at how long it actually takes to build and open a licensed dispensary, from lease execution through inspections and the first legal sale.

Dispensary Floor Plans That Pass Compliance and Increase Throughput

How compliant dispensary floor plans are designed to satisfy inspectors while improving customer flow, staff efficiency, and transaction speed.

Dispensary Construction Costs in 2026: Real Numbers, Real Line Items

A realistic breakdown of what it actually costs to build a licensed dispensary in 2026, including hard costs, soft costs, and the line items that most operators underestimate.

What Inspectors Actually Look For During Dispensary Build-Outs

A construction-level breakdown of what city and state inspectors actually verify during dispensary build-outs, and why most delays happen before you even realize there is a problem.