Portal42 is a cannabis seed-to-sale software solution that allows provisioning center, processing and cultivation owners the opportunity to track their data to help them become more effective and efficient.
For a long time, cannabis and its medicinal properties have been a debatable topic. However, in the past few years, the perception of it has significantly changed with various researchers discovering its beneficial properties for the greater good. Moreover, with time, several countries are opening up to the importance of cannabis and despite the regulations, the industry has significantly grown at a larger pace.
During a conversation with Courtney Forgues (President at Portal42), we learned how Portal42 is leveraging various opportunities in the industry in order to scale efficiency as well as success. Following are the snippets from the intriguing conversation.
Located in Michigan and Colorado, the journey of Portal42 began in Detroit in 2015 several years before Michigan began to formalize licensing. Initially, our neighbor opened a provisioning center on the east side of Detroit. We were drawn to being a part of what cannabis would inevitably become, so we offered our services at his facility. Though we did not know what we were getting into, it has been a thrilling and amazing experience.
Early experience in the industry is always beneficial, it provides an upper hand over all situations and also over the competitors. A similar instance occurred with Portal42, where the company gained first-hand insights into the operation of a dispensary from the user’s point of view. Meanwhile, it also began to analyze the collected data to develop informed business decisions. The industry was primarily underserviced at that time because of the lack of legislation and fears of experiencing ‘loss by law enforcement.’
However, soon we started to build a reputation for being a true partner with its facilities. It was one of the first to provide a simple cloud-based system to use and helped them plan their next moves. We love to see our customers grow along with it and eventually we became the largest point-of-sale provider in the state, with one in every two facilities using our services. The company kept its approach simple, it dedicated itself to being the leader in Michigan and focused on building relationships locally while being a resource to everyone it encountered in the industry.
Although we were quite early in the journey, the team of Portal42 understood the relationship between the company and customers. Another advantage that helped the company to grow successfully since its inception was its vision. The Port42 team realized that leveraging simple portal software can bring a revolutionary change in the industry. With a nod to 420 and a tip of the cap to Douglas Adams, the company assigned a name for that destination, and Portal42 was born. It also adopted the ‘answer to life, the universe, and everything approach to its customers and internally implemented the ‘Don’t Panic’ creed.
Other than the visionary approach in the industry, Portal42 has an in-store option that reports to the state in real-time and a delivery & pickup option with online payments is a powerful separating factor in the industry. The company is much more than just a point of sale. It offers numerous services that differentiate it from its competitors in the industry. It helps eliminate the need for additional fees for services like online ordering, delivery, marketing to your customers, and taking payments.
Portal42 comprehended the need to seize the factors which might interrupt the facilities from reaching a wider audience. From internet outages to hardware failures to seizures, their business could be interrupted at any time and for any length of time. We decided to work for our facilities to develop solutions for many of the problems that faced that threatened to stall their businesses. We began offering hardware and networking services to ensure their entire facility’s technology was running as efficiently as possible.
Portal42 believes in the motto of listening to its customers’ needs. This motto has been and will continue to be to its advantage as the company respects its relationships with the facilities and their immediate needs. We are not simply a “POS Solution” but rather, we partner with our facilities and spend the time necessary to learn their particular needs and focus intently on delivering those opportunities to ensure that they will maximize their potential when it comes to the vision they have for their single facility or their entire brand and its reach.
We have a phenomenal team who understand the industry and where it is at this particular moment. Our approach has always been to inform them of our vision for upcoming opportunities based on where the industry is changing. As the company progresses into the future the roles will get more and more focused on the landscape of the entire industry and how it can help the facilities to be their most effective in the ever-changing landscape.
The cannabis industry may have significantly grown but there are still a few loose ends to be mended. Courtney anticipates that even with the acceptance of payments and eventual legalization there will be several challenges to overcome. Once it is legalized nationally, there will most likely be some sort of blanket laws that could potentially shake up some of the current state-based regulations.
Digitalization is taking over the industry and soon banking will become mainstream and the population might turn to cashless transactions. The aim of Portal42 will be to help the industry incline more towards the cloud and in doing so revolutionized the landscape of cannabis.
“Whether you have a large cannabis facility or are just starting out, our pricing is modeled to ensure you can enjoy every feature we offer without having to sacrifice a quality experience for your patients.”
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