Editor’s Notebook: In uncertain times, the hemp plant has lessons for entrepreneurs

(This is an abridged version of a column that appears in the May-June issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)

When you have no idea where you’re going, your instinct is to look back. 

That’s why global upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic has everyone looking to the past for guidance. We search for clues in the Spanish flu pandemic of the 20th century – and the bubonic plague of the 14th century – hoping to draw lessons that protect our health now. 

Business owners do the same when mapping strategy during economic turbulence. No doubt you’ve seen economists sharing lessons from the Great Recession of 2008-09, or the many stock market panics that preceded it. What did entrepreneurs do back then to stay afloat—or even thrive—and come out of the downturn stronger? 

The hemp industry is no exception. It’s both brand new and older than recorded history. Before the Great Depression, before even the Industrial Revolution, folks were growing hemp and using it to do business. 

Fortunately, hemp entrepreneurs have more than market history to draw inspiration through economic upheaval. The plant itself can be a source of strength for troubled businesses, and it has wisdom to share.

To read more about hemp’s lessons for embattled entrepreneurs, click here.