Brendon Roberts’ Post

Where can you find an expert if everyone raises their hand when you ask for one? One of my biggest challenges as a service provider is overcoming the predisposition everyone has for my industry, fertigation. Everyone installs 2" pipe for a 2gpm demand or 150gpm twin pumps on a ¾" line. There are tons of batch tanks and pipes to clean, limited functionality, and most often people end up hand dosing tanks because the fert skid isn't meant for this task to begin with. My personal phone is still the customer service line for all Paragon-related issues. Despite having all the systems we have in service (every system I have sold is still in service), I am not overwhelmed with calls. Maybe once a month. And even with that exceptional service record i have to struggle to convince people every day that you dont need all the crap argus sold you.

Agreed

Just ask me and I’ll tell you what, where, and how much. Cannabis doesn’t need and especially doesn’t require over engineering, but I do think a background in agriculture or horticulture is really quite essential. The number 1 thing I see with anyone selling or wanting to make money off of the cannabis industry is their inflated egos when it comes to their perceptions of how much money they can make off of it. You can’t get stars in your eyes from a person who tells you this is gonna make you millions then turns around and tries to charge you 55k for a watering schedule. 😂 just be realistic and you’ll find the solution to whatever your operation throws at you. Also, there are so many great organic certified IPM products for common cannabis affected diseases and pests, you don’t need to nuke your plants! 

Often times in this industry, as I have seen, consultants are conjured by employers as another “yes man”. They often come in, drop a few hints, but ultimately don’t rattle the cage of the status quo at the facility they are working with for fear of retaliation from the operators, or from a lack of confidence in their own knowledge. Trust and confidence go both ways in so much as who consultants are choosing to work with, as do company’s choosing to work with certain consultants, and ultimately what knowledge can be shared between them.

Welcome to modern cannabis, where people are scared to call others out because they are faking too! It’s amazing how 20-25 years ago all of us knew each other or at least OF each other, and now somehow there’s hundreds if not thousands of “legacy” people that have turned “consultant” and couldn’t tell you what a par value was if their life depended on it. Everybody that smoked a joint in college think that puts them “in the business” and it’s turned into a train wreck. My sole job is to call out BS in the industry for people with unfathomable checkbooks that want to get involved with the right people. It’s a shame that 95% of my recommendations are “run”. The industry attracted every money chaser there was and they screwed it up in the beginning which has given us today’s market conditions. I feel the tide is starting to turn now though and rescheduling will force people to either go legit or full black market, which will weed out the strong from the weak and the true risk takers vs the phonies.

The old "Master Grower"/Consultant... Though I do have to admit that the ratio of brilliant people vs. knuckleheads is about 1:1 in this industry today... IMO... For every person that knows his stuff, there is a moron driving an operation into bankruptcy. Be careful who you choose to listen to, and do your due diligence is all I have to say.

100% agree. I can name three out there who are still "consulting" while asking for a $10k deposit. It's really hurt those of us who actually know and care about the plant and industry.

I wish I could agree but it seems like the loudest mouths and biggest egos pick up all the consulting business because they tell prospective clients what they want to hear, not reality. Those of us who are experienced, humble, and only serve up reality are stepped over while ear ticklers get the jobs and the money.