Smart Business Magazine, February 2016

February 2016 Smart Business Columbus 21 profitable so Joseph has been able to make future investments such as a new manufacturing facility that will likely be expanded again this year Time to transition Joseph drew on his experience in the military and previous jobs to go from entrepreneur to businessman but it has been a tough transition One of the hardest things to learn especially as I transition to president or CEO is learning to trust and to hire people who are smarter than you he says As an entrepreneur Joseph says nobody else understands what is the best thing to do for your company Most advice just isnt applicable But as your organization grows there comes a point where you need to start listening he says Thats been a really difficult mental challenge is accepting that these guys are smarter than me They are telling me what to do its the right thing and I have to trust them Joseph says You cant always follow your entrepreneurial mindset That will backfire Its backfired on me enough times that Im kind of over it he says But you definitely have to get your gut kicked a couple of times before youre able to make that transition Risks and rewards Although Apeks is projecting rapid growth for the near term Joseph also is cognizant of the risk of little customer diversification While were producing the equipment and were producing it as fast as we possibly can to keep up with demand were also doing research on how to make it faster Joseph says He believes this will be key for Apeks to diversify back into other markets as the cannabis industry commoditizes over the next three to five years We would like to get the equipment to the point where the return on investment for lower value lower volume products are justified Joseph says Then we can get back into flavorings We can get back into natural products essential oils things like that Two other side effects of that early commoditization are an industry that is becoming more mainstream and competitive That also means Joseph faces less stigma for the work his company does he was recently invited to speak at a Rotary Club and was pleased with the level of engagement and interest How to reach Apeks Supercritical 844 446 4262 or www apekssupercritical com Apeks Supercritical President Andy Joseph surprised some when he came out against Issue 3 the initiative to legalize marijuana in Ohio in the November election His companys biggest customer by far is the cannabis industry after all But Joseph like many others had concerns about monopoly issues investors that werent identified and regulation difficulty He feels that if Issue 3 had passed the federal government would have intervened at some point Issue 3 did however start a conversation across the state and he says it opened the eyes of legislators when they realized the vast majority of Ohioans approve of medical marijuana I believe there will be legalization of cannabis in Ohio in 2016 Theres no question in my mind that its going to happen Exactly what it looks like thats kind of still up in the air Joseph says The challenge the legislative body has in front of them he says is that the program has to provide a certain degree of business opportunity to be successful This is something Minnesota and to some degree Florida has run into The restrictive programs in those states squashed the market before it could get off the ground If you dont have a patient base that is authorized or legal to have access to medical marijuana then you wont have the business the entrepreneurs to come in and start the businesses and operate the businesses he says Theres no return on investment Joseph says the legislative body needs to realize that a number of debilitating conditions dont necessarily have proven medical science that marijuana is a worthwhile treatment If you want to do it and you want to do it right and you truly want to benefit from it and you truly want to tax and regulate marijuana you have to open it up probably beyond what I would suspect is their comfort zone he says To read Andy Josephs thoughts on getting into business with the cannabis industry visit www sbnonline com On the future of marijuana legalization in Ohio