Here is What You Need to Know About Becoming a Budtender at a Marijuana Dispensary

When you go to a marijuana dispensary, you will meet a budtender who will help you find the right product depending on your needs. They can also educate you on the benefits of cannabis. Just like a bartender serves drinks and mixes cocktails at a bar, a budtender finds the best edibles, flowers, vaping liquids, and oils for every customer. Below, you get to learn more about budtenders and what their responsibilities are.

Qualifications

A budtender is an expert who can help customers have positive cannabis experiences. That means they need to have a passion if they are to be great teachers and communicators. To be an excellent budtender, one needs strong knowledge of all cannabis strains, including vaping liquids, edibles, and topical products.

It is also important for the budtender to understand the science behind the side effects of cannabis. Knowing this helps you give customers a positive experience while explaining responsible marijuana use. Because there are various ways of consuming marijuana products, a budtender must know each of them and which is ideal for each client. Excellent customer service skills are essential as customers need to be reassured. Most customers, especially first-timers, often have a bit of reservation when it comes to buying cannabis products. Having someone there who listens to their needs and gently explains the right product is an added plus.

Depending on your location, know that the weed dispensary culture is going to look different. For instance, for places that allow only the sale of medical cannabis, the number of dispensaries is likely to be limited. However, you have more options when it comes to regions selling cannabis both for recreational and medical purposes.

Lastly, as the budtender, you will also operate the cash register, take inventory, and open or close the dispensary. Therefore, having some retail experience is a good idea.

Responsibilities of a Budtender

Here are the top responsibilities of a budtender

• Learning about a customer's needs in order to provide good service. This includes asking about previous marijuana use, their budget, lifestyle, and the effects they are seeking, so as to recommend the right product.
• They are in charge of satisfying the needs of a customer. To do that, they have to stay updated on the latest trends on cannabis. That means attending trade shows, learning about the various strains, researching products, and researching various growers.
• Learning about the various types of cannabis concentrates and how they each behave. For instance, distillate has a different effect from live resin.

Becoming a Budtender

Becoming a budtender is easy because you do not require formal training. However, a certain level of expertise is expected if you are to serve in a weed dispensary. Try and learn as much as possible about cannabis products, the industry, and trends. There are many online resources where one can learn all this. It is also a good idea to talk to experienced budtenders to learn as much as possible from them. How did they start, and what are the challenges they have faced? You can also visit a few dispensaries and observe what is good and what can be improved.

The key to giving excellent services to customers walking into a weed dispensary in Illinois is by meeting their needs. So you have to do your research, know what they are missing, and offer them that. Keep in mind that the cannabis industry is regularly changing, especially in stable markets. New laws can be added which may either add or limit your duties. Therefore, be adaptable.

You should also know that you will be serving customers who want cannabis products for medical purposes. Learn how to match the right product with a patient's medical problems.

Does One Need Certification or Licensing

Unlike other careers like medicine or plumbing, you do not need a certificate or a license to operate as a budtender. However, as more states continue legalizing weed, things might change in the future. With that being said, there are institutions offering cannabis training, and they can be very helpful to anyone who wants to be a budtender. Some of these programs are affordable, charging between $100 and $300.

You can talk to the budtender in your area and ask whether they have undergone training. If so, they can point you to the right resources. Be aware that there are many jobs in the cannabis industry, and you may find that being a budtender is the stepping stone to a ton of other opportunities.

The cannabis industry has brought about multiple employment opportunities, with budtending being among the leading ones. The industry continues to expand across the world, especially to countries where marijuana has been legalized. In addition, this is a gender-equal position allowing both men and women to flex their marijuana knowledge. As long as you know about marijuana, its various strains, and its benefits for customers, you are good to go.