Chapter 49

Things went great during the summer months. We got to work on the plantation as we all referred to it. Originally Tommy was the only one who knew about the business. That lasted until we worked out the distribution plan. After that was done Tommy and I began to think about who to bring in to help. We didn’t want clients coming to Tommy’s Second Chance store. At least not ones we hadn’t thoroughly vetted. Frankly we didn’t want pot laying around the store either or for his granddaughter to be tempted.

To avoid that and to stay with the boutique pot business image, we decided to deliver it to the client, kind of like Domino’s. Also the driver would be carrying only a small amount of product or money on his or her person. At least that was what their instructions were going to be. Naturally we thought of Lucinda and Gerome, I just didn’t want to jump the gun.

Tommy convinced me to bring them in first thing. Tommy and I could have worked the field, but it wouldn’t have made Lucinda and Gerome feel a part of the project. They needed to be in on the actual work from the beginning to inspire loyalty. Since it wasn’t about the money for me, I didn’t have a problem making it a co-op structure.

When we made the offer Lucinda and Gerome couldn’t wait to get started. The structure was like this, everybody’s contribution had a monetary value. Their contributions would be calculated to figure their share of that weeks proceeds. The money I had put out needed to be repaid. I did agree that since I owned the land, it didn’t need to be figured into my share. Everyone agreed that if and when we closed down, I maintained ownership of the land. The vote on that was a unanimous agreement.

Then we had to place a figure on the start up research. I was to be paid my out of pocket cost directly. Then my time would go into the general pool at ten dollars an hour. It came to just shy of five hundred dollar which was a really discounted figure.

We used the ten dollars an hour as an hourly wage for production work. Digging, planting the field, administrative costs, and processing the weed were all worth the same. Then delivering the product was figured as ten dollars for each delivery. I suggested that they not combine trips to keep the amount of pot in our possession at a minimum when off the plantation.

“I suggest that we set the price of our pot at four hundred dollars an ounce. Just so we don’t have too many customers. We don’t want to have to turn anyone away if they are legitimate,” I said.

“Doesn’t that go against your business plan to get it to the people who need it?” Tommy asked. “The old and those weighted down with medical bills, cant afford that,” Ed said.

“You are right of course. We also don’t want some school kid buying pot from us because it is cheaper. How about this, we sell it at four hundred an ounce unless they are recommended by a doctor, or a legitimate clinic. If they are we can cut them some slack or we can just absorb the operating cost if we have to.

That first summer season began in the middle of May. The Cranes according to the professor were showing signs of being off the nest. He was sure that by July 1st we would be able to plant the bamboo. He still did not know about the pot, and as far as I was concerned he never would.