Business Talk Magazine

Business Talk celebrates ventures that bring revolution to their respective industry and we are back with another tale of excellence and passion – POLN8 powered by 420Financial (POLN8). Our editorial team had an interesting and joyful virtual session with POLN8 Founder and CEO Tom Epstein as he shared lesser-known facts about the company and his entrepreneurial journey. The dedication by him and his team towards transforming how cannabis-based businesses manage cashflow, payments and more, greatly inspired us to feature them in our upcoming edition – ‘Innovators with the Most Creative Breakthroughs in 2022.’ We truly hope this fascinating read adds value to the lives and businesses of our global readership panel, encouraging you to break barriers and chase dreams while creating opportunities for your industries the same.

Prior to working with cannabis-based businesses, Tom shares, “We have been in business for over 16 years, powering payments and loyalty for Franchise chains, and learned quite well how to meet the needs of a niche industry. When we decided to roll POLN8 out to its own company, we made significant enhancements to the platform that once completed we realised would work very well in the Cannabis space. And with our experience working within a niche, it was a no-brainer to apply what we have learned over the past 16 years along with our new technology to resolve the biggest issue a Dispensary has today. They have huge issues around Cash handling, as this has been a cash-only business since becoming legalised in the states that allow it. We help Dispensaries convert cash sales into electronic funds while also making it easier for the consumer to shop by using their electronic wallet contained in our Dispensary-branded apps. 

Also, as indicated above, POLN8 is the only company that delivers an app branded for the Dispensary that allows the customer to pay with funds from their electronic wallet, depositing funds directly into the Dispensary’s bank account. The customer now does not have to worry about getting cash before going in or dealing with high ATM fees and can spend as much as they have loaded into their wallet without additional fees, all while potentially gaining loyalty points (in states where allowed) for swag and more, including special offers texted to them or via in-app messages. This is a game-changer that helps both the Dispensary owner and their customers.” POLN8 is focused on promoting and supporting the cannabis business domain by providing them with transparent, transformative payment and loyalty solutions, empowering cannabis-based businesses to handily compete with traditional modern-day businesses.

Moreover, our curious team asked Tom about his efforts around innovation and operational structure to which the CEO affirms, “Honestly, some of the most innovative ideas come from our customers. They are the ones dealing with the day-to-day issues, and by forming close relationships with them, they are constantly feeding us great ideas for our services. We prioritise the need for the ideas with regular planning meetings internally, and for those ideas that seem to need immediate action, we work with our development teams to ensure the best ones are scheduled for quicker release.”

EDGE IN THE REALM

When the POLN8 team launches something new, they often try BETA testing with live customers who are open to not only experimenting with a new approach but also willing to provide honest feedback. “As I said before, our customers give us the best ideas. We are humans and will make mistakes, but our customers know if they give us valuable feedback during a BETA and help us tweak the product to better operate in their environment, not only does POLN8 benefit, but more importantly, the business owner and their customer win. In addition, our company leans towards collaboration! There is so much business out there for everyone to share. We will never have 100% of the business in our space. We would much rather work with “competitors” to find a solution that works for everyone than worry about who is getting what account and who is not. We learned in Franchising that if we can do something to help grow the industry, we will all do better in time,” shares Tom.

There are a few things for people who have come from an extremely large corporate environment to starting and running a private company that Tom contrasts for us. “First, without the customer, there are no jobs at POLN8,” Tom says. “The customer pays the bills, not me. So if there is any issue with their account, we go way beyond what others would think to help them. Second, we are a private business, just like most of them are. We understand the challenges a small business person has, and one of the big things we do is around payment processing. If for some reason deposits are missing or wrong, no matter how big or small, our team jumps all over these issues to get them resolved quickly. Third, as I said before, our best ideas come from our customers.”

CONVERTING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITY 

“Most days are great! But some days are spent working on serious challenges through changing business environments. Our biggest asset has always been our ability to take whatever downturn in the market is thrown at us and create a solution that can help our clients survive and grow. If we talk about our highest achievement, making it to year 16 is something we are really proud of. In the Cannabis space, there are a lot of regulations, hoops, and grey areas to work through. The biggest challenge is staying on top of what is allowed and what isn’t. In many cases, even if something is legal, some back-end vendors are hesitant to take on work in this space, and that’s because they are unsure of all the regulations that may affect them. We are breaking new ground here, hence, we are constantly educating ourselves and those vendors who support us.

FUTURE ENDEAVOURS

Shining light on future plans with POLN8, Tom affirms, “We are moving with the market into two new verticals being Cannabis and EV Charging. We are currently innovating in those spaces, but even before releasing updates to our products to those, we are already road-mapping ways to further help those industries by bringing in the needs of the growers and suppliers to help them with issues they have and supporting our mutual customers. Stay tuned for the next big thing that we should be able to talk about in just a couple of months.”

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