So many students have asked us for this course! By popular demand we have created a course to help students and new or established business owners who are working with herbal medicine.
This course is aimed at anyone who wants to start up and run a successful business in the herbalism industry, whether it is an online store, an herbal clinic, a brick-and-mortar store an outreach organization or a school.
Having been in this business for over 30 years and worked with (and for) so many other herb schools and stores, we have amassed a mountain of information, tips and organizational exercises to save you months if not years of time. Many of the aspects of running a business related to herbal medicine are lessons we learned the slow way or by watching other businesses falter (or do well).
Take advantage of the thousands of hours we put into building our schools, stores, outreach organizations and clinics as we organize these decades of experience into lectures, home-exercises and live interactive weekly sessions for you.
Each week contains at least two hours of lectures and demonstrations with handouts, at least two hours of live Q & A and review of homework, and about two hours of homework. This is a lot of material, but as always, we’ve worked hard to skim off any irrelevant or useless information.
During the live Q & A we encourage students to share their goals and ideas along with their questions. Everyone has a different story as to why they are involved in the world of herbal medicine and everyone has a different vision as to what they want to accomplish. Our goal in this course is not only to give you the tools you need to successfully do this, but also to listen to your creative vision and give you feedback as well as ideas, direction and encouragement as you work to navigate through what can be sometimes seem to be an overwhelming amount of tasks and information.
We divided this course into two parts, so that you can cherry pick what you need. You can take them both in any order you want or only take one, but we think after you’ve tried one you will want the other as well.
Part One: Technical and Legal Landscape
Technical and Legal Landscape is your introduction to setting up your herbal practice or store’s business structure, insurance, and understanding the scope of practice you can safely operate within based off your local and state laws as well as the type of business you’re starting. We will cover HIPAA regulations, an introduction to cGMP compliance, and web tools to make your business automated whether it is in person or online.
This is a 4-week course, with weekly downloads of lectures, handouts, and resource guides in addition to weekly live sessions with Sam and Suchil Coffman. We will also give you real-life examples that we discuss in class for business methods and will go over your progress weekly, as you work through the steps of mastering the technical and legal landscape!
Part Two: Creative and Management Business Landscape
The other side of creating a successful business includes a firm understanding of the visionary and management aspects that will set you apart from others. We will cover your mission statement and vision, create short and long-term business goals for the herbal business, and help you define your niche market. We will cover the tools you need, from the branding development of your products, labels, and website, to creating a strong social media presence, pricing, and time and resource management. We’ll also discuss how to track your financial progress and how to effectively put yourself out in the community as a practicing herbalist or apothecarist while ensuring you take care of yourself too!
This is a 4 week course with a release of materials each Monday and a weekly live class scheduled with Sam and Suchil Coffman.
