CANNAINVESTOR Magazine August / September 2017 | Page 217

The cannabis industry is a new and emerging industry with no historical performance. There are no Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) for the cannabis industry. However, there are some key metrics investors can look at to decide what is a good cannabis company and a bad cannabis company.

CASH

A good cannabis company must have cash to scale or grow. Without cash a cannabis company is not being honest to itself and investors about actually executing its growth strategy. A company's cash balance can be found on its balance sheet.

Cash is also known as money, in physical form. Cash usually includes bank accounts and marketable securities, such as government bonds and banker's acceptances. Although cash typically refers to money in hand, the term can also be used to indicate money in banking accounts, checks or any other form of currency that is easily accessible and can be quickly turned into physical cash.

Cash in its physical form is the simplest, most broadly accepted and reliable form of payment, which is why many businesses only accept cash. Checks can bounce and credit cards can be declined, but cash in hand requires no extra processing. However, it's become less common for people to carry cash with them, due to the increasing reliance on electronic banking and payment systems.

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