5 Questions to Ask at MJBizCon if You’re Shopping for an Automated Pre Roll Machine

MJBizCon is where the cannabis industry goes to make new connections and find solutions to pain points. If you’re attending the event as a pre roll manufacturer, you probably have one specific pain point you’re hoping to address at this year’s shindig—your current pre roll machine and its inability to create a product that doesn’t hit harshly, burn unevenly, or both.

MJBizCon is the right place to search for a solution, but with 1,400 or so exhibitors on that floor, finding exactly what you’re looking for can be exhausting and time-consuming.

That’s where this guide comes in.

If you’re on the hunt for a pre roll machine at MJBizCon, use these five questions at each pre roll machine booth to get the conversation started. If you don’t like the answer to any one of these five, it’s probably not worth moving forward.

The questions are written in the order they should be asked. You’ll be able to weed out the duds pretty quickly.

Q.1) How Many Pre Rolls Can This Machine Produce?

First things first, find out exactly how many pre rolls the machine can produce. We suggest quantifying it with however many hours you intend to have the machine operational in any given shift. For example, “How many pre rolls can this machine produce in an eight-hour shift?”

They should be able to provide you with a specific number. If they can’t, or if the number they provide doesn’t meet the number you need, it’s probably time to end the conversation.

If applicable, you can always explore adding more than one machine to your operation to meet your pre roll quota, but this will create an extra layer to the cost conversation.

Q.2) What Type of Customer Support Do You Offer?

When considering adding any machinery to your operation, it’s crucial to know what type of support you have behind that machine. You need to know things like:

If the machine breaks or malfunctions, who can I call?
Who will help me install the machine? If I have questions after, can I get in touch with them again?
Who will teach me to use the machine? Is there tech and customer support for its operation?
How long is this support available? For the lifetime of the machine or for a limited time?

Bringing a new piece of machinery onboard—especially one that directly impacts your customer’s experience, like a pre roll machine—should be like adding a new business partner to your team. You should have a direct line with someone from the company who can help you for the lifetime of the machine.

Q.3) How Eco-Friendly Is This Machine?

Customers care about how the products they purchase are made. An eco-friendly pre roll machine could be a selling point for your brand, especially considering the damage so many of them are known to impart.

For pre roll machines, eco-friendly factors include:

Where the machine is made. If it has to be shipped overseas, that can create a lot of carbon emissions.
Where its consumables are made. Same note here—where are they shipping the paper and tips/crutches from?
Where its spare parts are made. If something breaks, are you going to be waiting weeks to get a replacement part shipped from the other side of the planet?
How long the machine lasts. You don’t want your hard-earned money to end up in a landfill within a couple years of purchase.

If your customer values eco-friendly practices, your brand should too.

Q.4) What Are Your Payment Terms?

If the pre roll vendor you’re speaking with at MJBizCon answered the first three questions to your liking, you’re on the right track. The next thing to consider is how payment might shake out.

Pre roll machinery is like anything else—you get what you pay for. You don’t want to overspend on a new piece of equipment and put your business in a bad spot, but you also don’t want to underspend and end up with something that doesn’t solve your problems.

Financing can address this issue, but it’s not always available in cannabis. And if it is, it can be complicated.

Get the breakdown of payment terms from the vendor. If it comes down to monthly payments, ask them if they can demonstrate how much revenue the machine may put back into your business per month to help offset paying it down.

Q.5) Do You Have Any Current Customers I Can Speak With?

Customer Award Ceremony where RollPros' clients are holding a trophy from a contest

This is how you can ensure everything they’re telling you is legit. They should have customer referrals lined up and ready to share so you can confirm the machine is worth the hype (and the price). And since you’ll be at the biggest cannabis event of the year, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to talk with those referrals in person while you’re there.

If you can’t speak with their referrals in person at MJBizCon, we recommend trying to get them on the phone versus asking them questions via email.

Once you’ve got ‘em, ask them all the same questions above—see if their experience with the vendor matches what the vendor told you it would be.

See You At MJBizCon

While you’re exploring pre roll machines at MJBizCon, come swing by the RollPros booth! Our BlackBird machine offers something no other machine at the event (or on the market) offers—it rolls pre rolls; it doesn’t stuff cones.

You can find us on the main exhibitor floor. We’ll have two BlackBirds operating, so you can see the machine firsthand, and as far as the above questions go:

✅ It can roll 900+ pre rolls/hour

✅ Working with us means gaining a business partner for life

✅ The BlackBird and its consumables are produced in the USA

✅ Financing is available

✅ We have plenty of customer referrals we can share; here’s a few to get started

Have more questions? Get in touch with us today, or come see us in December!