Microbusiness (Micro license)

What This Covers

• What a microbusiness license allows
• License limits and structural restrictions
• Prohibited activities
• Premises, buildout, and compliance requirements

What You’re Licensed to Do

A microbusiness license authorizes four activities under one operation:

• Cultivate cannabis within OCM-defined canopy limits
• Process and package products made from your own harvest
• Distribute only the products you manufacture
• Sell those products at your own licensed retail location

Microbusinesses operate as a closed system.
Every product sold must originate from cannabis you cultivated and processed yourself.

You may not source products from other licensees or sell products to outside retailers.

License Limits and Restrictions

Micro's are intentionally capped to prevent large-scale vertical integration.
These limits are set by regulation and are enforced closely.

Cultivation Canopy Limits

Microbusiness cultivation is strictly capped.

A microbusiness may cultivate no more than:

• 10,000 square feet of indoor flowering canopy, or
• 25,000 square feet of outdoor flowering canopy, or
• An approved combination of indoor and outdoor canopy that does not exceed the allowable equivalent

Key rules that apply to all microbusiness cultivation:

• Canopy is measured as flowering canopy only
• Vegetative, propagation, drying, curing, storage, and processing areas do not increase allowed canopy
• Temporarily exceeding canopy limits is a violation
• Canopy limits are verified using floor plans, plant counts, and tracking data

Cultivation activity must match the canopy limits approved by the regulator.

Processing and Manufacturing Limits

A microbusiness may process and manufacture cannabis products only from cannabis it cultivated itself.

This includes:

• Drying and curing flower
• Trimming and packaging
• Manufacturing products such as pre-rolls and infused products

You may not:

• Accept biomass or cannabis from other licensees
• Manufacture products for other brands
• White-label or contract manufacture

All processing activity must align with approved equipment, approved layouts, and written operating procedures.

Distribution Restrictions

Microbusiness distribution is limited to self-distribution only.

You may transport your own products only to your own licensed retail location.

You may not:

• Distribute products to other dispensaries
• Act as a wholesale distributor
• Transport or store products for other licensees

Distribution records and transport activity are reviewed during inspections.

Retail Restrictions

A microbusiness may operate one retail dispensary location.

You may sell only products you cultivated and processed yourself.

You may not:

• Operate more than one storefront
• Franchise or license your brand
• Sell products made by other licensees

Retail inventory must reconcile with cultivation and processing records in the state tracking system.

Ownership and Control Restrictions

Microbusinesses are subject to strict ownership and control rules, including:

• True Party of Interest disclosure requirements
• Limits on cross-ownership with other adult-use cannabis license types
• Eligibility rules where applicable

You may not hold, control, or influence any other adult-use cannabis license, or accept undisclosed management, financing, or control arrangements.

Undisclosed control is a compliance violation.

What You Cannot Do

A microbusiness license does not allow you to:

• Purchase cannabis or manufactured products from other licensees
• Sell or transfer products to outside retailers or distributors
• Operate more than one licensed location
• Share licensed premises with another licensee
• Hold, invest in, or influence any other cannabis license type
• Expand into wholesale distribution or multi-location retail

This license is built for independence, not scale.

If you want brand expansion, contract manufacturing, wholesale distribution, or multi-location retail, you need a different license type.

Premises, Buildout, and Compliance Requirements

Even though activities fall under one license, a microbusiness must comply with four separate regulatory functions.

Your premises must demonstrate:

Facility Layout

• Physical separation between cultivation, processing, distribution, and retail areas
• A layout that exactly matches plans approved by the regulator

Security

• Continuous video surveillance across all operational areas
• Secure storage for cannabis, cash, and finished products
• Alarm systems and controlled access

Tracking and Records

• End-to-end inventory tracking from cultivation through final sale
• Accurate reconciliation across all activities

Documentation

• Written operating procedures for each function
• Staff training records
• Incident, recall, and inventory controls

A microbusiness is effectively running four license types at once.

Buildout planning, staffing, and documentation must reflect that complexity.

What Operators Usually Miss

• You cannot supplement inventory with outside products
• Each operational area is inspected independently
• SOP gaps in one function affect the entire license
• Facility changes require approval before implementation
• METRC errors compound across cultivation, processing, and retail

When This Comes Up

• During site selection and facility design
• When applying for licensure
• During buildout and pre-opening inspections
• When staffing across multiple operational roles
• During audits or compliance reviews

What Happens If You Ignore This

Because microbusinesses touch every part of the supply chain, enforcement risk is higher. Noncompliance can result in:

• Forced reduction of operations
• Product quarantine or destruction
• Fines and enforcement actions
• License suspension or revocation
• Inability to renew or modify the license

Related OCM Licensing Section Pages

• Adult-Use Retail License
• Processor License
• Distributor License
• Cultivator License
• Delivery License
• Registered Organization (Medical)

Source Material‍

• Licensing (OCM)
• Adult- Use Licensing
• Rules by License Type