An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. An investor should carefully consider the following risk factors and the other information in this registration statement before investing in our common stock. Our business and results of operations could be seriously harmed by any of the following risks.
A pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the markets in which the Company operates or that otherwise impacts its facilities and customers could adversely impact the Company’s business.
If a pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease including the recent outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, or other public health crisis were to affect the Company’s markets or facilities, or its customers, the Company’s business could be adversely affected. Consequences of the coronavirus outbreak are resulting in disruptions in or restrictions on the Company’s ability to travel and hold live events. If such an infectious disease broke out at the Company’s office, facilities or work sites, its operations may be affected significantly, its productivity may be affected, and the Company may incur increased costs. If the persons and entities with which the Company contracts are affected by an outbreak of infectious disease, its live events may be delayed or cancelled, and the Company may incur increased costs. If the Company’s employees or subcontractors with whom it works were affected by an outbreak of infectious disease, the Company’s labor supply may be affected, and it may incur increased labor costs. In addition, the Company may experience difficulties with certain suppliers or with vendors in its supply chains, and its business could be affected if the Company becomes unable to procure essential equipment, supplies or services in adequate quantities and at acceptable prices. Further, an infectious outbreak may cause disruption to the U.S. economy, or the local economies of the markets in which the Company operates, increase costs associated with its business, affect job growth and consumer confidence, or cause economic changes that the Company cannot anticipate. Overall, the potential impact of a pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease with respect to the Company’s markets or its facilities is difficult to predict and could adversely impact the Company’s business. In response to the COVID-19 situation, federal, state, and local governments (or other governments or bodies) are considering placing, or have placed, restrictions on travel and conducting or operating business activities. Currently those restrictions are very fluid and evolving. the Company has been and will continue to be impacted by those restrictions. Given that the type, degree, and length of such restrictions are not known at this time, the Company cannot predict the overall impact of such restrictions on it, its customers, its subcontractors, and others with whom the Company works or the overall economic environment. As such, the impact these restrictions may have on the Company’s financial position, operating results and liquidity cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but the impact may be material. In addition, due to the speed with which the COVID-19 situation is developing and evolving, there is uncertainty around its ultimate impact on public health, business operations and the overall economy; therefore, the negative impact on the Company’s financial position, operating results and liquidity cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but the impact may be material.
Our industry may become subject to expanded regulation and increased enforcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
The FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regulates the formulation, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and distribution of food, dietary supplements, drugs, cosmetic, medical devices, biologics, and tobacco products. Our hemp-derived CBD products are not intended to be drugs. Accordingly, we have not been required to obtain FDA approval for our existing hemp-derived CBD products. Moreover, the regulatory status of hemp-derived CBD products is in a state of flux as FDA attempts to determine the appropriate manner in which to regulate these products. Thus, the regulatory approach is still evolving, and we may be required to seek FDA’s approval to market food and dietary supplements containing hemp-derived CBD. It is also possible that FDA may simply issue a regulation setting forth the conditions in which such products may be marketed, or it may simply prohibit these products. However, because FDA’s regulatory process is in its infancy, we cannot predict the likely outcome. (See preceding Section, “Government Regulation”.) In addition, the FTC under the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) requires that product advertising be truthful, substantiated, and non-misleading. We believe that our advertising meets these requirements. However, the FTC may bring a challenge at any time to evaluate our compliance with the FTC Act.
Increases in the cost of ingredients, labor and other costs could adversely affect our operating results.
Our principal products contain hemp-derived CBD oil. Increases in the cost of ingredients in our products could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Significant price increases, market conditions, weather, acts of God and other disasters could materially affect our operating results. An increase in our operating costs could adversely affect our profitability. Factors such as inflation, increased labor and employee benefit costs and increased energy costs may adversely affect our operating costs. Many of the factors affecting costs are beyond our control and we may not be able to pass along these increased costs to our customers.
We do not have long-term contracts with many of our suppliers, and as a result they could seek to increase prices or fail to deliver.
We typically do not rely on written contracts or long-term arrangements with our suppliers. Although we have not experienced significant problems with our suppliers, our suppliers may implement significant price increases or may not meet our requirements in a timely fashion, if at all. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Any prolonged disruption in the operations of any of our packaging facilities could harm our business.
Any prolonged disruption in the operations of any facilities that perform our packaging, whether due to technical or labor difficulties, destruction or damage to the facility, real estate issues or other reasons, could result in increased costs and reduced revenues and our profitability and business results could be harmed.
Loss of key personnel or our inability to attract and retain new qualified personnel could hurt our business and inhibit our ability to operate and grow successfully.
Our ability to successfully grow our brand depends on our ability to attract and retain professionals with talent, integrity, enthusiasm, and loyalty to our corporate team. If we are unable to attract or retain key personnel, our profitability and growth potential could be harmed.
We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could harm the value of our brand and branded products and adversely affect our business.
We depend on the reputation of INNO Medicinals as the vendor of high quality and unique products. Atlanta CBD’s branded products consist of bath bombs, bath salts and soaps with our unique proprietary blend of essential oils and cannabidiols. While these branded products are only 5% of sales, they help bring customers into the store. Atlanta CBD’s name, reputation and unique branded products promote a positive shopping experience. We rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and similar intellectual property rights to protect our brand and branded products. The success of our business depends on our continued ability to use our existing trademarks to increase brand awareness and further develop our branded products in both domestic and international markets. We have registered, or will register, certain trademarks in the United States and may elsewhere. We may not be able to adequately protect our trademarks and our use of these trademarks may result in liability for trademark infringement, trademark dilution or unfair competition. We may from time to time be required to institute litigation to enforce our trademarks or other intellectual property rights, or to protect our trade secrets. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could negatively affect our sales, profitability and business results regardless of whether we are able to successfully enforce our rights.
Pandemics, natural disasters and geo-political events could adversely affect the Company’s business.
Pandemics, natural disasters, including hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, tropical storms, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, weather conditions, including winter storms, droughts and tornadoes, whether as a result of climate change or otherwise, and geo-political events, including civil unrest or terrorist attacks, that affect the Company, or other service providers, could adversely affect the Company’s business.
We do not have any outside Board of Directors which could create a conflict of interests and pose a risk from a corporate governance perspective.
Our Board of Directors consists of five directors, which means that we have no outside or independent directors. The lack of independent directors may prevent the Board from being independent from management in its judgments and decisions and its ability to pursue the Board responsibilities without undue influence. For example, an independent Board can serve as a check on management, which can limit management taking unnecessary risks. Furthermore, the lack of independent directors creates the potential for conflicts between management and the diligent independent decision-making process of the Board. Furthermore, our lack of outside directors deprives our company of the benefits of various viewpoints and experience when confronting the challenges we face. With no independent director sitting on the Board of Directors, it will be difficult for the Board to fulfill its traditional role as overseeing management.
Cyber security risks and the failure to maintain the integrity of internal, partner, and consumer data could result in damages to our reputation, the disruption of operations and/or subject us to costs, fines or lawsuits.
We have and will continue to collect and retain large volumes of internal, partner and consumer data, including credit card numbers and other personally identifiable information, for business purposes, including for transactional or target marketing and promotional purposes, and our various information technology systems enter, process, summarize and report such data. We also maintain personally identifiable information about our employees. The integrity and protection of our customer, employee, and company data is critical to our business and our customers and employees are likely to have a high expectation that we will adequately protect their personal information. The regulatory environment, as well as the requirements imposed on us by the credit card industry, governing information, security and privacy laws is increasingly demanding and continues to evolve. Maintaining compliance with applicable security and privacy regulations may increase our operating costs and/or adversely impact our ability to market our products and services.
We also rely on accounting, financial and operational management information technology systems to conduct our operations. If these information technology systems suffer severe damage, disruption or shutdown and our business continuity plans do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We may face various security threats, including cyber security attacks on our data (including our vendors’ and customers’ data) and/or information technology infrastructure. Although we utilize various procedures and controls to monitor and mitigate these threats, there can be no assurance that these procedures and controls will be sufficient to prevent penetrations or disruptions to our systems. Furthermore, a penetrated or compromised data system or the intentional, inadvertent or negligent release or disclosure of data could result in theft, loss, fraudulent or unlawful use of customer, employee, or company data which could harm our reputation or result in remedial and other costs, fines or lawsuits and require significant management attention and resources to be spent. In addition, our insurance coverage and indemnification arrangements that we enter into, if any, may not be adequate to cover all the costs related to cyber security attacks or disruptions resulting from such events.
Risks Relating to Our Financial Condition
All businesses are affected by an unstable economy.
Even though there may be downturns in the economy, consumers will always need essential goods and services regardless of the economy. However, economic downturns almost inevitably signal cutbacks in overall spending, which would translate specifically to us as decreased revenue, if any, as we expect that part of our income stream will be commissions on customer purchases and interest on customers’ balances.
We have a limited operating history and operate in a new industry, and we may not succeed.
The consumer products business is a highly competitive and risky business, and such competition from companies much bigger than us could adversely affect our operating results.
We compete with many national, regional, and local businesses. We could experience increased competition from existing or new companies in our channel, which could create increasing pressures to grow ours. If we are unable to maintain our competitive position, we could experience downward pressure on prices, lower demand for our products, reduced margins, the inability to take advantage of new business opportunities and the loss of channel share, which would have an adverse effect on our operating results. Other factors that could affect our business are:
Our financial statements may not be comparable to those of other companies.
Pursuant to Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, we have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards under Section 102(b)(2) of The JOBS Act. This election allows us to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates, and our stockholders and potential investors may have difficulty in analyzing our operating results if comparing us to such companies.
The success of our new and existing products and services is uncertain.
We have committed, and expect to continue to commit, significant resources and capital to develop and market existing product enhancements and new products. We cannot assure you that we will achieve market acceptance for all of our products, or of new products that we may offer in the future. Moreover, these new products may be subject to significant competition with offerings by new and existing competitors. In addition, new products and enhancements may pose a variety of challenges and require us to attract additional qualified employees. The failure to successfully develop and market these new products or enhancements could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We cannot predict our future capital needs and we may not be able to secure additional financing.
We will need to raise additional funds in the future to fund our working capital needs and to fund further expansion of our business. We may require additional equity or debt financings, collaborative arrangements with corporate partners or funds from other sources for these purposes. No assurance can be given that necessary funds will be available for us to finance our development on acceptable terms, if at all. Furthermore, such additional financings may involve substantial dilution of our stockholders or may require that we relinquish rights to certain of our technologies or products. In addition, we may experience operational difficulties and delays due to working capital restrictions. If adequate funds are not available from operations or additional sources of financing, we may have to delay or scale back our growth plans.
Our annual and quarterly financial results are subject to significant fluctuations depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control, which could adversely affect our ability to satisfy our debt obligations as they become due.
Our sales and operating results can vary significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include:
Consequently, our results of operations may decline quickly and significantly in response to changes in order patterns or rapid decreases in demand for our products. We anticipate that fluctuations in operating results will continue in the future. The Company’s operating results may vary. We may incur net losses. The Company expects to experience variability in its revenues and net profit. While we intend to fully implement our business plan, we may experience net losses. Factors expected to contribute to this variability include, among other things:
You should further consider, among other factors, our prospects for success in light of the risks and uncertainties encountered by companies that, like us, are in their early stages. For example, unanticipated expenses, problems, and technical difficulties may occur and they may result in material delays in the operation of our business, in particular with respect to our new products. We may not successfully address these risks and uncertainties or successfully implement our operating strategies. If we fail to do so, it could materially harm our business to the point of having to cease operations and could impair the value of our common stock to the point investors may lose their entire investment.
As we expand our operations, we may be unable to successfully manage our future growth.
Since inception, our business has grown. This growth has placed substantial strain on our management, operational, financial and other resources. If we are able to continue expanding our operations in the United States and in other countries where we believe our products will be successful, as planned, we may experience periods of rapid growth, which will require additional resources. Any such growth could place increased strain on our management, operational, financial and other resources, and we will need to train, motivate, and manage employees, as well as attract management, sales, finance and accounting, international, technical, and other professionals. In addition, we will need to expand the scope of our infrastructure and our physical resources. Any failure to expand these areas and implement appropriate procedures and controls in an efficient manner and at a pace consistent with our business objectives could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Any future litigation could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, particularly since we do not currently have director and officer (“D&O”) insurance. Our lack of insurance may also make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers. While we intend to apply for D&O insurance, we cannot guarantee that such application will be accepted.
Despite our significant efforts in product quality control, we face risks of litigation from customers and others in the ordinary course of business, which may divert our financial and management resources. Any adverse litigation or publicity may negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
Claims of illness or injury relating to product quality or handling are common in the consumer products industry. While we believe our processes and high standards of quality control will minimize these instances, there is always a risk of occurrence, and so despite our best efforts to regulate quality control, litigation may occur. In that event, our financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be harmed.
From time to time we may be subject to litigation, including potential stockholder derivative actions. Risks associated with legal liability are difficult to assess and quantify, and their existence and magnitude can remain unknown for significant periods of time. To date we have no directors and officers liability (“D&O”) insurance to cover such risk exposure for our directors and officers. Such insurance generally pays the expenses (including amounts paid to plaintiffs, fines, and expenses including attorneys’ fees) of officers and directors who are the subject of a lawsuit as a result of their service to the Company. While we intend to attempt to obtain such insurance, there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so at reasonable rates or at all, or in amounts adequate to cover such expenses should such a lawsuit occur. While neither Delaware law nor our articles of incorporation or bylaws require us to indemnify or advance expenses to our officers and directors involved in such a legal action, we expect that we would do so to the extent permitted by Delaware law. Without D&O insurance, the amounts we would pay to indemnify our officers and directors should they be subject to legal action based on their service to the Company could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. Further, our lack of D&O insurance may make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers, which could adversely affect our business.