Who is Patrick?

Meet Patrick Bitting, Founder of Ritual Colorado!

About Ritual Colorado

Ritual Colorado is a reinvention of the traditional smoke shop. The small team, known as Canna-sumption Experts, works to educate and provide smoke-free cannabis technologies for customers. Through expert and aesthetically-pleasing design and function, the brand helps every customer discover their unique ritual, resulting in incredible experiences.

Patrick’s Journey

The concept of Ritual Colorado was born out of personal health issues that Patrick went through. After they landed him in the emergency room, his doctors suggested that he stop inhaling smoke as part of the recovery process. While he could continue to use cannabis, the amount of smoke he was inhaling caused harm to his body. The decision to change his consumption habits led him back into the dry herb vaporization world, where he realized there were some incredible products, but none of them were available in the Denver market.

“Really, it's about helping to educate people on some different ways that you can consume your cannabis and just showing customers there are other options out there,” Patrick says.

E-Commerce offers a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded people all over the world, and that’s what Patrick loves about the industry. When he launched the Ritual Colorado website, there was immediate international interest, which he found surprising. Discovering new groups of customers who share the same passions and being able to interact with them is a rewarding aspect of the business.

The Ritual Colorado Team

The company operates with the help of a small team. Some roles are outsourced with just a couple employees working for the E-Commerce website and the physical retail store. The goal, Patrick says, is to build up a team that has both of those skill sets.

The CX Philosophy at Ritual Colorado

At Ritual Colorado, customer service is at the core of everything the team does, which came from Patrick’s disappointment with the existing industry. For a lot of smoke shops, the pricing in-store was inconsistent with online prices, and customers didn’t have enough of a knowledge base to know if what they were buying was safe. This is a core problem that the team at Ritual Colorado is actively trying to solve. 

The brand’s CX philosophy starts with the team’s inventory strategy. The brand won’t carry any item that the team doesn’t use or believe in, which is the best way to keep customers safe. Furthermore, at all steps of the customer journey, the team wants to be available to customers. 

“I think in the modern E-Commerce world, one of the competitive advantages is how personal of a relationship we can have with our customers,” Patrick says. “We try to take advantage of that whenever we can.”

Going the Extra Mile

One of Ritual Colorado’s customers, a retired gentleman who lives on the East Coast, was an early supporter of the brand. During the first few months of the business, he and Patrick built a relationship over the phone. One time, he purchased an assembled kit, but one of the pieces broke. Based on his age and mobility, instead of sending him the replacement part, which is a standard solution for the company, Patrick and his team assembled a new product in-house and shipped it to the customer while paying for him to return his damaged kit to ensure the customer didn’t have to struggle with installation. 

Another customer based in California is blind and spent a lot of time chatting with the team over the phone finding solutions that are safe and practical for the visually impaired. Patrick takes the time to talk to customers about products and helps them determine which set-up is the safest and fit for their needs. 

“That’s just one area where we were willing to go outside of our normal policy to help this person out,” Patrick says. “We understand their situation and we want to make it as seamless for them as possible. That’s been one of the coolest parts of running this business… connecting with people and understanding all the different ways that people use and enjoy their cannabis.”

Ritual Colorado’s Growth Strategies

Fostering Innovation

Fostering innovation for the company begins at a level structure, Patrick says. He’s on the same level as the retail employees because they all share the same goal of trying to grow the brand. First, he creates a space where people feel free to share ideas. Then, the company continues to grow because it’s on the cutting edge of technology and works to be innovative with the products it carries. 

“In order to stay on top, we’re continually testing devices and trying things in a different way. We’re using that to build a knowledge base at the company that ultimately, we understand these products better than anyone else,” he says. “We want to be able to provide perfect personalized recommendations. The better we understand all the nuances of each [product,] the better we can set each customer up with what’s going to work perfectly for them.”

Innovation creates a fun dynamic for the business because on one side, they’re tech-focused and want to be on the cutting edge. On the opposite hand, the team wants to make Ritual Colorado’s products personal, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing for customers. 

Reinvesting into the Business

The Ritual Colorado team, along with other companies in the industry, has a unique opportunity to grow the brand before cannabis is legalized nationwide. Because of this, the brand is laser-focused on growth and is 100% in reinvestment mode as they work to expand their customer base.

“I think that it’s going to [a] heads-down focus until we either see that legalization or we see the brand go to a point where we’re happy with how it’s sustaining itself,” Patrick says.

Peak Season Strategies

Leading up to a peak season, the team mentally prepares and understands that their order volumes will likely double and regular retail operations will become busier. During peak seasons, Patrick says that the Ritual Colorado team will take care of the customer, but some other things may not have as much importance as usual. For instance, the in-store team may delay showroom improvement projects because everyone is focused on keeping up with the business online and packing customer orders. From an inventory perspective, it is crucial that the team is ready for busy periods. Last year, following their annual 420 sale an important inventory package was lost in transit for over a month. To ensure that doesn’t happen again, Patrick and his team are taking proactive measures so they have all the inventory they need during peak times.

Elevating to the Next Level

One of the main challenges for the Ritual Colorado team is marketing because they are limited in where they can promote their products. Right now, the team is focused on getting the word out to more people through a variety of social media and other channels. While they’re very fortunate to have great reviews on Google and create positive experiences in-store, the company wants to reach more people and show them there are different ways to consume cannabis. 

Advice for Entrepreneurs

Patrick advises aspiring business owners to just go for it. Although he’s a person who can plan too much and think through every potential outcome, ultimately, he wasn’t able to predict the things that are his biggest daily concerns with his company. It evolves every day. If you want to start a business, stop worrying and go for it.

“For me, just making the plunge and actually starting the business was where it felt like all of that change is additive,” he says. “We’re moving towards an end goal through all the turbulence that is starting a business.”