About Us

Expand Your Income Potential Think Inside The Box
The Black Box Barber Caddy® is the first of its kind to allow Barber Shops and Salons servicing male clients the opportunity to purchase hair care products during their routine appointments. Specializing in products for men, The Black Box Barber Caddy® saves clients time and extra trips while also benefiting owners because of its Self-service operation. Male clients will appreciate the convenience of having all of their staple hair care products at their fingertips and owners can experience the satisfaction of being the one place for all of their clients’ hair care needs.

LEGAL FORM OF OWNERSHIP
The Black Box Distribution, Inc. – The company’s primary business activities will include advertising, distribution of vending machine kiosks, and product distribution. Management intends to market its services and products to manufactures, barbershop owners and companies seeking to reach a large demographic of African Americans in areas where they work and live through: Place-Based Media Advertising  Distribution of Vending Machine Kiosks  Men Health and Beauty Grooming Products.

African American men have unique hair and skin issues not yet addressed by the beauty industry. Because of its texture and growth pattern, African American men are likely to battle with small bumps on the face commonly known as ingrown hairs, or razor bumps, often from shaving. African American men are also prone to hyper pigmentation (dark spots) and dry skin. The Black Box Barber Caddy will include grooming products specifically designed to address many of the hair and skin problems faced by African American men, and what better place to locate the kiosk then in a barbershop. Specifically, because most men do not shop in beauty supply stores for grooming products, and some rely solely on their female companions to purchase many of the products they use.

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the owners of The Black Box Barber Caddy (TBBBC) is to be the leading supplier in quality, affordability, and convenience in the African American men grooming, skin and hair care product market. Through close supplier and customer contact, coupled with excellent relationships, the company will meet and exceed the needs of its customers.

KEY STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING THESE MARKETS INCLUDE
Use of up-to-date research that will help the company match customers with the right product mix, understand customer’s usage pattern, as well as why the customer uses the product. ● Development of product assortments that address trends.

● Implementation of merchandising strategies that create an exceptional shopping experience for customers. ● Key marketing tools that generate sales and foot traffic, as well as conveying a positive image to The Black Box Barber Caddy and product brands. ● Development of a benchmark and scorecard that will track the product success and failure, as well as key statistics based on similar companies and brand products.

PLACE-BASED MEDIA ADVERTISING
The company intends to partnership with major beauty manufactures and will offer place-based media advertising that can be used to geo-target specific audiences by market, zip code, neighborhood, radius, county, etc., and will be available in various configurations up to 10 showings per machine. This type of advertising can be most affected where other advertising mediums cannot, and reach the elusive “on the go” consumer. Based on current research, consumers typically shop 1-2 miles of where they live and work and re-visit 3 -5 five times a month. Additionally, this type of advertising will allow companies to reach more people compared to standard billboards and print media.

DISTRIBUTION OF VENDING MACHINE KIOSKS
The Black Box Barber Caddy is an income-producing asset that is used as a self-service vending kiosk that offer customers access to their favorite hair and skin care products. As this business plan evolves, many updated features will be added to include customer product awareness, product application, application details, product recommendations, and even trial samples. The Black Box Barber Caddy kiosk is a vending machine privately-owned by The Black Box Distribution, Inc. Corporation. The kiosk machines will be assembled, packed, and shipped from a small warehouse in a mixed-use area of Macon Georgia. The Black Box Barber Caddy ideal vending partners are barbershop owners who are determined to accelerate their revenue, differentiate themselves from other barbershops in the marketplace, provide more value to their customers, and increase profitability

Product Strategy
TBBBC will provide a variety of men’s grooming and skin care products of high quality, which will consist of shaving creams, razors, electric shaving, brushes, and skin care products. The Company has researched the most popular brands of men products. As the company grows, more products will be introduced in the kiosks.

Distribution Channels
The Company has identified key locations throughout the United States to launch its products. Each location will be set up a warehouse and distribution facility to receive, package, and ship the inventory to the customers. Currently, we have 10 locations strategically identified for our Confidential /Proprietary initial launch. Other locations will come on-board as cash flow increases.

Promotional Strategy
TBBBC will communicate with suppliers and customers in several different ways. Information about TBBBC as well as its products is available via online, direct mailings, and in person. The Company’s marketing initiatives will also try to differentiate its products from those of its opponents. Nontraditional promotion techniques that require little cash and a lot of creativity also lend themselves perfectly to TBBBC. Discounts, coupons, and social media will also be used to attract and maintain customers.

ADDITIONAL KEYS TO SUCCESS IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MARKET INCLUDE
Specializes in African American products. ● Conducts annual planning sessions with top manufacturers to maximize advertising and marketing initiatives. ● Operates distribution centers in Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio. ● Maintains a strong working relationship with Field Management. ● Has the best service coverage in all African American markets. ● Provides a dedicated Account Management Team.

Inventories will be kept to a minimum to increase turnovers. ● Creates a one-stop shopping experience with one point of contact.

Ask most people to define the vending industry and they are likely to mention soda, chips and candy. While these products are still a staple in the industry, the truth is that a revolution in technology has transformed vending into a $42 billion industry specializing in convenience and fresh products. Today male consumers can use Barber Caddy to help them streamline their busy lifestyles by purchasing everything from skin care products to hair maintenance products. Advances in technology and the growth of the internet have created unlimited potential for this ultimate self-service vehicle, while more services, various payment options, and easier usage will make shopping through a Barber Caddy easier, quicker, and more reliable than ever for male consumers.

There is a huge market in the beauty industry that is not being address by mainstream beauty retailers. The overall beauty industry market is estimated at 663,300 salon and barbershop owners across the United States and territories. This $48.1 billion hair industry has expanded over the past five years, due to robust consumer spending on discretionary personal care products and services with expected revenue to increase at an annualized rate of 2.0%. Additionally, there are over 23 million African American church members who are affiliated with a major denomination, such as African Methodist Episcopal Church, National Baptist Convention, Church of God in Christ, as well as other denominations. Finally, there is over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities with a student population of over 370,000.

There is clearly a lot of room where Black Box Distributor, Inc. can come in and address this void by bridging the two markets with The Black Box Barber Caddy. There is a significant trend, especially for an already established barbershop owner to offer products to their customers, so the Barber Caddy itself is just one more extension of the brand. Using Barber Caddy, barbershop owners can track sales and inventory online, avoiding excessive trips to restock inventory and helping determine hot sellers.

The timing could not be better for the company to merge these two multi-billion dollar industries with a product such as TBBBC. Already, vending machines are used to sell everything from $2 shaving kits to $400 electronics, building familiarity with consumers. It is not difficult to imagine barbershop customers embracing the utility of making a purchase through a vending machine, especially when so many are comfortable shopping online with a computer.

The company intends to enter the market through a minimum viable product. The approach to minimum viable product is that TBBBC has just enough features that allow the company to ship to early adopters whom resonate with the product, willing to pay money to acquire, and give feedback.

Pricing Strategy
As previously mentioned in this plan, TBBBC products price points will sell slightly higher due to the nature of the service we provide to customers. However, we intend to monitor costs and sale prices with the competitors in mind. The company will be purchasing in bulk, which reduce cost in the long run. Our price points will vary slightly depending on the markets we sell in, to account for various localities and economic factors.