Blind Barber, Local NYC Bar x Barber Shop Turned Global Men's Grooming Brand
Adam Kirschenbaum, Founder and COO of Blind Barber, not only expanded his first bar/barber shop concept in New York's East Village to four new cities and seven locations, but also productized Blind Barber's brand story into a global grooming product line.
As a salon owner or service provider, you've probably discovered by now that scaling your service-based business is much more complex than simply opening new locations and acquiring more happy clients. It also entails entering new markets and creating new revenue streams that aren't limited to the surrounding population of your physical location.
Adam Kirschenbaum, Founder and COO of Blind Barber, not only expanded his first bar/barber shop concept in New York's East Village to four new cities and seven locations, but also productized Blind Barber's brand story into a global grooming product line that "combines high quality ingredients, their barbers' expertise and natural ingredients from their favorite spirits like hops and juniper berry."
In this interview, Adam shares his biggest lessons in how to refine and successfully launch your brand in new international markets, structure distributor relationships, and to always remain aligned to your brand "tribe" and values when deciding on new international partner relationships.
Topics and timestamps
BRAND STORY
- 1:00 — How Blind Barber Got Started
- 2:19 — The Connection Between the Bar and Its Relation to Blind Barber Products
INTERNATIONAL MARKET ENTRY AND SALES
- 4:00 — Examples of Variations in Product Line Offerings Depending On The Market
- 4:48 — Blind Barber's First International Distributor Engagement and Sales Outcomes
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONSHIPS
- 7:01 — Distributor Contract Structure
- 8:12 — Distributor Not Making Payments
- 9:33 — Blind Barber's Approach to Pricing and Map Control
- 10:12 — Example of One Contract Breach of a Mexico Distributor
ADVICE AND TAKEAWAYS FOR SMBS
- 12:55 — Find a passionate, interested partner/distributor.
- 13:37 — Vet the partner to ensure that they're legitimate.
VANBASSADOR TAKEAWAYS
- Finding the right overseas partner is about who gets your brand, has the right voice in the market, has a good reputation among similar brands, and pays you on time.
- Even if you get started with a poor performing distributor, if you have the right legal parameters in place, you can separate yourself from a bad deal.
- Try not to lock yourself into in-country distributor deals online.
- Be global curious. If you're out there sharing your passion with the world, you will likely find new partners for the long-term.
- Find your tribe. Don't underestimate the value of your story or your geography.
UPDATE — DECEMBER 16, 2020
After my initial pre-pandemic chat with Adam, I followed up to get an update on how the Blind Barber team was navigating the constantly changing restrictions and devastating effects of the pandemic. Despite drastically reducing their weekly foot traffic, they still managed to end the year strong by DOUBLING their previous year's online sales.