THE Smokers BUDDY
VOICE MESSAGE SYSTEM
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SMOKERS
BUDDY, LLC
August,
2003
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Documentation: |
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Verification of TV Test Market advertising success -- 60 Second Solutions |
The
start-up operations for Smokers Buddy, LLC are now ready to commence. Our
attorneys have filed a patent application and trademark for the Smoker’s Buddy system. At
the present time, the Company will commit itself to securing adequate funding for full operations without necessity
of resorting to debt financing.
Smokers
Buddy, LLC intends to position itself in the marketplace as a healthy alternative to the existing products in the
market. Upon
completion of the present private placement, it is the management’s goal for introduction of our product at Christmas,
and to establish Smoker’s Buddy as a leader in stop smoking products.
Our
Company intends to establish a presence, not only as a healthy alternative method to stop smoking, but to seek
out healthy alternatives in other areas of public concern.
Smoker’s
Buddy, while a for-profit corporation, intends to make a difference in serving the public. I
pledge the Company will not lose sight of its goal to serve its shareholders and the American People.
Smokers Buddy, LLC is a newly formed Limited Liability Corporation offering a stop smoking product utilizing innovative
voice technology. Unlike
the primary competition in the stop smoking market, Nicorette gum and NicoDerm CQ patch, Smoker’s Buddy seeks to
stimulate the thought process rather than trade a smoking addiction for a more expensive nicotine addiction. Marketed under the Smoker’s Buddy
brand name, the voice message system combined with attractive cigarette case is designed to:
Enable smokers
to consciously consider at point of impulse the health-destructive implications of lighting up. Facilitate the smoker’s ability
to cut back and quit by taking control over his/her own destiny.
Utilize natural
human speech, in place of subliminal message employed by hypnotists, providing an in-your-face message every time
the smoker reaches for a cigarette.
Tie together
the friends and family of smokers as a support group to encourage the smokers’ continued use of Smoker’s Buddy
and provide positive reinforcement of smokers’ ability to take control, cut back and quit.
Provide through
upgrades of Smoker’s Buddy more precise messages geared to the individual smoker using Smoker’s Buddy.
Smoker’s Buddy has a patent on
the unique and revolutionary combination of utilizing a voice message delivered at point of impulse when reaching
for a cigarette upon opening the cigarette case. The
message forces smoker to consider health and family consequences each and every time he/she elects to light up
a cigarette. The
Company believes that the continuing bombardment of voice messages every time one reaches for a cigarette will
have a positive effect on every thinking man or woman and assist their taking control over the smoking urge and
ultimately quit. If
you think about it each time, it really makes no sense, and the smoker can decide to quit.
The Company’s objective is to become
a leading provider of stop smoking products in the wholesale and retail markets. Smoker’s
Buddy Inc. will initially utilize a direct sales campaign via television to establish name identification with
the goal of getting into existing retail outlets, Internet sales sites and direct sales television commercials
has been determined by the Board of Directors as best suited for initial distribution to the public. Ultimately, the Company intends
to position itself for sale to a national or global corporation seeking to increase domestic sales and customer
base, or another corporation seeking name recognition with a high profile product serving to enhance public health
and extended quality of life.
Smokers Buddy was conceived and
designed as an alternative to the high cost stop-smoking products, many of which seemingly trade a smoking addiction
for a more expensive nicotine addiction. Smoker’s
Buddy is directed and designed to make the smoker think about what he or she is doing and help them quit. Many if not most of smokers who
quit will likely tell you they finally made up their minds and quit.
Smokers Buddy forecasts rapid and
substantial growth based upon execution and implementation of the strategies outlined in this business plan. The first year in business, once
sales of the Smoker’s Buddy system has commenced, the company intends to post revenues based upon 1% market penetration,
resulting in a pre-tax profit of $22,800,000. For the second and third years, the company forecasts revenues of
2% market penetration and 3% market penetration, with pre-tax profits of $45,600,000 and $68,400,000 respectively. (See
Forecasts at page 21 of this Business Plan).
THE
COMPANY
Smokers
Buddy, LLC,
a
Smoker’s Buddy has received a patent
for its unique voice message delivered at point of impulse when opening a cigarette case. It
is believed that getting Smokers Buddy to the marketplace, utilizing this unique voice message system, shall afford
significant advantages in capturing market share and establishing name identification for its product in a marketplace
where primary competition is from products pushing addictive nicotine-based treatment as an acceptable solution.
The present marketplace is saturated
with products that offer little more than trading a smoking addiction for an expensive nicotine addiction. Examples are Nicorette gum and
NicoDerm CQ patches that generated $570,000,000 for their manufacturer in 1999. A
nicotine drink has recently been introduced into the marketplace. Hypnotists
have experienced some success in breaking the smoking habit using subliminal suggestions. Smokers
Buddy is designed to utilize an “in-your-face” voice message system, delivered at point of impulse. This will insure conscious thought
by the smoker about what having a cigarette is doing to his/her health and family.
The Company shall derive its revenue
and profit by sales of the initial Smokers Buddy product capitalizing upon a marketplace demand for stop smoking
products. Additional
revenue and profit, likely greater than initial sales of the Smokers Buddy system, are projected from continuing
purchases of Smokers Buddy.
Smokers Buddy will be introduced
to the marketplace as a healthy and cost-effective alternative to existing products substituting destructive nicotine
into the system rather than smoke. Our
answer is to provide, 24/7, a voice message system that will force the smoker to think each time they reach for
a cigarette and to consciously decide it’s time to cut back and quit.
OBJECTIVES
AND OVERALL STRATEGY
The Company’s objective is to become
a leading global provider of health and non-addictive stop-smoking
products. Out
Management Team believes this can be accomplished through the introduction of our unique voice message system directed
to the smoker’s conscious thought processes and specifically designed to activate at the point of impulse when
the smoker reaches for a cigarette. Smokers
Buddy’s battery powered voice message unit is projected to carry a charge for approximately 60 days, depending
on the number of activations by the smoker. The
Company views this two-month life as a financial bonanza insuring continuing
sales and revenue from users purchasing new replacement units. Ultimately,
the Company would like to position itself for sale or merger with a foreign or domestic Company based upon projected
or existing revenues. A
buy out from Pharmaceutical companies in the stop-smoking market, if Smokers Buddy is perceived as posing a potential
for securing even a modest market penetration, is believed to represent more than a remote possibility. With the excessive price of around
$50.00 for nicotine based gum or patch, a $29.95 electronic Smokers Buddy that lasts around 60 days will pay for
itself.
Smokers
Buddy, LLC
intends to accomplish its objectives by executing the following strategies and tactics:
Build “Smokers
Buddy” into a distinct brand identity for stop-smoking products, establish a positive image reflecting the Company’s
commitment to the public health, and secure documentation confirming Smokers Buddy’s unique voice message system
at point of impulse is effective. License
select companies to retail their brand name as Smokers Buddy.
Secure celebrity
participation in providing voice for the Smokers Buddy message units to enhance effectiveness and marketing of
product. Celebrity
participation would allow targeting smokers, such as under-age smokers, by selection of the celebrity. The company will compensate celebrities
directly based upon unit sales or by donation to an agreed charity.
The television
commercials will initially be presented by professional actors specializing in commercials. As brand identification in Smokers
Buddy’s sales numbers affording a higher degree of acceptance, the management feels celebrity participation in
combating the nation’s #1 health crisis, according to C. Everett Koop, will inspire and motivate well-known celebrities
to participate in delivering this life-saving message to the general public.
Management
intends for the smokersbuddy.com website to be identified in every commercial airing that is run on television. It is deemed vital that internet
sales be one of the sales tools that must not be overlooked in our attempt to market Smokers Buddy to the public. Internet sales have evidenced a
steady increase in both volume and public acceptance which management believes will become a major revenue source
in the future for new products.
SMOKERS
BUDDY
The Company’s stop smoking products
have been designed to introduce a non-addictive - drug-free product line into the stop smoking market that does
not require trading a smoking addiction for an equally or more expensive nicotine addiction. First priority is to establish
name identification in the retail market of our in-house units sold under our Smokers Buddy brand name. The second priority will be the
management team insuring that initial purchasers of Smokers Buddy continue to use our product and purchase replacement
Smokers Buddy units. A
common infrastructure will support manufacture of all products offered to the public.
Smokers Buddy’s product strategy
is to develop name recognition for its unique health-conscious alternative stop-smoking system. This product shall deliver a non-addictive
way to quit smoking. An
additional element of the Company’s market penetration strategy is to license high-end retailers to sell Smokers
Buddy under their designer names. The
Company perceives its product as uniquely suited for targeting specific age groups, such as teen-aged smokers,
through celebrity participation in voicing the messages delivered by Smokers Buddy.
Each Smokers Buddy will have up
to 5 individualized messages lasting up to 5 seconds in duration. These messages need only to be voiced on a computer
disk.
The company
projects, start to finish, less than 15 minutes will be required to voice the messages on a standard computer disk. The limited time demand for voicing
a celebrity message should encourage their willingness to provide voice messages. Celebrity
participation would likely enhance the impact of the stop smoking message on smokers.
The Smokers Buddy voice message
system was designed and conceived to stimulate the thought process to interrupt and allow the smoker to delay having
a cigarette at the moment of impulse. Multiple
anti-smoking messages, voiced upon opening the cigarette case, provide incentive to delay, cut-back and ultimately
quit the smoking habit. Smokers
Buddy helps smokers to cut-back and provides savings from cigarette purchases that will more than pay for the cost
of the Smokers Buddy system. Cut
back a pack a day and Smokers Buddy will pay for itself in one week!
OPERATIONS
EXISTING
STATUS OF OFF-SHORE
The Company shall outsource manufacturing,
assembly and packaging of its product offshore. Management
has negotiated and secured written commitment for the fully assembled and packaged Smokers Buddy system at an acceptable
unit price. This
information is deemed confidential and will be made available to prospective investors upon request and execution
of documentation agreeing to hold such information in confidence. The
confidential unit costs of the Smokers Buddy system provides documentation relevant to evaluation of the Company’s
financial forecast.
ORDER PROCESSING
AND
A computerized bar coding program
will allow the company to track and distinguish royalty earnings between the celebrities who voice messages. The company will pay quarterly
royalty payments to the celebrity or make a donation to their designated charity in their name. Payments will be based upon an
agreed per-unit royalty and the amount reflective of the celebrity’s voice unit popularity at the marketplace.
Management believes celebrity participation
with Smokers Buddy is virtually assured and evidenced by the magnitude of charitable causes sponsored by celebrities
and witnessed by the public every day. The
Company projects that many of the participating celebrities would likely appear on television talk show programs
with their particular Smokers Buddy. The
Company will consider matching the celebrity donation to any charity as a further inducement for their participation. Celebrity voices for the Smokers
Buddy units will be added as an upgrade after initial market entry with a direct sales program.
BILLING
AND COLLECTION
The Company shall use standard
computer software to insure prompt and timely delivery of the Smokers Buddy units. Electronic
coding shall allow computer tracking of shipments from point of manufacture to point of destination. Point of sale coding shall provide
identification of particular unit sales, quantity of sales and facilitate the Company maintaining adequate inventory
of Smokers Buddy units. This
electronic coding is intended to maximize Company’s benefit from present computer technology, reduce employee costs
and simplify accounting procedures. Our
management believes Smokers Buddy staff requirements will reflect a small fraction of other companies having far
less or equal revenues.
MARKETING
AND SALES
Smokers Buddy will position itself
as an affordable and effective entry into the stop smoking market. The
Company shall market itself as delivering a valid, health-minded, non-addictive, drug-free method for smokers to
effectively stop smoking. Beyond
that, management shall differentiate itself from other stop smoking products. The
Company shall build upon the fact that its system is unique in that it does not trade one expensive smoking addiction
for another expensive nicotine addiction. The
Company believes its marketing message has multiple target customers beyond the 60 million smokers; and, these
180 million customers are comprised of approximately 3 friends and family members concerned and motivated to assist
the individual smoker to stop smoking.
The Company also understands that
a new product acceptance is predicated upon successful education of potential customers. These
include vivid illustration of benefits, compelling demonstrations of the product in use, and comparisons highlighting
the superiority and effectiveness of the Smokers Buddy system. A
common sense approach will be the theme when Smokers Buddy is introduced into an over stimulated stop smoking market
that is reflective of the multi-billion dollar annual expenditure from public health organizations. The Company intends to capitalize
on the heightened demand for an effective stop smoking product and market Smokers Buddy as a cost effective extension
of the present public campaign delivering intelligent messages and information stimulating smokers to think of
consequences before lighting up a cigarette.
SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
Smokers Buddy will be launched
on a regional level employing a direct sales program by advertising the Smokers Buddy stop smoking system through
60 second television commercials. Every
day there are hundreds of products sold to millions of potential customers in TV land. With
60 million smokers and each smoker having three friends and family (i.e., 180 million motivated customers), sales
of Smokers Buddy are limited only by the quality of commercials and price of the product.
Management intends to deliver product
via U.P.S. mail directly to consumers upon their placing orders. The
direct sales commercials shall direct the consumers to place their orders by calling an 800 number or by ordering
directly through its website at http://www.smokersbuddy.com. The
Smokers Buddy units will be shipped from the manufacturer directly to our distribution center.
Readers of this Business Plan are
invited to view the work product and quality of our sales commercial on this website (David, put link to commercial) Entrepreneurs interested in participation and providing this life saving, drug-free alternative
to existing stop smoking products can do so by filling out the following form (David - form for potential participants) and Management will contact you for further discussion.
The sales program envisioned by
the management intends to start out at the regional level. Once
sales are generated and the commercials are perfected, management intends for the television marketing of the Smokers
Buddy system to air nationally. The
Smokers Buddy national sales program hopefully will air in at least 200 markets 4-5 times per day. Projections of 25 sales per commercial
airing are indicated by virtue of prior test market studied on the commercial that can be viewed on this website.
Smokers Buddy, LLC was formed to
facilitate raising capital for the introduction of a revolutionary new stop-smoking product into the stop-smoking
market. More
specifically, as a new entrant in the manufacturing and distribution of a new stop-smoking product, the Company
shall market its product as a natural, healthy and common sense approach for a smoker to quit smoking. The present marketplace offers
smokers, their family and friends, limited selection of products and target consumers must rely upon products that
offer a nicotine addiction as a solution for smokers to quit smoking.
The principal competitive factors
include pricing, projected effectiveness of product and destructive health considerations implicated by competing
products. More
specifically, with respect to the available stop-smoking products offered up by manufacturers, with which the Company
shall compete, the competitive factors with the greatest impact upon the Company include:
Developing
a name identification for Smokers Buddy as a healthy alternative to nicotine-based products offered by competitors
as a solution.
Establish Smokers
Buddy as a natural, healthy and effective method for smokers to reach the informed decision to quit smoking, and
that Smokers Buddy will assist smokers in developing mental control to resist smoking and quit.
Provide smokers,
their friends and family a full range of support services supporting the smokers in their commitment to quit and
establishing Smokers Buddy as a superior solution.
The $570 million (1999,
Glaxo Smithkline)
U.S. wholesale revenues generated from Nicorette gum and NicoDerm CQ patch validates the Company’s perception of
Glaxo Smithkline being the primary competitor in the stop smoking market. However,
the Company’s management further calculates that Glaxo Smithkline’s $570 million in revenues represent usage by
only a small fraction of smokers. This
calculation appears to confirm management’s belief that smokers are reluctant to embrace a health-destructive addiction
to nicotine. The
Management team firmly believes that statistics document a multi-billion stop-smoking marketplace, and over 200
million target consumers waiting for a healthy, non-addictive and effective stop-smoking product.
FEDERAL
PROGRAMS
The United States Government and
most states have taken an active role in funding anti-smoking programs. “Most
states will receive a combined average of nearly $41 billion over the next five years from their 1999 settlements
with the tobacco industry. The
mid-range of CDC’s nationwide funding estimates $14.5 billion, would account for about a third of the resources
currently available to states.” Tobacco Information and Prevention Source, “Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control
Programs,” August 1999.
See http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/bpfactssheet.hmp
State and Federal programs have focused on informing smokers of the health risks of smoking as primary strategy to implement effective stop smoking programs. Smokers Buddy intends to market itself as a more cost-effective