black sheep
/ˈblak ˈSHēp/
noun
Idiom. A nonconformist; an unusual or unconventional person, who may be rejected or disdained by others for this reason.
Business. A firm based in Maryland delivering strategy, technology, product, systems, operations, management, and business advisory services to small businesses looking for unconventional and cost-effective approaches to growing their business.
What We Do
Where you see challenges, we see opportunities for unconventional and cost-effective solutions.
Our expertise is in understanding your business and challenges and developing insights that fuel innovative solutions.
We elevate founders, executives, and leaders by propelling their brands to new heights.
Our Services
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Embark on the entrepreneurial journey with a partner who has walked in your shoes. We understand the unique demands you face, offering practical guidance to address challenges, seize opportunities, and propel your business towards growth, increased revenue, and optimized business value.
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Benefit from our extensive expertise in launching and maintaining websites and applications. From initial planning and design to ongoing updates, content management, and performance optimization, we strive to build a robust online presence that seamlessly aligns with your business goals, engages visitors, and ensures a positive user experience. Learn More
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Leverage our extensive experience in market research and competitive analysis to create a unique brand identity within your target audience. We specialize in defining your brand's distinctiveness, shaping desired consumer perceptions, and ensuring effective positioning for a lasting positive association with specific qualities. Learn More
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Utilize our wealth of experience in conceiving, designing, engineering, and launching new products and services. We guide you through every step, emphasizing innovation, design, rigorous testing, and continuous refinement. Our commitment to successful product development focuses on meeting customer needs, delivering value, and achieving your business objectives across various domains.
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Leverage our extensive experience in systematically enhancing and streamlining business operations. Our expertise focuses on improving efficiency, reducing costs, and elevating overall performance through strategic analysis, redesign, and process enhancement. We ensure seamless alignment of your operations with business objectives, delivering maximum value and sustainable success.
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Draw on our extensive expertise in analyzing, defining, and designing information systems. Our customized approach addresses business challenges, meets organizational needs, and includes a thorough study of existing systems, identification of deficiencies, and the proposal of systematic design solutions.
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We specialize in seamlessly coordinating resources, schedules, and activities to achieve precise project objectives within well-defined constraints, including time, budget, and scope.
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Tap into our extensive expertise and network to enhance your team, project, or organization. From strategic planning and design to ongoing support and optimization, we provide expertise that seamlessly aligns with your business objectives. Our goal is to augment your workforce effectively, ensuring a positive impact on your projects and overall organizational success.
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Our mindfulness training programs offer personalized and structured approaches to cultivate mindfulness in both personal and professional spheres. Whether you're seeking personal growth or aiming to enhance your leadership capabilities, our unified mindfulness training programs provide the tools and guidance you need for a more mindful and fulfilling life.
Personal
Embark on a journey of self-discovery with our structured and individualized program crafted to help you integrate mindfulness into your life. By being fully present in the moment, acknowledging thoughts without judgment, and fostering heightened awareness, you'll develop the tools to enhance your overall well-being. Our program and online sessions encompass a variety of techniques and practices tailored to fit seamlessly into your daily routine.
Professional
Specialized program designed for professionals, leaders, and teams. Elevate your well-being, focus, and leadership effectiveness through mindfulness techniques. This program is curated to help executives manage stress, enhance decision-making, and cultivate a mindful and present approach to their leadership roles. By blending mindfulness into your professional life, you can unlock new levels of success and resilience.
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Facing challenges, roadblocks, or unforeseen obstacles? Plans not unfolding as expected? Struggling to implement innovative ideas? Seeking an unconventional outside perspective or a black ops team for a robust infrastructure test? We're ready for any challenge you throw our way.
Who We Work With
We partner with visionary entrepreneurs and forward-thinking executives who lead companies or organizations with a clear mission. These leaders aspire to make a meaningful impact and strive for continuous improvement, driven by a set of core values. They are dedicated to addressing root causes rather than symptoms, operate with speed and agility, and possess a unique blend of accomplishment and open-mindedness. Our ideal clients are passionate about growing their businesses and making a positive difference in their respective fields. If you're a leader with a mission committed to growth and positive change, we are here to partner with you on your journey to success.
Our clients come in a range of sizes and backgrounds.
Launch Stage
Our approach enables us to connect with both emerging young brands and established brands at crucial stages providing essential guidance as our clients’ step into the market, develop strategies to differentiate away from competitors, their exit strategy, and encounter pivotal challenges.
Growth Stage
Growth is the cornerstone of success; we empower our clients to not only create but also stay ahead of demand. We provide expert guidance across operations, sales, marketing, supply chain, product development, distribution, and people management to ensure comprehensive and sustained growth.
Exit & Succession
We enhance and collaborate with your M&A team to secure the highest valuation possible.
Partners
We follow a philosophy of staying small, agile, and dedicated to providing outstanding consulting services, leveraging expertise in manufacturing, engineering, technology, products and services, embedded systems, and IoT. With a nimble approach, we offer cost-effective solutions for small businesses, maintaining partnerships with specialists in areas such as embedded systems, software, hardware, web + app development, marketing, and more.
Our dynamic nature is highlighted by a network of best-in-class free agents, allowing us to assemble specialized teams for each project. Choose BlackSheep for a consulting experience that combines the agility of a small team with the depth of expertise typically found in larger firms, demonstrating our commitment to excellence and collaboration aligned with your goals for business success.
Interested in joining our growing network of independent contractors and freelancers?
Meet the Founder
Bryan Slaughenhoupt
With over 28 years of experience in product development, operations, manufacturing, design, engineering, and technology, Bryan has led innovation and excellence in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of commercial products and services. As the former Vice President of Product Development and Operations at Victor Stanley, a global leader in the industry, and Founder & Chief Technology Architect at Omnivine Systems, both acquired in December 2022, he was responsible for creating, engineering, and marketing new products and services, as well as managing all processes involved in getting them to market. As a co-owner of both companies, Bryan played a vital role in assisting the founders in achieving their objective of quadrupling the company's valuation.
Bryan is also an avid inventor and technology architect, with multiple patents and awards for his designs and solutions. He has expertise in various fields, such as commercial outdoor furnishings, intelligent waste management, information technology, data management, computer networking, computer security, computer hardware, software design, systems integration, embedded systems, IoT, predictive analytics, expert systems, e-commerce, and predictive modeling and optimization. Bryan enjoys applying his skills and curiosity to solve complex problems and deliver value to customers and stakeholders. Bryan’s goal is to leverage his diverse knowledge and experience to contribute to the advancement and growth of technology, design, and business.
Bryan brings a holistic approach to problem-solving and navigating the complexities of the business world. When not immersed in problem-solving, he can often be found exploring the great outdoors through hiking with his rescue Pitbull Kiwi and cycling. These activities are not just pastimes; they serve as gateways to new perspectives and moments of clarity, providing Bryan with a sense of grounding and rejuvenation.
Deeply connected to Buddhist principles, he integrates mindfulness, compassion, and continuous learning into personal and professional life aspects. The practice of meditation is not merely a routine for Bryan but a source of inspiration and balance.
Notable Projects
Pioneered innovative intelligent waste management solution.
Architected, designed, programmed, developed, and launched Victor Stanley Relay an Internet of Things (IoT) and Software as a Service (Saas) smart city solution, which has been widely adopted across major U.S. cities and college campuses, saving customers millions of dollars annually.
Developed game-changing route optimization algorithm.
20:1 reduction in geospatial time and distance calls, essential when dealing with extensive and expensive optimizations at scale, e.g., 1500 x 1500 & greater. In addition, it considers the side of the street for both departure and destination, ensuring collection vehicles are accurately guided for real-world use cases.
Developed intelligent environmental sensing solution.
Architected and developed an IoT and SaaS system that enables precise monitoring and alerting for pedestrian activity, pollution levels, noise disturbances, and localized climate conditions, all while incorporating sustainable practices through solar power functionality.
Solved a Fortune 500 company's weighing challenges.
Developed an IoT & SaaS system for precise payload-per-dumpster monitoring. This integration results in a significant improvement in per-customer profitability (up to 15%) by accurately tracking each customer's waste disposal. It ensures that every contract precisely reflects the weight, not volume, of trash in each dumpster at the time of pickup.
Founded IoT customization & integration service provider.
Led comprehensive customization and integration services for Smart City, Campus, & Facility projects, overseeing the reselling, proof of concepts, deployments, integrations, and support worldwide, focusing on strategic innovation and system optimization for several diverse clients.
Solved a Fortune 500 company's logistics challenges.
Developed an IoT & SaaS system for precise monitoring and optimized collection of 2.5 million medical waste sharps containers. This integration leads to a substantial reduction in operating costs by ensuring that only containers requiring collection are prioritized for pickup. In-building mapping and route optimization algorithms are underway.
Worked with the Best
And so many more…
Patents & Awards
Designs & Patents
US D904,712, D804759, D710122, D711174, D722921, D735091, D783919, D899802, D904712, D910261, D952383, D785,269, D783,919, D804,759, D722,921 S, D735,091 S, D710,122 S
Patent Applications
Integrated project ranking system and target marketing workflow for efficient project ranking and management. Application number: 20130246119
System and method involve targeted processing and management of project leads and reports for marketing products and services. Leveraging analytics, data mining, and numerical weights applied to data criteria, the system identifies projects with the highest probability of requiring a company's products or services, prioritizes them based on potential returns, and facilitates real-time analysis, metrics, and workflow management.
Awards
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In partnership with Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation, and US Ignite, annually recognize global smart cities projects, honoring the most innovative and influential work. Primary categories include community engagement, digital transformation, smart mobility, urban infrastructure, and urban operations.
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The “Bright Lights Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” recognizes and celebrates innovation in the private and nonprofit sectors that strengthen Maryland’s economy, generate jobs and tax revenue and develop new ideas that more effectively deliver services and products within the marketplace. “It’s important we recognize these innovators who, through their creativity and willingness to assume risk, are changing the way we experience the world” - Comptroller of Maryland, Peter Franchot.
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What People Are Saying
"We always sought to find people who would grow with our company, add to its capabilities, and accept ever-growing responsibility. It is fair to say that in the 55 years of my involvement, no one person added as much as Bryan."
"Developing an understanding of how external data relating to the general economy, and the business cycle as it relates to the products we provided and the markets we serve, may be the most intuitive and critical of Bryan's many contributions. He was able to correlate widely available data with the future impact that data might have on our order stream, cost structure, and growth. In essence, we were able to apply complex technology to the sales, production, pricing, and future growth and profitability of relatively mundane products, using technology that Bryan either selected from available sources or developed in-house. This gave us an enormous advantage in the many markets for our products and our ability to maximize profitability."
"He became the primary director of all operations company-wide, as well as a technology innovator."
"The development of the Relay system was entirely his doing, including the managing of the software development, the hardware development, the website on which data is reported and accessed by our customers, and the data history implementation and interpretation. He gave the system capabilities to provide complex predictive analytics, which enhanced the Relay System's vast savings to client cities."
— Gerald Skalka
Former VP & Founder at Victor Stanley, Inc.
“Bryan was a strategic and unconventional problem-solver for Victor Stanley, and played a crucial role in helping the founders of VS achieve their goal of increasing the company's valuation. He was a critical part of the leadership team at Victor Stanley, and was a terrific partner to SC&H Capital in our sale process. Any business owner would benefit from having Bryan in their network, and I would 100% work with Bryan again in an M&A transaction.”
— Matthew Roberson
Managing Director at SC&H Capital
LinkedIn
“Bryan and I have worked very closely together for many years on a complex legal matter. Bryan's technical expertise (both in the computer forensics field and the site furnishings industry) has been invaluable.”
— Robert Wolinsky
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Environmental at Constellation
LinkedIn
“Bryan is a highly experienced executive with proven skills identifying and executing against core and adjacent growth opportunities within a business. His track record of implementing technology and product advancements showcases his abilities as a problem-solver and innovator. Working with Bryan is guaranteed to uncover potential and lead to positive change.”
— Iain Melville
Former CEO at Reed Construction Data, Inc.
LinkedIn
“Bryan is great to work with on a project. He is very intelligent and has a great sense of humor. He is forward thinking and uses technology in a meaningful way to help his team members succeed. He has wonderful leadership skills while invoking participation from his team.”
— Rose Schierl
Independent Contractor
LinkedIn
“I worked with Bryan on the development and deployment of IOT devices. I found Bryan to be creative and ingenious in his inventing and problem-solving. His understanding and mining of data from a large cloud database populated from IOT devices’ daily logs was better than any of my other customers.”
— Joseph Lehman
Director of Product Development & Owner at MicroTools, Inc.
LinkedIn
“Bryan is very good at taking his ideas to the limit. He has visions and gets them done. He knows computers inside and out.”
— Bruce Bender
ERP System Administrator at Dutch Valley Food Distributors Inc.
LinkedIn
In the Media
Our Process
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This step involves the initial interaction with the client. Consultants aim to understand the client's needs, challenges, and goals. It may include an introduction to the consulting services and a discussion to assess the fit between the client's requirements and the consultant's expertise.
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Once engaged, consultants gather relevant information about the client's business, industry, and specific challenges. This step involves thorough research, data collection, and analysis to gain insights into the current situation.
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Consultants work closely with the client to define the problem or opportunity at hand. This step includes clarifying the scope of the consulting engagement, setting clear objectives, and aligning expectations between the consultant and the client.
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Based on the analysis and problem definition, consultants develop potential solutions. This step involves creative thinking, strategy formulation, and the generation of actionable recommendations. Consultants often collaborate with the client during this phase to ensure alignment with their goals.
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Consultants present their findings, solutions, and recommendations to the client. This step includes a detailed discussion of the proposed strategies, potential outcomes, and the expected impact on the client's business. Feedback is collected, and adjustments may be made based on the client's input.
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Once the client accepts the proposed solutions, consultants work on developing a detailed implementation plan. This includes outlining specific steps, timelines, resource requirements, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring success during the execution phase.
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The final step involves the actual implementation of the proposed solutions. Consultants collaborate with the client to execute the plan, monitor progress, and make adjustments as needed. Regular check-ins and performance assessments ensure that the consulting engagement is on track and delivering value.
Our Values
Pursuit of Excellence & Innovation
Foster a diverse and inclusive workplace that values the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. Actively work towards eliminating discrimination and promoting equality within our organization.
Diversity & Inclusion
Foster a diverse and inclusive workplace that values the unique perspectives and contributions of every individual. Actively work towards eliminating discrimination and promoting equality within our organization.
Intellectual Freedom & Creativity
Cultivate an environment that values intellectual freedom and encourages creative thinking. Support employees in expressing their ideas and perspectives without fear of reprisal.
Commitment to Ethical Practices
Uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct in our business activities. Prioritize transparency, integrity, and honesty in all interactions with customers, employees, and partners.
Empowerment & Equality
Empower partners to reach their full potential, regardless of background or identity. Strive for equality in opportunities and outcomes, promoting a culture of fairness and inclusivity.
Social Responsibility & Impact
Demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility by actively engaging in initiatives that contribute to the well-being of communities and the environment. Actively support causes aligned with human rights, education, and social justice.
Peaceful & Collaborative Solutions
Advocate for peaceful and collaborative solutions in conflict resolution. Commit to resolving disputes through dialogue, understanding, and negotiation rather than resorting to adversarial methods.
Global Citizenship
Embrace a global perspective in our business operations, recognizing the interconnectedness of economies and societies. Actively seek opportunities for international collaboration and partnerships.
