Is the business of soap making profitable?
I am currently in a women's home and we are trying to find ways to involve the women in bringing income to the home. An idea was selling home-made soaps. Do you sell your soaps? Is it a profitable business?
Answer:As with any business, it is only as successful as the business owner makes it.
Though I have sold my soaps in the past, I admit to not having a head for business. You have to remember that even if you are able to make an outstanding product, that doesn't mean you have the skills to turn a profit. For me, it was very difficult to be the sales person. I had no trouble with the creativity and with the organizing but selling is not my forte. Unfortunately I was the only one there to do it.
With your situation, you will have an advantage. You have a group of women to pool your skill sets from. The creative ones can make the soap. The detail oriented ones can plan packaging and displays. Those good at selling can handle markets and fairs.
You could also incorporate into your selling plan the fact that you are doing this to better the lives of women. This gives the purchasers of your soap the great product they want and the good feeling you get from helping out.
A couple of suggestions:
Keep the soaps simple if you can. Though my site shows lots of neat ideas, some of them are quite time consuming. The longer it takes to make a soap the higher the price it needs to be sold at in order to make a profit.
Stick to a few varieties. Don't have a huge selection. No matter how many varieties you make, the public will ask for something you don't have. You cannot please everyone. If you keep your selection down to a dozen or less, you can keep your inventory of ingredients down.
Soap ingredients can be expensive but if you keep the base oils to a select few, you can buy them in larger quantites and that is where you will save money.
Good luck,
Cathy