Starting a home based soap making business can be a great idea. A lot of people are already making good money in this industry. The demand for handmade soaps and cosmetics is increasing everyday. However, it is important to know that starting a home based soap making business can be easy, but growing it and regularly generating sales can be a complex process. This guide is written for the members of the craftserver.com community. The objective of this guide is to share important tips that will help you to expand your home based soap making business. Let’s begin.
Strengthen Your Brand Identity
If you want to stand out from the crowd, then your handmade cosmetics and soaps must carry your branding. You should invest in establishing your brand, which includes making a beautiful logo that reminds people of your brand’s quality. Along with the logo, it is also important to ensure that you use excellent packaging material. Customers that prefer handmade soaps generally like eco-friendly packaging. On the packaging and the product, highlight your unique sales propositions such as organic ingredients, ayurvedic recipes, or artisan design.
Basically highlight what makes your soap different from others. To make your brand more engaging, consistently share your journey with your customers. On your website or social media pages, you can talk about the behind the scenes moments or your ideas behind different varieties of soaps that you sell.
Expand Your Product Line
In the handmade soap industry, you will be able to make a good living if you have a huge variety of product range. To increase the revenue, start offering complementary products to your customers, such as bath bombs, body scrubs, and lotions. Think out of the box and start offering products with a purpose, such as soap gift boxes for holidays or special occasions or custom soaps for weddings or corporate gifting. We suggest you start with limited batches and check the demand and then consistently refine the formulation based on the feedback that you get from your customers.
Boost Online Presence
Next is your dominance over the world wide web. Make sure that you have a website. The content on your website should be regularly updated. You can use platforms like Shopify or bigcommerce to easily create an ecommerce website. If you have some technical knowledge, then you may also try to establish a website using WooCommerce for more flexibility. Leverage the power of social media. Post on these platforms regularly. Regularly create engaging content, such as soap making videos, skincare tips, or DIY routines. If you are not tight on funds, then invest in SEO and paid ads to get faster growth.
Partner with Local Retailers
Rather than trying to sell the soaps by yourself, you should join hands with partners. Expanding into local stores is a great way of generating sales and presenting your brand to a larger audience. Your best partners will be retail stores such as boutiques, wellness businesses, salons, and gift shops. When you work with these partners, offer them wholesale offers. It is a great idea to create a small retail display kit and give it to the store owners so that your soaps appear to be more attractive to the customers.
Attend Markets and Fairs
Farmer markets and craft fairs or organic expos can be great locations for networking and business expansion. Visiting these places can help you connect directly with customers. By giving testers to random people at this location, you can get live feedback and can also make good sales.
Automate and Optimize Production
If you work with passion and give it 100%, then your business will grow; however, as it grows, it becomes important for you to automate and optimize the entire process. At this stage you should start thinking about standardizing the recipes and the process for consistency and quality assurance. To increase your profit margin, start buying raw materials in bulk. While making wholesale purchases for raw material, keep in mind the shelf life of these items. Only buy the products in quantity that can be used in a month’s time. Use batching software and order management systems to enhance business activity. If funds are not a problem, then we strongly suggest you dedicate a room or rent a small studio for larger batch production.
Offer Subscription Services
Some handmade soap manufacturers sell to their customers, as this helps in generating a steady income. You can offer monthly delivery to your customers. These subscriptions should be priced in a way that they offer discounts to the customers. You can also add an element of exclusivity by offering special edition shows only to the customers who opt for subscriptions. Make sure you add a small handwritten note to the subscription batches to personalize the experience.
Think Global (Eventually)
Once you have dominated the local and regional market, then start expanding to the International market. You can easily sell to customers in different countries by listing your handmade soaps on platforms like Etsy and amazon. Along with that, by adding an international payment gateway to your website, you can easily collect payment from global customers. When selling to customers in different countries, make sure that you comply with local regulations and guidelines.
In the end, I can say that expanding your home based soap making business is not just about increasing the production rate; it is also about growing the brand and establishing meaningful relationships with your customers. This can only be done by delivering high quality products consistently without compromise. You can start small and regularly produce and market and establish yourself as the best handmade soap brand in the world. All the best.