# ok so... when you started your soap business...?



## IanT (Oct 10, 2008)

Did you have one base recipe or a few?? how many products do you think it would be good to start with? 

My goal is to produce B&B products, Massage products and soap as well (CP...and CP whipped)..

For me I feel like money-wise it would be smarter to perfect whipped soaps because the incorporation of air means there are less ingredients per bar (i think right??) so you would probably stretch your ingredients further and gain more of a return on your investment on whipped soap... 

this is a slow process and im not saying im jumping into it ...still in that info-gathering phase but im thinking of ordering some ingredients soon since i have some money saved...


sooooo.... (thanks!)


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## Tabitha (Oct 10, 2008)

> For me I feel like money-wise it would be smarter to perfect whipped soaps because the incorporation of air means there are less ingredients per bar (i think right??) so you would probably stretch your ingredients further and gain more of a return on your investment on whipped soap...


No, I do not see this, because you sell soap by the oz. So your 4oz bar of regular soap will sell for (EX) $5.00 & your 4oz bar of whipped soap will also sell for (EX) $5.00, beacuse it taked 4oz of oil to make 4oz of soap whether you whip it or not.

The difference will be in the size of the bar. You do not get to charge for the space the air is taking up. 

If a bar of regular soap that is 4 inches X 3 inches X 1 inch thick may weigh 4oz, but a bar of whipped soap that is 4 inchesX by 3 inches X 1 inch thick will only weigh 3oz so you would not be asking as much for that 3oz bar of soap.

The flip side of that bieng, since whipped is a novelty you realy could charge more, but because of the air pockets it will last only 1/2 as long in the shower.

Does that make any kind of sense?

I would think whipped bars, being a novelty, would get more 1st time buyers, but not a lot of return customers since the bars don't last as long.

I bought a bar online & felt I got ripped of. I bought what lokked like a bath size bar & paid a standard price, $5.00 I think, It was the size of a normal bar but whimmpy on weight & lasted through 3 showers because of the air pockets.


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## IanT (Oct 10, 2008)

wowsa ... didnt think of it that way!! ... so just stick to what ive been doing i guess then... 


i do want to do some whipped soaps because of my confection experience i could make some cool designs! It reminds me of royal icing!


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## Tabitha (Oct 10, 2008)

Whipped soap is very giftable, I just don't think it's practical. 

It just depends on who you want your market to be. 

You could certainly do both. Maybe you could do a *special* 2-3 batches of limited edition whipped soap each season people could look forward too...


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## IanT (Oct 10, 2008)

thats true....

so how many base recipes/products you think i should aim for,  for launching a business?


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## Tabitha (Oct 10, 2008)

I strted w/ M&P soap & lotion bars. I felt it was importanat to have a cleanser & a moisturiser.

I have been adding & subtracting products ever since :roll: .

You might get more bang for your buck by advertising a massage oil as a multi-use massage/bath/body oil.


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## IanT (Oct 10, 2008)

thats a good idea  thanks... alright so what i think im going to do is develop one or two base recipes and maybe 4 fragrances, do CP soaps in those 3-4 scents and massage/body/bath oil in maybe 2 scents in addition to unscented. maybe add a moisturizing cream and a sugar scrub or two... maybe a chapstick or something too since the winter season is coming on...


so thatll give me
3-4 soaps
3 massage/body/bath oils 
1-2 scrubs
1-2 moisturizers

how does that sound for a start?


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## Tabitha (Oct 10, 2008)

Why wouldn't you make all 4 products in all 4 scents? 

What I do is make a 5 or 10# batch of something, split it into 2,4,6 parts & scent each one a dif scent. I does not take any additional effort or time. I can guarentee, whichever 2 scents you make the moisturiser in, they will ask for the other 2..... like children, they want what is not there. Ladies like to layer also. For soem reason most thikn their soap & lotion & scrub have to match.


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## Tabitha (Oct 10, 2008)

.... also... lip balm & lotion bars are the eact same forumla (at least mine are) if you are going to the trouble of making up lip balm you might as well make the batch larger & pour some lotion bars while you are at it...

See how this whole think could (& does) snowball real quick?


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## IanT (Oct 10, 2008)

hahaha yeahhhh thats what ive been running into , i neeeeeed to start small though so i perfect small things and then expand to more products lol


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## pepperi27 (Oct 10, 2008)

Starting out small is a good thing. I started out with only five scents and graduated to thirty! Now if my business was doing that well then great but its not so I've decided to get rid of what doesn't sell and just start smaller. I'm only going to do specific scents for certian products but the ones that will sell with everything I will make a set for if that makes sense. I've gone overboard starting with candles first then bath and body and the fire has been burning ever since!


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## Lil Outlaws (Oct 16, 2008)

I agree with offering any scents you have in all of your products. My huge scent selection is one of my selling points, and one of the things my repeat customers love; they say they keep coming back as much for the thrill of trying new scents as they do for the products.
I have over 80 right now and adding more all the time. I usually just split any batch I make into reasonable sizes and scent them each. It goes over well.

I want to learn to make solid lotion though, sounds nifty.


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## mandolyn (Oct 17, 2008)

I started out thinking I needed lots of different products, but I quickly became overwhelmed.

This is how I've progressed.

I decided to focus on CP soap. I researched, tested recipes & tested recipes until I found one that I liked. It is still my base recipe for now. I do, however, expand on that recipe by using additives. I use the base recipe & add say colloidal oatmeal, powdered milk & powdered honey. For my Mango soap, I add coconut milk powder. Well, you get the idea.

Once I had my cp recipes, I decided on which scents. I have 21 different cp soaps. I believe people like variety. Also, once I started selling, I could easily establish what sold & what didn't. In Jan, I will sit down & weed out those scents that just didn't move. Then, I'll divide my scents into seasonal scents & go from there.

Now, Im ready to supplement my soaps with a few other products. I decided to add a bath salt to match one of my soaps. Voila!! A set was born.

I added a lotion to match my top-selling soaps. I will be adding a heavier hand cream with scents to match my top-selling soaps.

I, also, will take that same hand cream & make a foot cream, take the bath salts & scent to match the foot cream & Voila!! a foot soak & cream set is born.

Just try to narrow your focus in the beginning to one or two products & you can always expand from that.

Better to have just a couple really excellent products than overwhelm yourself & end up with many just so-so products. In the beginning, you need to learn who your customers are & what they will buy.

Your customers who buy soaps, will just naturally start picking up on the matching lotions, etc.

Please, don't try to cut corners on product volume to save yourself $$. It's bad business practice & just not fair to the consumer. :wink:


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## digit (Oct 17, 2008)

I would try doing all products in all scents if possible. Divy it up like Tab said. 

As a consumer of pretty smell goods myself, I tend towards buying a line in fav scents. I want soap, lotion, shampoo, body spray, and well.....you get my drift, all in the same scent to match my mood that day.

I loved when BBW came out with the plug in room fresheners in my fav scents.

Digit


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