Seeking recommendations: soap *business* books

[Ammanley]

I’m interested in more books that can help with my soapmaking business. I have read, looked through a handful of books about actually making soap, but I’m more interested in reading about tips for starting a business. Can anyone recommend some business-y books (either soap-related or not)?

Here are some books I have or have read, either fully or partly, but I’m interested in hearing what others think:

Small Business Startup Kit - detailed and easy to read. Lots of food for thought.

Mind your Business - empowering, and especially helpful to get me thinking about branding. Great interactive structure too.

Marie Gale’s Soap and Cosmetic Labeling and Good Manufacturing Practices - both are great. Especially the good practices book. (I also have Suzanne Carpenter’s book on labeling, I just haven’t read it)

Small Business for Dummies - this was a good helpful starting book.

Ultimate Guide to a Soapmaking Business Empire - half of the book is about making soap so this might
be more helpful for newbies.



Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[TheGecko]

I would recommend the SBA (small business administration) and checking with your local community college to see if there are community classes. You can also check with your local Senior Center to see if they have any mentors available.

A successful business starts with two things...knowledge of your industry and a business plan. For a business plan, I actually recommend the US Jaycees Chairman's Planning Guide; pay particular attention to Items 2 and 5 and of course...6 (budget). Note that in #2, it say that your goals must be SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE and ATTAINABLE.

Marketing is also important. A great product can fail with bad marketing and a crappy product can succeed with great marketing.

I downloaded the last book and will look it over. FYI - Numbers are my jam...I'm an accountant.

 

[AliOop]

Does it need to be in book form? If you are open to online courses which include videos, downloadable e-books, sample forms, etc., there are two soapmaking-business-specific courses that are pretty comprehensive: this one from Kenna at Modern Soapmaking, and this one from Lovin' Soap. They go into a LOT of detail about how to get a soap business off the ground. Both of those website have a lot of free information about soapy business, too.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Just remember, to make money, you can sell soap and other bath & body products without becoming a business.

For example, when I first joined an online soaping forum in 2004, I had mentors who generously shared their knowledge. Also, there was about a dozen soapmakers here in the Denver area that got together regularly to share their knowledge and experience. Most of them were Master Soapers who got their degree from HSCG.

They mostly started out with doing Farmers Markets and Holiday Events that only required a License to Sell so they could collect sales tax that went to the State along with filing their State and Fed Income Tax each year.

After about 4 years or so of that, as they became more successful, they went into wholesaling, and/or teaching, and/or selling online. That's the point where they established themselves as "a business."

I've always said you can't make a living selling soap. The profit margin just isn't there. But you can make enough money to support a hobby you love.

I never wanted to make my hobby a business. Been there; done that. Too much stress! I make soap to maintain my sanity and it's cheaper than therapy.

I was able to pick up a few wholesale customers along the way that I made soap and other products for on a Contract Labor basis. They were "the business"; I was "the help".

It allowed me to soap as much or as little as I wanted and to try new things. I swore if it ever became W-O-R-K I would stop. After 10 + years, it did and I did. LOL

I made around $3,000 profit annually -- enough to enjoy doing what I love and to explore creative endeavors in the area of treating arthritis and other ailments for the benefit of me, my friends and family.
Just something to think about...

 

[Zany_in_CO]

GOOD LUCK!

 

[MelissaG]

Watch Jerika Zimmerman on youtube. As to the rest, no book will cover all of it. Customer service is generally instinctive and you will find some things work or don't work depending on the people, the location, and the business. Business practices are things you will refine as you go. Things like storage solutions are entirely up to you.

The one thing you can and probably should learn from a book is accounting. Although I am TERRIBLE at accounting and loath it with a passion. I've been trying to be better about bookkeeping but full blown accounting? I get frustrated just with basic bookkeeping. We have an accountant because of it.

As to website design, social media posting, etc, I'm still working on getting the hang of it. When I start making enough money, I'm going to hire people to do that stuff for me. But you won't find any of it in "business" books.

Let me put it this way... I have 18 years in the hotel industry. Eighteen years is a long time. Things I think are simple and common sense aren't so obvious to people that don't have that experience. And it's hard to explain what you should know when there are so many years behind what I do know. I learned them all by experience. Some people go to school to get an HRT (Hotel and Restaurant) degree. I've always hated when those people come in. They tend to think they know way more than what they do and it drives me crazy. There are things that you just get a feel for and what's taught in the books and classes doesn't really work in the real world.

For example... I had someone wait at the front desk for 5 minutes because someone was in front of them first and pitch a fit at my clerk because of it. I was just coming into my office when I saw it after being out on the property. I walked into the front desk and asked how I can help. She said to me "I was waiting here for 5 minutes, I can't believe I have been waiting this long (at a three star hotel mind you with one clerk on when we had a total of 8 checkins that night). Don't you know who I am?" I said "I'm very sorry for the wait, she had another guest in front of you. I'm sorry, I don't know who you are" and got the whole thing of "I can't believe this, I expect to be treated better. I'm an important person to this hotel and the city and I know the owner". She still hadn't told me who she was or why she was important. If she was important to the owner, the owner would have told us to make sure things were specifically set up for her. "I demand an apology and a free stay". "I'm sorry ma'am, but you have already received an apology. I won't be giving a free stay for a 5 minute wait.". At which time I invited her to not stay with us again and informed my clerk to cancel her reservation and she stormed out. Btw, the whole time, my clerk was ducked down behind the desk hiding her giggles.

This is the kind of situation that only experience can teach you what to do. Do you give her what she's demanding? Do you call the owner? What to do you do? Giving her what she's demanding would have resulted in an $800 loss for the company and made it so that you didn't have a room to sell that night that could have been sold to someone else. Either way, you'd lose the money, but telling her no meant that you could resell the room and make money off it rather than losing money. Keep it mind, every hotel room costs about $30 a night even if no one stays in it (and that was five years ago) due to costs like housekeeping, electricity, water, cable, etc.

So do you cut your losses and take a chance, or do you put up with the abuse? I decided to cut my losses. The HRT classes tell the students to just give her what she wants and save face. But hotels are in the business of making money.

Books can only teach you so much. But experience means everything.

 

[Ammanley]

I would recommend the SBA (small business administration) and checking with your local community college to see if there are community classes. You can also check with your local Senior Center to see if they have any mentors available.

A successful business starts with two things...knowledge of your industry and a business plan. For a business plan, I actually recommend the US Jaycees Chairman's Planning Guide; pay particular attention to Items 2 and 5 and of course...6 (budget). Note that in #2, it say that your goals must be SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE and ATTAINABLE.

Marketing is also important. A great product can fail with bad marketing and a crappy product can succeed with great marketing.

I downloaded the last book and will look it over. FYI - Numbers are my jam...I'm an accountant.

Thanks for your detailed reply!

The SBA team I’m working with is amazing - I live in Chicago, and there’s at least 3 SBA-affiliated groups here, but I am working with the one closest to me. I think I lucked out, because the director is friendly, responsive, concise, and he truly cares about businesses getting off the ground.

I also really like the document (Jaycee’s) you shared regarding business plans. I do have a business plan draft, but I think this guide will help me distill my business plan as I’m chatting with other people.

I didn’t think about reaching out to senior centers though. There’s a few very close to me (and, oddly enough, I lived in a senior center in college ). I will reach out to some places and report back!

Does it need to be in book form? If you are open to online courses which include videos, downloadable e-books, sample forms, etc., there are two soapmaking-specific courses that are pretty comprehensive: this one from Kenna at Modern Soapmaking, and this one from Lovin' Soap. Both of those website have a lot of free information about soapy business, too.

It doesn’t need to be in book form - but books are part of my brand (and I am getting screen fatigue!), so I’m eager for more book ideas. And I’ve followed both Lovin Soap and Modern Soapmaking for a while! I think Modern Soapmaking has given me a special appreciation for the importance of solid business operations like proper insurance and effective product photography. I may take a leap and dive into one of their classes. Looks like Lovin Soap is running one of their classes very soon… sounds like perfect timing for me!

Edit: maybe it’s not a class Lovin Soap is running, but she does have sale through EOD tomorrow!

Just remember, to make money, you can sell soap and other bath & body products without becoming a business.

For example, when I first joined an online soaping forum in 2004, I had mentors who generously shared their knowledge. Also, there was about a dozen soapmakers here in the Denver area that got together regularly to share their knowledge and experience. Most of them were Master Soapers who got their degree from HSCG.

They mostly started out with doing Farmers Markets and Holiday Events that only required a License to Sell so they could collect sales tax that went to the State along with filing their State and Fed Income Tax each year.

After about 4 years or so of that, as they became more successful, they went into wholesaling, and/or teaching, and/or selling online. That's the point where they established themselves as "a business."

I've always said you can't make a living selling soap. The profit margin just isn't there. But you can make enough money to support a hobby you love.

I never wanted to make my hobby a business. Been there; done that. Too much stress! I make soap to maintain my sanity and it's cheaper than therapy.

I was able to pick up a few wholesale customers along the way that I made soap and other products for on a Contract Labor basis. They were "the business"; I was "the help".

It allowed me to soap as much or as little as I wanted and to try new things. I swore if it ever became W-O-R-K I would stop. After 10 + years, it did and I did. LOL

I made around $3,000 profit annually -- enough to enjoy doing what I love and to explore creative endeavors in the area of treating arthritis and other ailments for the benefit of me, my friends and family.
Just something to think about...

Thanks for the insight - it sound like you found a great soapmaking community and you made a pretty penny! Achieving any kind of profit is no small feat.

I would love to sell soap, but legally I can’t do that in where I live (Chicago) unless I have a license. I’ve retained an attorney whose focus is Chicago business, and she confirmed that I can’t sell *anything* unless I have a Chicago business license. The zoning laws here are too strict. I even asked if I could go the IRS hobby route, but under City laws, it’s not permitted.

It’s rough, because I’ve seen so many soap makers achieve home-based business success - that’s what I wanted! - but the risk of penalties from the city is too great. It does seem like there are some unlicensed home-based soap makers in Chicago, but I don’t want to risk daily $250 fines for staying in business. I’m not risk averse, but messing with the government is one thing I don’t want to do.

View attachment 71129

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks friend! I probably won’t “launch” until August, but you know I’m going to report back if/when I get started selling soap!!!

Watch Jerika Zimmerman on youtube. As to the rest, no book will cover all of it. Customer service is generally instinctive and you will find some things work or don't work depending on the people, the location, and the business. Business practices are things you will refine as you go. Things like storage solutions are entirely up to you.

The one thing you can and probably should learn from a book is accounting. Although I am TERRIBLE at accounting and loath it with a passion. I've been trying to be better about bookkeeping but full blown accounting? I get frustrated just with basic bookkeeping. We have an accountant because of it.

As to website design, social media posting, etc, I'm still working on getting the hang of it. When I start making enough money, I'm going to hire people to do that stuff for me. But you won't find any of it in "business" books.

Let me put it this way... I have 18 years in the hotel industry. Eighteen years is a long time. Things I think are simple and common sense aren't so obvious to people that don't have that experience. And it's hard to explain what you should know when there are so many years behind what I do know. I learned them all by experience. Some people go to school to get an HRT (Hotel and Restaurant) degree. I've always hated when those people come in. They tend to think they know way more than what they do and it drives me crazy. There are things that you just get a feel for and what's taught in the books and classes doesn't really work in the real world.

For example... I had someone wait at the front desk for 5 minutes because someone was in front of them first and pitch a fit at my clerk because of it. I was just coming into my office when I saw it after being out on the property. I walked into the front desk and asked how I can help. She said to me "I was waiting here for 5 minutes, I can't believe I have been waiting this long (at a three star hotel mind you with one clerk on when we had a total of 8 checkins that night). Don't you know who I am?" I said "I'm very sorry for the wait, she had another guest in front of you. I'm sorry, I don't know who you are" and got the whole thing of "I can't believe this, I expect to be treated better. I'm an important person to this hotel and the city and I know the owner". She still hadn't told me who she was or why she was important. If she was important to the owner, the owner would have told us to make sure things were specifically set up for her. "I demand an apology and a free stay". "I'm sorry ma'am, but you have already received an apology. I won't be giving a free stay for a 5 minute wait.". At which time I invited her to not stay with us again and informed my clerk to cancel her reservation and she stormed out. Btw, the whole time, my clerk was ducked down behind the desk hiding her giggles.

This is the kind of situation that only experience can teach you what to do. Do you give her what she's demanding? Do you call the owner? What to do you do? Giving her what she's demanding would have resulted in an $800 loss for the company and made it so that you didn't have a room to sell that night that could have been sold to someone else. Either way, you'd lose the money, but telling her no meant that you could resell the room and make money off it rather than losing money. Keep it mind, every hotel room costs about $30 a night even if no one stays in it (and that was five years ago) due to costs like housekeeping, electricity, water, cable, etc.

So do you cut your losses and take a chance, or do you put up with the abuse? I decided to cut my losses. The HRT classes tell the students to just give her what she wants and save face. But hotels are in the business of making money.

Books can only teach you so much. But experience means everything.

Thank you so much for sharing this!!!! Yes, books aren’t going to teach me everything - if I’m lucky, they’ll teach me 10% of what I need to know. But a lot of the people I’m working with (my attorney, the SBA, the women’s business development center near me, Allies for Community Business, etc) all operate during standard business hours, and I can only take so much time off from my day job per work per week. I’m eager for “asynchronous” learning - stuff that doesn’t need to be consumed live - so I can work on my business after I’m done with my job during the day.

I’m curious about your experiences with your accountant … I would love to learn how to do everything myself, but I think the amount of time it would take me to learn everything would mean I would have to wait to launch my business in years! Did you stick with the same accountant throughout the life of your business, or did you have to switch accountants? Re: accounting. what should I get done BEFORE I launch my business?

I will definitely check out Jerika Zimmerman on YouTube (and any other soapy business videos online).

I both dread and look forward to the types of tough decisions you’ve had to face in your hospitality roles. It’s very easy for me to say things like “refunds for everyone!” or “Sure I’ll do custom orders, why not?” but when push comes to shove, I will probably be singing a different tune. I know that if this business happens, I’m going to be humbled… it’s just a matter of figuring out what is going to humble me the most!

 

[MelissaG]

I switched accountants after the first year. The first one was horrible. Just trying to get ahold of her was almost impossible. The current one will actually email me back if I have questions. Keep looking until you find one you're comfortable with.

Open a business bank account and pay for everything out of it. It will make your life so much easier. And keep track of EVERYTHING. How much of something you have, what you bought, when you bought it, etc.Everything to do with your business. Market fees, mileage, even if you buy food while at market. You can write much of it off. Your accountant will know what you can write off.

Check with the SBA for licensing and insurance but I'd go with Handmade Insurance because the price is actually reasonable. Once you're making more money, you can move to a better known Insurance company.

Keep in mind that you are going to be spending your own personal money for at least the first year. Most businesses fail within two years. I just finished by third and I think I came out about even this year.And if you have a question, someone here has probably asked the same thing and it's been answered so be willing to use the search function on the forum.

You will love Jerika. She's from Canada but she doesn't just show herself make stuff. She talks about what it is to own a soap business. How much money she makes, the avenues she uses to make them, how to shoot photos, etc. She even talks about shopify and inventory tracking. I so want some of her fragrances from Fizz Fairy but bringing them across the border is just too expensive.

You'll figure out the balance of things for yourself. I've done customer service of some sort since I was 12 (I'll be 47 in May) so it comes naturally to me. Have to be honest though, it does take alot of energy to be "on" all the time. You know... cheerful, go lucky, happy. It makes me exhausted even if I can fake it with the best of them.

You'll get it. Or you won't. But it's all ok.

 

[Whillow]

You will love Jerika. She's from Canada but she doesn't just show herself make stuff. She talks about what it is to own a soap business. How much money she makes, the avenues she uses to make them, how to shoot photos, etc. She even talks about shopify and inventory tracking. I so want some of her fragrances from Fizz Fairy but bringing them across the border is just too expensive.

I have learned so much from Jerika. She really gets to the nitty gritty of things, with what works and doesn't work. It really helped me when I had to report to Health Canada (that made my head swirl).

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Open a business bank account and pay for everything out of it. It will make your life so much easier.

Excellent advice. Obviously, it doesn't have to be complicated at the beginning.

I would love to learn how to do everything myself, but I think the amount of time it would take me to learn everything would mean I would have to wait to launch my business in years!

I have a bookkeeping/ accounting background. I opened a soap-dedicated savings account and checking account. All sales were deposited into the checking account. I paid for everything -- supplies, post office, gas, etc. -- with a dedicated credit card that I paid off at the end of the month -- with a check. At the end of the year, it was easy to get income minus expenses = profit from the balance on my December bank statement.

I left $500 in the checking account to cover expenses to start the following year and moved the rest to the savings account. When I "retired" from wholesaling in 2017, I had $35,000 in my savings account, not counting the money I took out to pay for emergencies like a new hot water heater and our share of replacing the roof after a hail storm.

The zoning laws here are too strict. I even asked if I could go the IRS hobby route, but under City laws, it’s not permitted.

I would love to sell soap, but legally I can’t do that in where I live (Chicago) unless I have a license.

It’s rough, because I’ve seen so many soap makers achieve home-based business success - that’s what I wanted! - but the risk of penalties from the city is too great.

The times they are a-changing! I recently learned that the State is going to start taxing Garage Sales due to so many people using that way of producing income to support their familes during COVID.

It's tough for sure! I'd find out how much it costs to cover yourself for making "Casual Sales". The limit here used to be $3,000. It's now $600 in sales that do not have to be reported on your tax return.

A simple business plan at that level is to decide how much you want to make starting out? How many bars of soap would you have to sell to achieve that goal? How much would it cost for supplies/license/etc. to get started?

Make as much soap as you can, as often as you can. Keep track of expenses. Line up some testers for feedback -- friends, family, or office workers where you work. That's called "Research & Development". If someone wants to buy a bar or 2 or 3, be sure to know how much it costs per bar to make. Add to that whatever you're comfortable with as a selling price. You can always raise the price once you find an outlet to sell on a regular basis along with any additional expenses in terms of protecting yourself from fines, etc.

HTH

 

[TheGecko]

I also really like the document (Jaycee’s) you shared regarding business plans. I do have a business plan draft, but I think this guide will help me distill my business plan as I’m chatting with other people.

I started soap making in early 2019 and was pushed by friends and family to turn it into a business towards the end of the year. Then along came Covid and tossed my 5-year plan out the window. And it turned out to be a blessing because while some parts of my Plan were good, like having a R&D budget, the rest was really crap because this wasn't like my Bookkeeping business in North Dakota or my LDP business in Arizona. Also, my first craft fair, while a positive experience, taught me that I really didn't know as much as I thought I did regardless of all the research I had done in the beginning. So I tossed the Plan, and turned it into a 5-year 'project'.

Now not everything on the CPG is germane to starting a business...I mean the '1. Primary Purpose' is to make money. And you really don't need "3. What are the specific manpower assignments?", at least not starting out. This would be something that comes later...when you are working more than 40 hours a week to keep up with your business and need to hire employees. I was going to ignore "4. What specific materials, supplies and resources will be required?" until I went to the store and couldn't find Distilled Water. And then WSP bought out RE and Elements...shipping costs went through the roof and so I had to find alternates for a lot of my scents. And Elements quit offering my boxes in lots of 100 so I had to find an alternative supplier or packaging. And I was going to ignore the last three items because this IS a business and NOT 'project', but life is not lived in a vacuum...things change.

Example...in my original plan I was going to go all out on B&B; a half dozen different kinds of soap, and soaps with embeds and soap dough and decorative frosting, a kids line of products, tons of crap to put in your bath, lotions and potions, etc. Uh...no. It's just me, and I work full-time and I have a husband who is disabled and doesn't drive. I also tend to follow the KISS rule which means not straying too far off the beaten path. So bath bombs, fizzy stuff and shampoo/conditioner were out...all those things pretty much require their own set of specific ingredients with very little overlap. I'm just not into embeds, soap dough and soap frosting...so my Wilton Frosting Kit has been sitting on a shelf in the garage unopened and my mini donut molds are gathering dust after one use. Same with a few of the kids soap molds I bought...just not a good market for them. On the flip side, the round molds I originally bought to make salt soaps (still looking for a good recipe for that) make great 'sink/travel' soap and are perfect for little hands.

I’m curious about your experiences with your accountant … I would love to learn how to do everything myself, but I think the amount of time it would take me to learn everything would mean I would have to wait to launch my business in years! Did you stick with the same accountant throughout the life of your business, or did you have to switch accountants? Re: accounting. what should I get done BEFORE I launch my business?

It's not a bad idea to consult with a CPA and/or attorney, but don't forget the KISS rule. I started with an Assumed Business Name (your state might call it something different). Since my business is more hobby than regular business right now, I haven't bothered to apply for an EIN, but you will need one in order to open a bank account for your business. As long as you have good insurance, you really don't need a formal business formation starting out...you can run as a Sole Proprietor. Even if you were to form a LLC, as the sole Member, you will still be filing a Schedule C. And a LLC costs more and requires annual reporting.

Bookkeeping...I follow the KISS rule here too. I use SM3 and QuickBooks. I do recommend SM3, but you don't need accounting software starting I...I'm a Sr Staff Accountant at a CPA firm so I get it for free. Elsewise I would just use something like Quicken or a spreadsheet and set up my accounts based on the Schedule C.

 

[MelissaG]

The times they are a-changing! I recently learned that the State is going to start taxing Garage Sales due to so many people using that way of producing income to support their familes during COVID

HTH

Seriously? I'm sorry but wth?

 

[MelissaG]

Oh, about the EIN, they are free and take about 5 minutes to get by entering the info online. Really easy to get. I became a SP per my accountant when I first started and have stayed with it. Even my current accountant has said not to bother with LLC since I'm not making enough money to bother with it.

I didn't know zany was an accountant too. Gecko is fantastic and made some awesome suggestions. Seriously, I'm not worthy *worship motion to both Zany and Gecko* (Wayne's World reference for anyone not acquainted). She's even dealt with some of my freak outs in private message over accounting very professionally. She's right about SM3. I had stopped using it but honestly, it keeps track of absolutely everything and I already paid for it so I went back to it. Also, SM3 now allows you to fix taxes and stuff to account for the rounding error I had reported to them several times.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I didn't know zany was an accountant too.

LOL I'm NOT "an accountant" but I was an English major with a Business minor in college. My first job out of college I worked as a comptroller for Iowana Ice Cream in Bettendorf Iowa. Long time ago. When DH started his own architectural firm, I did payroll, managed accounts payable and receivable, filed state and federal taxes, and prepared financial statements for both the business and home. That only lasted the first 4 years of our 44 years of marriage.

 

[MelissaG]

LOL I'm NOT "an accountant" but I was an English major with a Business minor in college. My first job out of college I worked as a comptroller for Iowana Ice Cream in Bettendorf Iowa. Long time ago. When DH started his own architectural firm, I did payroll, managed accounts payable and receivable, filed state and federal taxes, and prepared financial statements for both the business and home. That only lasted the first 4 years of our 44 years of marriage.

lol, still better than me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

lol, still better than me.

Well, you're better than me at graphic design... I love your packaging. It looks so professional.