Selling soap making software?

[aab1]

I also happen to know how to program and have been selling a software program for eBay buyers since 2004 and was thinking of making a program for soap makers.

I know some already exist but I have some ideas that would give it some benefits. I actually already made a fairly complex Excel page where I simply tell it how many of each silicone molds I want to fill, whether it's regular soap or salt soap, the superfat I want, and the percentage of each oil I want in the recipe and it calculates how much of each oil (and salt for salt soaps) I'll need to fill the selected molds, the water range I can use, the lye, essential oil and colorant amounts I should use.

I was also thinking of making it web based, meaning that even Mac users would be able to use it, but an Internet connection would be required.

Some benefits mine would have (haven't tried the existing ones but read about them):
-Ability to calculate amount of oil and salt for salt soaps to fill the mold accurately
-Ability to run on any system, not just Windows
-Ability to access your saved data/recipes from anywhere over the Internet
-Better priced

I could also add many features based on user requests.

Do you think this would be something worth doing?

Do you think making it web based is a good idea? The only downside is needing an Internet connection, I could always make it so that some parts of it still work without a connection. It would also work on smart phones and tablets.

If I could make even just a few extra hundred dollars per month with this I think it would be worth it and I'd use it myself instead of my Excel sheet I use now.

Thanks

 

[welsh black]

Well it sounds a lot like soap calc, but with the added feature of working out your mould sizes. One idea might be to enter the cost of the raw materials, and it could work out the cost per bar? I would definitely like that!!

 

[Lindy]

Good for you for working on something new. Unfortunately all those features are available with SM3. I have my recipes in DropBox so I can access it anywhere.

 

[aab1]

Good for you for working on something new. Unfortunately all those features are available with SM3. I have my recipes in DropBox so I can access it anywhere.

I'm confused about which "alll those features" you're saying are in SM3? I'm quite sure it does not allow you to save and view your recipes over the Internet, it also only runs on Windows, and I'm not sure if it adjust the fat and calculates salt required for salt bars.

Does SM3 really figure out the different oil and salt amount for salt soaps? You need to use much less oil to fill the same mold when it's a salt soap as salt will be a large part of the recipe.

I also know for sure that SM3 doesn't work on Mac and other systems so that would be a benefit. Having it be web based and cheaper would probably be another benefit for many.

I would also definitely make it calculate the cost per bar which is something I'd really like myself.

 

[shunt2011]

Lindy's right. SM3 has a lot of the features you are looking at. It does calculate the cost per bar and I can view my recipes the same way as she does.

 

[aab1]

What do you mean by "I can view my recipes the same way as she does"?

 

[grayceworks]

I would be interested. Not everyone uses windoze lol. I'm on linux and android, except at work, where I obviously would not install personal software.

And having the recipes accessible anywhere natively is a good feature, eliminating the extra step of exporting and uploading to a cloud server. Though that should certainly still be an option, for backup and flexibility purposes, as well as import capability from other formats maybe?

Craftybase covers the online anywhere aspect, and most other features, however it doesn't have an app for android either. I like the inventory management and costing features, and auto-figuring costs, wholesale and retail recommendation, etc. And works for any craft, not just soap...

Oh! I have created a spreadsheet where you can figure the exact SF amount of any given oil for doIng HP where you want to SF a specific oil. That is something I don't think the others incorporate. Dunno how often others would use it, but it would be handy if it was prettied up a bit and made available.

And soapcalc doesn't have an android app either. BB does, but it's not very flexible.

Would love to see something that incorporates all of the feature and has both desktop and mobile versions, as well as online access. At a reasonable cost... would likely need to be a subscription model if offering online storage for recipes.

 

[reinbeau]

Oh! I have created a spreadsheet where you can figure the exact SF amount of any given oil for doIng HP where you want to SF a specific oil. That is something I don't think the others incorporate. Dunno how often others would use it, but it would be handy if it was prettied up a bit and made available.

I'd be extremely interested in this spreadsheet and would gladly pay for it if you want!

And soapcalc doesn't have an android app either. BB does, but it's not very flexible.

There's a new soap calculator out for Android that is quite fully functional. Soap Lye Calculator costs 99¢ but it's well worth it. I uninstalled the BB one once I downloaded this one.

I am always interested in new applications, I do have SM3, though. It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

 

[Lindy]

I'm confused about which "alll those features" you're saying are in SM3? I'm quite sure it does not allow you to save and view your recipes over the Internet, it also only runs on Windows, and I'm not sure if it adjust the fat and calculates salt required for salt bars.

Does SM3 really figure out the different oil and salt amount for salt soaps? You need to use much less oil to fill the same mold when it's a salt soap as salt will be a large part of the recipe.

I also know for sure that SM3 doesn't work on Mac and other systems so that would be a benefit. Having it be web based and cheaper would probably be another benefit for many.

I would also definitely make it calculate the cost per bar which is something I'd really like myself.

I would seriously recommend buying SM3 if you want to go up against it. I have my database on Dropbox which allows me access from anywhere.

 

[reinbeau]

To be fair, he lists many differences but everyone keeps bringing up Dropbox. The Mac issue is a big one, I see many people complaining that SM3 isn't ported to the Mac (I know there are work arounds, but that's what they are - work arounds).

Devil's advocate - the salt bars are a niche market, I think.

 

[Lindy]

I agree that the Mac market is a niche market that is not being serviced by SM3....

 

[Oenone]

It might be cool if you could add your own pics to the recipe so you can see how alterations change the look

 

[aab1]

I think there seems to be enough interest that it might be worth making. I'll start by making a plan to evaluate the amount of work required.

 

[Oenone]

It'd be wicked cool if you could incorporate pics

 

[seven]

i'm interested too. i'm a mac user, and i hate having to swap to windows every time i want to access the program. i agree to what Lindy said, you should familiarized yourself with the features of SM3 and add several more features that are not available on SM3.

a more affordable price would be nice too

 

[grayceworks]

I'd be extremely interested in this spreadsheet and would gladly pay for it if you want!

There's a new soap calculator out for Android that is quite fully functional. Soap Lye Calculator costs 99¢ but it's well worth it. I uninstalled the BB one once I downloaded this one.

I am always interested in new applications, I do have SM3, though. It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

Thanks! I would be happy to supply a copy of my superfat spreadsheet, maybe in exchange for a copy of the finished software,

And thanks for the link to the lye calculator! Seems to work well!

 

[Lindy]

Just for those that don't know SM3 you can add pictures to your completed batches.

Do the homework and you should be able to come up with something interesting, especially for Mac users.

 

[Oenone]

Tbqh even if you were offering the exact same capabilities as soapmaker pro, I'd be interested if you were offering the program for less.

 

[aab1]

I did start building the database structure that would be required for this. I will probably be offering it for free during the beta period, and may leave limited functionality like a basic oil/lye calculator for free for everyone with extra features at an added cost.

Since I also run several other businesses and this project will probably require a lot of work before I even have a beta version ready I can't really give an estimate of when a working beta will be ready but I'll keep you updated in this thread.

Since this would be web based making it more a service than a software program, I was thinking of having a yearly subscription fee instead of a one time cost, if I price it like this, I'd make sure you can get at least 3-5 years of use without exceeding the cost of SM3, so probably around $20-30 per year, do you think that sounds good? Maybe I'd also have a price to buy the service for life.

 

[grayceworks]

Here's the spreadsheet and info I mentioned for calculating precise superfat of oils for HP. Been too much going on for me to do anything with it beyond what's here, never got around to finishing the ideas I had planned for it, so really it's just a quick calculator, but you're welcome to see if it's something you can use.

Ok, I'm going to let you guys try this spreadsheet out, it's nothing fancy right now, because it's a work in progress. Try it, give me feedback, and eventually I'll get it all pretty and stuff. lol

It's very, very, very basic at this point. First figure your base recipe at 0% lye discount (or 1% or 2%) without the superfat oil figured in, in soapcalc. Then in this calculator, you enter the name of the oil, enter the SAP for it from soapcalc, enter what % superfat you want to do, and enter the 0% lye amount from soapcalc. It will tell you how much of your SF oil to add after the cook.

If you've entered a 1% or 2% lye discount instead of 0%, then remember that when you're entering in what SF percent you want to do, because your recipe will already be at 1% or 2% SF from your base recipe oils.

I might get it to figure 0%, 1% and 2% lye discount and oil superfat amounts all as separate options... I started that, but then it was too much for my brain tonight, and it was making too many columns, which means I'll have to do a form with drop-down menus instead, and my brain said NO for tonight. Unless someone good with excel wants to help out. lol

Yes, I know the last column is full of divide by zero errors, because, well, nothing is entered into the SAP or % or Lye column until you enter those in. Then the last column calculates it all for you.

Like I said, it will be prettier later. Just want it functional for now and get feedback on it.


Link to XLS file direct download.

There's also some comments in the boxes that have the little red triangles on the corners.