Have you been dreaming of starting a homemade soap business? You are probably brimming with clever and unique ideas and can already picture yourself placing creatively-wrapped soaps into packages for your new customers.
Along with that excitement, you have probably felt a bit overwhelmed. I get it, it’s a lot to think about.
Questions like “what type of soap should I make?”, “is this a profitable business idea?”, and “how will I sell my soap?” swirl around your head and can make you feel a bit dizzy!
Don’t fret—that is how all business owners feel when they are first getting started.
That’s why I’m here!
I’m going to help you sort out all those thoughts and come up with a great business plan that will cover all the bases you need in order to start a successful soap shop.
Let’s dive in and get started.
A quick look at the soap market will give us a lot of insight.
A study of the global soaps market projects the market will grow from around $ 24 billion in 2019 to $ 40 billion by 2025. Wow!
The homemade soap market has seen an increase in demand from customers trying to avoid commercial soaps containing synthetic ingredients and harsh chemicals, preferring homemade soaps with natural ingredients and oils.
Other customers are attracted by the unique designs and fragrances.
A big plus of the soap market is that soap is a product that you use up, so has great potential for repeat customers. Soap is also a popular gift with unlimited uses: birthdays, holidays, care packages—you name it!
In addition, homemade soaps have become a novelty that people love to try: think how fun it is to try a new fragrance, shape, or color when you shop for soaps!
I think we can safely say the sales potential, repeat business, and consistent income is there if you make the right products and target the right customers.
This is the fun part, you get to choose how you will make your homemade soap! I like to call this “finding your style.”
Start where you are: what do you like to make, do you still need to learn a few things? What techniques will you use? What kind of soaps would you be most excited to be consistently making so you can have fun and enjoy your business?
There are four different ways to make artisan soaps. Each method has advantages and disadvantages that you’ll want to consider. Choosing how to make your homemade soap depends on the characteristics of the soap you want to create.
Here are the four methods you can use to create homemade soap:
If you are trying to choose a soap making method, here are some questions to think about:
It’s also important to consider:
What I really want you to discover when you ask yourself these questions is what you would like to make, and what you would be proud to sell!
What would make you “happy” quite simply to create consistently?
Are you interested in creating organic, natural soaps with a rough look and texture?
Or is what you’re mostly interested in when it comes to making soaps the way they look and smell, playing with fun scents, colors and shapes?
For example: mermaid-shaped, coffin-shaped (it’s a real thing!), multi-colored, etc. Let’s turn the thing you love into a business, but let’s turn it into a business that you love, too!
Now that you know what you like to make… who will be interested in buying this?
This is your ideal customer – it’s important to define because anything else you will do after that (branding, marketing, etc.) will be FOR them so getting clear on who that person is – is key.
When you describe your ideal customer, you need to think about characteristics called demographics and psychographics.
Demographics are factual data about your customer. How old are they? How much money are they making? Where do they live? What do they do for a living? Are they married? Do they have kids? etc.
Psychographics are information about their attitudes and aspirations. What do they do for fun? Where do they travel? Where do they wish they could on their next holiday? Where do they shop? What do they do in their free time? What movies/shows/bands influence them? What do they wear? etc.
Here is a great way to choose your ideal customer, I call it the “Focus on One Person” rule. What does that mean?
It means you are going to define one person, and one person only, which forces you to go real deep into understanding this customer’s habits, preferences, and needs so you can serve them better.
You can read about how to define your ideal customer profile and why you should, or download this free Ideal Customer Workbook:
Grab this free ideal customer workbook
This free ideal customer workbook, made specifically for handmade shop owners, will help you find and attract your ideal customers, so you can make more sales!
Without knowing it – you’ve already started thinking about your brand. When we think of branding, we tend to think immediately about “logo” and “color palette” and although these are important – a brand is so much more than what you can “see”.
The most important part of any branding strategy is to get clear on what makes your shop and products unique.
This is why the work you’ve done just before on thinking about who your ideal customers are and the type of soap you’d like to focus on making and selling was so important.
Without knowing it – you’ve started to define what your “soap brand” is all about.
You’ve niched down from “I make soaps” to “I make natural soaps with positive affirmations stamped on them” – you’ve found your style, your niche, your brand vision!
If you’re tempted to skip ahead… don’t!
The time you put into creating a solid, effective brand before you start will pay off in so many ways.
Look at these benefits of having a solid branding strategy from the get-go:
Are you ready to build a really cool brand? I’ve made it ten times easier with this brand checklist, check it out!
Grab this free brand checklist!
This free brand assessment checklist will help you create a professional brand for your handmade shop so you can get turn more visitors into customers!
To learn everything and more about branding, read this article about how to build a brand for your biz on the cheap. It’s filled with resources that will help you put together the best brand for your homemade soap.
If you are developing your brand on your own and want more in-depth guidance for your brand development, our HQ Brand Clarity Course inside Tizzit HQ will lead you through fun and simple exercises that ensure you craft a powerful brand identity that will attract your ideal customers, turn them into raving fans, and increase your sales!
Now that you have an exciting brand vision, you get to choose an equally exciting logo to visually represent your brand and communicate this vision to your ideal customers!
You want your soap to have an eye-catching logo with pleasing, complementary colors.
What you are creating is a basic visual identity.
Think of scrolling down a shopping page on the internet, then pausing when you see the logo for a brand you like. You are going to create a logo that your customers will look for as they are scrolling down the page—now how great is that?
Keep in mind how you are positioning your hand soap bar in the marketplace. Is it a natural soap? A uniquely colorful artisan soap?
You don’t have to hire a professional at this stage in the game. Creating a logo can be as simple as picking a catchy font and typing your shop’s name with it (Yes, seriously! In fact it often gives the best results!). Choose a few complimentary colors to use consistently throughout your website, and you are ready to start!
Professional logos and designs have their place down the road, but it doesn’t need to happen when you are starting your business.
Read these 3 logo tips to make your handmade shop look more professional to get a jump start on the process!
I also have an in-depth course that will help you Design Your Own Brand inside Tizzit HQ by showing you, step by step, how to create a professional looking brand (logo, typography and colour palette) even if you’re not a designer—and without breaking the bank!”
Now that you have a fabulous brand and logo, you need to spend a little time making sure you are satisfying any legalities for your country, and the countries where you plan to sell your homemade soap.
Do some research to see if you need to comply with any food or health product standard, register your business name, etc.— rules and regulations will differ in each country.
1) Register with AICIS to manufacture and sell soap in Australia (or import soap).
2) Obtain product and public liability insurance; this is a must have item as soap is listed on the Chemical Inventory.
3) Become familiar with rules regarding labelling, packaging and terminology used for promoting soaps. There are strict guidelines in Australia which are governed by the National Measurement Institute, the ACCC, the Chemical Inventory, AICIS (formerly NINCAS) and the TGA. Fines apply if you get it wrong, and bigger fines apply if you mention any medical/healing properties without first getting them authorized by the TGA.
In the U.S, the agency that regulates your product will depend on how your soap is used, per this Soap Business Guidance article by the CDC which states:
“To be regulated as soap, the product must be labeled and marketed for use as soap only.
If it is intended for purposes such as moisturizing the skin, making the user smell nice, or deodorizing the user’s body, it’s a cosmetic.
Or, if the product is intended to treat or prevent disease, such as kill germs, or treat skin conditions, such as acne or eczema, it’s a drug.”
So you can see why you need to look up the rules and regulations for the countries both where you are making and selling your soap.
It’s also good to set up a different bank account at this stage. Keeping business finances separate makes it easier to all around to keep track of business income and expenses.
Now let’s talk about how you can set up your home soap shop!
You want to plan out the following spaces:
Your soap shop manufacturing area may be your kitchen, and office space may be a desk or table—that’s OK! Just think through what you will do where and decide a logical place to store the items you need for that function.
The soap making tools and ingredients you need to purchase will depend on the method you choose. If you have chosen to focus on natural soaps you’ll buy different ingredients than if you have chosen colorful and scented artisan soaps.
Once you’ve got that decided, online stores such as Bramble Berry and Bulk Apothecary should have everything you need and more!
How many times have you heard the saying “Practice Makes Perfect?” If you want to run a successful homemade soap business, it’s time to put that saying to work!
Learning to make an artisan soap with consistent quality, batch after batch, will take a bit of practice, but you will learn quickly. Dive in and have fun with it! It’s OK if some batches don’t turn out, that’s how we learn, right?
Start off with a little research. Read about the different base oils and what unique benefits each one has to offer. For example, if you are making a hand soap bar, learn which base oils will leave hands soft and moisturized (something you can easily use as a benefit in your product descriptions!).
Learn about different essential oils or fragrances and how they affect the soap making process; some oils don’t work well with certain soap making processes.
When ordering supplies, there are many soap calculators and apps on the market to help you calculate the ratios of ingredients such as TheSage.com Lye Calculator or Bramble Berry Lye Calculator.
All soap recipes must be run through a lye calculator to ensure they will be safe. In addition, keeping records of every batch (including samples) is encouraged in case someone has a reaction to your soap.
Experiment with recipes, designs, fragrances, and shapes. Share your test runs with family and friends and ask for their honest feedback.
Most of the successful soap makers that we’ve talked to have spent 12-18 months testing recipes and practicing before they begin selling soap to ensure that they are making a safe, high quality product.
Next let’s talk about where you want to sell your homemade soap. You can sell on a marketplace, or on your own website.
The most common marketplace is Etsy, while the most well known website platforms are Shopify and WordPress.
Marketplaces like Etsy offer:
But you have to deal with:
Websites using Shopify and WordPress offer:
But you have to deal with:
If you want to learn more about these options, take a look at these articles about What To Do To Start and Grow a Successful Handmade or ETSY Shop and How To Sell Your Handmade Products Online With Shopify.
Pricing is a really, really important decision. If you want to launch and grow a profitable online store… you need to price for profit.
Don’t just decide a price based on your competition, or because you think that is all people will pay.
Do your homework and calculate your costs, including:
Your goal is to pick a profit rate that is fair for your customers, fair to yourself, and reflects your product’s value.
Remember that handmade does not mean cheap. You work hard and make awesome soaps, please pay yourself for your hard work!
Let’s take natural soap as an example. Someone who prioritizes using soaps with natural ingredients is willing to pay more for a natural soap that they feel is healthier to use.
When you learn how to price based on perceived value, not just on costs, you not only can have a very successful business that does not require you to work 20 hours a day, but you also start selling to the most beautiful of customers, who love and cherish your products and know your products are worth what you’re charging for them.
I have a ton of resources that I have created to help you in the pricing process.
To get started I would recommend you read these articles that discuss Handmade Product Value, Handmade Pricing Fears, and 5 Pricing Mistakes. You can also use the free Handmade Pricing Calculator.
Grab this free handmade pricing calculator!
use this “done for you” handmade pricing calculator to know exactly how much you should charge for your products.
Become a Tizzit HQ member! Inside Tizzit HQ we have a Handmade Pricing Course as part of the curriculum – I give you not just ONE but 4 different formulas and then not only explain the difference between each but also teach how to customize it further to work for your niche, your products and your goals.
When your customer opens their package of homemade soap, you want them to “ooooo” and “ahhhhh” as they open the box!
Your product packaging is the first thing your customer will see, touch, and experience. It forms their first impression of product value, and impacts if they will buy from you again and tell their friends about your amazing homemade soap!
I’ve got just what you need to get started: Check out my guide to handmade packaging and a free workbook to create an unforgettable unboxing experience for your customers.
These guides will help you create a package for each hand soap bar that will wow your customers from Day One!
Grab this free handmade packaging guide!
This free packaging guide, make for handmade shop owners, will help you up your packaging game, so you can get more repeat customers.
Product photography is definitely not something you want to cut corners on. Before you start selling your homemade soap you need to get multiple pictures of each product.
Capture different angles, zooms, and color choices. Your pictures will highlight different features: the color swirls or eye catching additives of a unique artisan soap, or the soft, soothing colors of a natural soap.
Each shot needs to look professional: your goal is to avoid shadows, light reflections, odd angles, or colored backgrounds.
Remember that the shopper can’t touch or smell your soap, so they are buying based on the picture and description alone. Your pictures need to be so amazing that the customer is excited and can picture your product in their house!
There will be a little learning curve with photography, but once you figure out what works for your products you can just rinse and repeat for every soap you make! Taking time to learn how to do it right the first time around will avoid having to go back and re-do photos later on, so your efforts will be time well-spent.
I’ve put together some helpful guides that will teach you an easy 6 step handmade product photo editing workflow and help you avoid the top 5 handmade product photo mistakes.
The soap descriptions and titles in your soap shop need to be clear and answer all the questions the customer may have.
Talk about the specific ingredients in each soap and the benefits they provide. Describe fragrances with visual and descriptive words that paint a picture. A natural soap might smell like “spring rain” or “a walk in the forest,” a colorful artisan soap may have scents that convey emotions or tastes, like “motivate!” or “birthday cake.”
This is a fun process where you can use your creativity with words and make your soap stand out from others.
Here is an article to help you create product descriptions that lead to sales.
Product descriptions and titles should also help you rank higher on search results in both Google and/or Etsy (if you sell on Etsy) so make sure to use keywords and to learn the basics of SEO (search engine optimisation) to drive more views and visitors to your shop.
If you sell on Etsy, here are some Etsy SEO resources to get you started:
https://tizzit.co/etsy-seo-complete-guide-to-etsy-search-algorithm/
https://tizzit.co/how-to-do-etsy-titles-and-tags/
You can also download our Free Etsy SEO Guide.
Grab this free ETSY SEO GUIDE!
a complete guide to Understanding how etsy search (and ranking) actually works so you can make the most of it and get more views on your products.
Starting and maintaining a handmade business can be so overwhelming—I’ve been there myself. You have ideas and “to-do’s” swirling around your head, and you have so many QUESTIONS!
Let Tizzit HQ give you the support you need. With your monthly membership you gain access to:
The Maker’s Roadmap is a step-by-step guide that will take you from planning your homemade soap shop, to setting it up, to attracting traffic and turning it into sales, to scaling up your artisan soap production once you’re more established.
Learn at your own pace with a library of 30+ in-depth courses, allowing you to dive deep into a topic and to implement what you learn straight away thanks to the checklists and workbooks that come with it.
Every month, you can join the live coaching call to get your questions answered, specific advice and support, or request a shop review from Deb. You also get access to all the past sessions recordings in the archives.
Get answers to any question (small or big) 24/7, request feedback, and join a family of makers that will celebrate your wins and pick you up when you feel down. The most supportive community of makers out there.
Simply click here and let’s take your homemade soap shop to the next level!
Are you ready to dive in and start your homemade soap adventure?
Let the creativity begin! Until next time, au revoir!
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This article helps me a lot in my soap-making business. I am following every blog post for the past six months.
Hello Amber! We are glad to hear that the post was helpful in your soap-making business. Best of luck with your handmade shop journey!