Turning Your Soap Making Skills Into a Business

So you want to make soap for a living. So many people have asked me how to start a soap making business.

It's like any other business to a point. You need to decide on a name to begin with. Your name should reflect how you want the world to see you. Take your time with this. You will need a few backup choices too, in case the name is taken.

Take these names to your local business registry department. You can find this information in the phone book or from your city hall.

A name search will begin and this will take a few days to get the results. There are a few fees involved. One for the name search and another for the name registration.

Take your new business name and paper work to your city hall and apply for a business license. Depending on where you live, you may also need to apply for a tax number. All of this information will be available once you register for the business license.

Once you have all the paperwork you need, you will be able to purchase your ingredients and supplies through wholesale sources. This is important because it will bring down your costs.

Next step is all about how you will present yourself. Do you want to have a logo made? This sounds like an expensive luxury, but it sets you apart from hobbyists and gives you a professional image. You should sit down and figure out what you want this logo to represent. Is it all about your soap making or are you going to expand into other crafts too? You can get a logo made up easily for around $50. It's well worth it.

Once you have your logo made, or create your own, it's time to get your business cards printed. There are good deals all over. Shop around or print them yourself. You can pick up a pack of printable business card sheets and the templates are usually available on line or with an attached cd.

Be sure you have the proper home insurance to cover you and your equipment. You will need to talk to your insurance broker for details.

Once all of the paperwork is out of the way, it's down to the fun business and deciding on your business plan.

The business plan should be written out and over time will be revised several times. A business plan needs to grow and change along with you and you business. You need to be flexible; things don't always go exactly as planned. To me, this is a good thing. It allows me to grow and change with my experiences and I really hope you are able to take on this perspective. For some, this will be the most difficult part, putting everything down on paper. Most crafters and soap makers are dreamers. We like to visualize and strategize in our heads. Putting it down on paper seems so mundane, but it needs to be done.

You need to be creative and logical at the same time. Asking yourself some key questions will help you put everything into perspective.

Next time, we can look closer at those key questions we need to ask ourselves when we are writing up the business plan.