10 ways to make money making handmade soap

A person who is passionate about making art needs to learn how to sell it. Making soap at home is a great way to show what you can do while making other people happy and making money. The number of people who want handmade and natural products is growing, which makes it more important than ever to make handmade soap.

Soap making basics

Making handmade soap can be a fun hobby, a side job, or the main thing you do. The success of the business depends on how enthusiastic, productive, and efficient the needlewoman is, as well as how well the business is advertised.

How to learn how to make soap at home and where to get recipes

Making soap at home doesn’t take any special skills or knowledge. Anyone can learn how to do it. There are a few ways to learn the process from the beginning:

• use literature;
• take classes online;
• watch videos on the Internet on your own;
• attend workshops alone or with a group.

At the start of the journey, they use the experiences of others as a guide and take the ideas they like. You can find them on the Internet in places like YouTube (like “Soapmaking: Basics for Beginners”), Instagram, and forums for needlewomen. At the same time, they try out new things and work on their own recipes.

Materials and equipment

You can find and buy the things you need to make soap on the Internet or in stores that sell needlework supplies. To make handmade soap, you’ll need:

1. Soap base is the main ingredient, and cooking can’t happen without it.
2. Olive, peach, cocoa, and jojoba oils are good for caring for and moisturizing skin.
3. Essential oils are natural flavors that are taken from plants like pine trees, citrus fruits, mint, and others.
4. different colors of soap are made with dyes and pigments;
5. Fragrances that give a unique, rich smell and help keep it for a long time;
6. Scrubbing, gommage, and other ingredients such as loofah, plant seeds, ground coffee beans, and dried flowers are used as fillers.
7. molds made of plastic and silicone;
8. scales;
9. pots, bowls, and measuring cups are examples of containers.
10. Soap base graters, spoons, knives, and spatulas are examples of small tools.

Important! In the future, you will need things like glitter to make things shine, mother-of-pearl, paper that dissolves in water so you can put pictures on it, and stamps.

Packaging and the design of finished products are important parts of the production process. To do this, you’ll need bags, boxes, paper, ribbons, and tags.

Description of the soap making process

Even though it takes a lot of work, making handmade soap is a simple process. In this case, the needlewoman has to go through these steps.

1. Grinds the soap base and melt it in a water bath or the microwave.
2. It gives the food color, flavor, and filler.
3. Pours the mixture into the molds and let it set.
4. Takes the finished soap out and puts it in a box.

How to start a soap making business

Making soap is a simple business that is easy to run out of your home. Every year, the market for handmade soap grows by 20%, and it’s not hard to get into it. Stable sales can be set up with the help of a well-thought-out business plan.
Before you buy materials and start making soap, you need to come up with a plan for the business, research the market, figure out how much it will cost, and figure out how to sell it both in person and online. As with other types of business, you need to come up with a unique offer and target a specific group of people.

To be successful, the needlewoman must know at the start of her journey what kind of soap she will make, how much she will make, for whom she will make it, and how, where, and how much she will sell it. It won’t be hard to make soap at home as long as you do each step the right way.

Start-up capital

You don’t need much money to start a business at home where you sell soap. Most beginners don’t have between $500 and $600 hundred dollars to buy raw materials at wholesale prices right away. So, it is possible to slowly increase production by using the available funds in a smart and cost-effective way.
How many materials a business needs in its first few months and how much do they cost in dollars:

• base (you can start with 5 kg) – from $20-$25; budget samples cost from $3.5 dollars. for 1 kg;
• dyes (3-5 types) – $5-$9;
• flavors (3-5 types) – $5-$9;
• forms (20 pieces) – from $25 to $50, the cost starts from $1.2-$1.5 dollars;
• packaging (bags, film, boxes, ribbons, tags) – $15-$25;
• soap making equipment: pots, measuring cups, scales, spoons.

$100-$200 USD is enough to start a business. You can get back what you put into it in a few months.

Important! If the entrepreneur wants to grow the business further, the costs will go up between $500 and $800. They will be used to add more items to the line, make special packaging, and advertising.

How to choose a niche

Before you go out and buy soap-making supplies, you need to figure out your niche and range. So, production costs can be cut and dyes, fragrances, and other ingredients won’t go to waste. If you are just starting to make soap, it is best to keep the range reasonable. If it’s too big, you’ll have to use a lot of different things. They will have to be bought at a store, which will make them much more expensive and cut into profits.
It’s also not worth it to stop at a niche that is too small. To start selling soap, you can focus on a few popular types:

• souvenir, like three or four different ones for each holiday;
• natural: for the whole family, for kids, and for all kinds of skin;
• Other beauty products like bath bombs, scrubs, and balms.

How to decorate and pack soap beautifully

Design and packaging are the last steps in making handmade soap. For a product to sell well, it needs to attract customers not only with its smell and usefulness but also with how it looks.
Statistics show that 70% of homemade soaps are given as holiday presents. It’s best to come up with your own design for each kind of souvenir soap. Gift sets are usually put in boxes or bags, which are then decorated with ribbons or stickers. The name and logo of the master are put on the label.

Important! With 400–500 kg of soap made every month, the cost of registration and packaging will be between $600 and $800.

When compared to souvenir soap, natural soap usually looks ugly, so the packaging for it is chosen to match. When designing something, the focus is on how easy it is to use, how good it is for the environment, and how useful it is. It’s better to wrap handmade soap made from natural ingredients in paper or burlap and tie it with twine.

Handmade soap prices

The price of the finished soap is the cost plus the profit that was planned. The price goes up depending on how complicated the work is. For example, the price goes up when water-soluble paper or unusual methods of execution are used, such as when making layers of different colors.
Usually, the price of a product is increased by 200 to 300%. So, if it cost a needlewoman $2 to make one bar of soap, she can sell it for between $2 and $3.

When calculating the cost of a product, take these 5 into account:

1. material costs;
2. packaging cost;
3. transport and postage costs for the sale of goods;
4. the complexity of the work;
5. other expenses: for advertising promotion, electricity, etc.

Important! Before you set a price for your finished soap, you should look at how much similar samples are selling for on the market. Most of the time, they use averages in this case.

Business registration

People who make soap at home want to know if they need to make it a business. If a craftswoman makes soap for herself or sells it in small amounts to friends, it is hard to keep track of and tax her work. Many needlewomen use this chance to do business without permission.
But soap is a cosmetic, and it is against the law to sell it in person or on the Internet without being registered and giving a declaration of conformity. If the soap maker doesn’t want the tax authorities to ask him questions, he has to register as an LLC or an individual entrepreneur.
If the master works from home and doesn’t have any employees, it’s faster and easier to sign up as a sole proprietor. To sign up, you must either go to the tax office in person or send an application through the Internet. OKVED – 24.51.3 “Production of soap and detergents” says that the activity code must be written on the document. The fee that the state will charge for registering IP will be $50.

Important! When you register as a sole proprietor, you can choose the best tax system, which is a simplified one with a 6% rate.

Certificate of conformity

Even though soap makers use certified ingredients to make their products, handmade soap must be declared to be in compliance with the technical regulations of the Customs Union (TR TS 009-2011) “On the safety of cosmetic products.” If the product is only going to be sold as a souvenir, the manufacturer must write that on the label.

In order to make a declaration, you must contact one of the certification centers, get the documents you need, and send samples of the goods for inspection. The lab checks the product to make sure it is safe and of good quality. The application can list several kinds of soap that will be made and sold by the same company but have the same ingredients. Since changes can’t be made later, it’s better to say how many titles can be used at most.
A TR CU declaration is made based on the results of tests done in a lab. You can look in the Rosaccreditation register to see if the seller has it in stock and to find out more about it. The declaration is good for 1 to 5 years, during which time you can make and sell as much soap as you want. The process of signing up can take up to 10 days. Depending on the terms of the declaration and the chosen center, the soap maker will have to pay $50 to have the document made.

The business owner can get a certificate of conformity if he or she wants to. Only manufacturers who already have a valid declaration can give it out. The certificate of conformity shows that the product meets GOST 28546-2002, TU, or STO standards.

Important! Individuals don’t get certificates and declarations of conformity. So, a person who makes handmade soap must first register as an LLC or an individual entrepreneur.

Where to sell handmade soap: offline platforms and the Internet

Sales are often hard for people who make soap. People in this group are used to using factory samples. Buyers rarely bother to look if they can get the item from a store near their home. Samples of hand-made soap are rarely displayed in store windows. Also, it costs more because it is made with natural ingredients and the master worked hard on it. The soap maker’s main job is not only to make and sell a unique product that will attract connoisseurs but also to show its special benefits and make the buying process as easy as possible for the customer.

Sale of soap offline

A good place is the most important thing for making sales on offline sites. It’s important for the seller to find a place with a lot of traffic and a reasonable rent. How and where can you sell soap that you make yourself?

1. Events like shows and fairs. They involve talking to the audience in real time and figuring out what they want. The main problem with fairs is that you have to pay to go. Only a small number of craftspeople are able to sell enough items to cover these costs. Most days at the exhibition, 30–50 bars of soap can be sold. Participants are often also asked to get certificates and register their IP addresses.
2. Getting along with shops These can be places where you can buy handicrafts, souvenirs, or natural beauty products. The person who makes soap sells it to stores or rents out shelves or showcases.
3. Getting your own place to sell things. To start selling soap, you can rent a counter, kiosk, or island in a shopping center. If you couldn’t find a place with a lot of traffic, you should use the navigation system, which includes banners, arrows, streamers, and trails with writing on them. Also, it’s important to make the entrance look bright and beautiful with lights, a signboard, and garlands.

Important! A soap maker who is just starting out should try to get the word out about his business and increase sales. He could give out samples of his soap to different groups and clubs, use word of mouth, and pass out flyers and business cards.

Online showcases

The Internet lets the person who makes handmade soap reach a lot more people. The mall store only serves one district, but the online store serves the whole country. It’s easy and profitable to sell things you made yourself on the Internet, especially if you live in a small town with a small number of buyers.
The master has a few options for selling handmade soap on the Internet.

1. Social networking. The needlewoman needs to set up home store pages on Instagram, VKontakte, Facebook, and Odnoklassniki. Bright photos and colorful descriptions of products always draw attention. In social networks, it’s important to be active all the time and keep customers in mind. In addition to personal accounts and store pages, you can find an audience and sell soap on women’s forums, groups for young mothers, and communities for needlework fans. In our article “How to sell handmade on Instagram?,” you can read about how to make sales on the Internet.
2. Handmade goods can be sold on the Internet. Most services work in the same way: the user opens his shop, puts his goods on display, sells them, or takes orders. The Craft Fair and Etsy are the most popular places to sell handmade items. On the Russian site, you can put up three free positions. If the master wants more publications, he needs to get a club card and pay 99 to 8580 rubles per month in fees. The needlewoman can reach people all over the world through the international site Etsy. But the site’s commissions are high: it will cost $0.20 to put each product on the site. Etsy takes 5% of every sale as well. If the lot isn’t sold in 4 months, the extra cost of the publication is paid for. Read the article “Where is the best place to sell handicrafts online?” to learn more about the best sites for selling handmade items.
3. Patron is a place where needlewomen from all kinds of creative fields can work together. Each master can post an unlimited number of free items, sell finished items, take orders from users, talk to people who like his work, keep his own blog, and get support from people who know about craftsmanship. Here, you can also work together with other authors to do PR for each other.
4. Notice boards. Handmade soap makers can use services like Avito or Yula to sell their products. Even though these sites don’t focus on hand-made products, they have a large audience and can help you find a buyer on the Internet.
5. Your own online shop. Creating and maintaining a website isn’t always a good use of money, and it may not pay off if the master’s brand isn’t promoted enough. But if the soap maker already has a lot of experience and can stand on his own, the next step for his business will be to open his own online store.

Important! For a needlewoman to sell handmade soap on online platforms, she must not only be good at what she does, but also know how to take beautiful pictures of finished samples, write correct ads and product descriptions, and market the business on the Internet.

How much can you earn selling soap

Taking into account the small number of items for sale in the first few months, a beginner can make up to $150 in net profit. He needs to sell about 100 bars of soap to do this.
On average, soap makers at home earn $500. This is how much money you would make if you sold $800–$900 worth of goods. If you increase the number of things you make and find new ways to sell them, you can make a lot more money.

How to make money on soap making: 10 tips

Soap makers who want to start a home business can make mistakes. It’s not hard to learn how to make handmade soap, but it’s much harder to find buyers and sell enough to have a steady income. These tips will help you sell more and make more money.

1. Reduce product cost. It’s better to buy materials on the Internet and at wholesale prices. Look for deals. At the beginning of a business’s growth, it’s best to start with a range of products that are all made from the same things. Handmade soap molds can’t be bought, but you can rent them.
2. Avoid randomness. Beginners make a mistake when they don’t have a plan or idea. The assortment should be well thought out and not just depend on what the needlewoman wants at the moment. This path is good for a hobby, but not for a business. For steady sales, the master should make things that can be sold faster and for more money.
3. Use word of mouth to your advantage. At the start of a business, everyone who knows the soap maker and its products should know about it. The more people who know about the author’s work, the more likely it is that the product will find a buyer.
4. Always keep the customer in mind. Craftsmen with a lot of experience try to sell soaps in different price ranges. So they let everyone buy their goods, no matter how much money they have. For sales to grow, it’s also important to keep in touch with the audience and respond quickly to reviews, questions, and suggestions. You can make a loyalty program for customers who buy from you often by giving them discounts based on how much they buy.
5. Think about how the business is affected by the seasons. The most money can be made from making soap from September to the end of March. So, you need to use certain dates to figure out when handmade souvenir soap was made. Before the holidays, like on Knowledge Day, Teacher’s Day, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, February 23, and March 8, sales are at their highest. Kits and soap should be ready ahead of time. When it’s hard to make much money in the summer, you can come up with new recipes and buy the tools you need.
6. Sell ​​sets. On the last day before the holidays, handmade soap makes a great gift. The most money is made from the sales of gift sets, which cost more.
7. Sell products that go together. Often, they can double the soapmaker’s money. These things are used to keep up with sudden demand. People who visit the store in person or online can buy handmade soap as well as essential oil and bath bombs, which cost several times more than what they sell for.
8. Take photos that are good. Bad pictures are one of the most common mistakes made by needlewomen who make soap. To sell soap on the Internet, you need to be able to take photos that look “delicious.” This doesn’t require you to be a professional photographer. Light and a nice background are the most important things here.
9. Work on describing soaps. Buyers will pay more for soap made by a certain company if it has bright, colorful writing on it. Each customer wants to know that the product was made with unique ingredients, the best technologies, and the most up-to-date tools.
10. Try to find new ways to earn money. Many needlewomen make soap souvenirs with company logos today. It is ordered for business events and special dates. Handmade soap is another popular gift for guests at a wedding from the couple who just got married. You shouldn’t just be able to sell finished goods and fill orders. To make more money from making soap, the needlewoman can teach children and adults how to do it. You can also make money by selling online tutorials on how to make handmade soap.

As a business, making soap is a good idea. It can turn into a short-term part-time job or help you build your own brand. Handmade soap made at home is very popular. So, the soap maker’s main job is to make an offer that is appealing.