How to Transform Your DIY Project into a Business

If you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a DIY enthusiast, consider making your own soap. Soap making is a great way to satisfy your creative urges while generating a product that clients want. Let’s talk about how to transform your DIY beauty enterprise into a sustainable home business.

Homemade Soap History

Homemade soap isn't a new concept. In 2800 B.C. the Babylonians perfected the art of manufacturing soap from fats heated with ashes. While soap production has varied throughout the centuries, several basic components have stayed constant.

Soaps start with fat or oil base like lye or glycerin. You can then personalize them with components like essential oils, moisturizers, and other additions.

Soap Making

Soap is a popular household product, meaning almost everyone uses it in some manner. This sanitary essential will always be in great demand. Natural and handmade soap is gaining popularity when packaged in customized lip gloss boxes.

Not only is this kind of natural, handcrafted product in high demand, but it is also reasonably affordable to manufacture at home.

Homemade Soap Types

Handmade Soaps

As you may be aware, there are several handmade soaps, each with unique benefits. Many of the varieties rely on the same chemical reaction that happens when your favorite materials are joined. Generally, natural, handmade soaps are manufactured using food-grade ingredients.

While this isn't a complete list of all handmade soaps, here are some of the most popular. Ingredients like lard, coconut oil, olive oil, refined tallow, or lye are blended with others (we recommend a stick blender).

Pour the mixture into your mold, let it firm, then cut and cure it for 4-6 weeks. In this case, you will actually boil the soap. The materials are cooked, then poured into molds, and let to solidify overnight.

While this form of soap takes longer to prepare than Cold Process Soaps, the finished bars are frequently smoother.

Make ready-made soap

This is a basic soap-making procedure. Pre-made bases are melted down, colored and scented, then poured into molds.

With this method, the chemical reaction to generate the soap is already complete. The soap maker is effectively adding their personal fingerprint to it. Because this handmade soap isn't "made from scratch," it's simpler to construct elaborate shapes and motifs.

These bases are made from glycerin, shea butter, and goat milk and can be obtained in bulk.

Ingredients for making soap

Making your own soap is frequently easier said than done. So we created a recipe with a glycerin basis. As you gain skill in soap production, it becomes simpler to experiment with different oils, aromas, and additions.

Using several oils gives your final product unique properties. Some oils assist make your bars tougher or lather better. Olive and coconut oils, on the other hand, will cause a chemical reaction that turns these liquids into soap. Shea butter, for example, is moisturizing.

After that, let's dive into how to manufacture your first bar of soap.

Gather all the ingredients for your first batch. What you'll need and where to get it:

Glycerin base

Stir sticks

Essential oils

Rubbing alcohol

Microwave-safe containers

Molds

Process

Prepare your soap base

After gathering your supplies, cut and melt your glycerin base. Microwave glycerin chunks for 30 seconds in a microwave-safe jar.

Blend and mix

Microwave the glycerin base in short bursts until it is completely melted. Then mix in a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

While those materials are blending, sprinkle rubbing alcohol on your molds to prevent bubbles from developing.

Pour and wait

Pour the contents into the molds and leave to cool and solidify. After the bars are firm, take them out of the molds. Lather, rinse and repeat.

Marketing Your Handmade Soap Business

Now that you have a great handmade soap recipe, it's time to market it. To get your handmade goods in front of as many people as possible, employ digital media. Consider creating your own online shop, selling on Amazon, and using the following digital platforms

Instagram

This graphic social network is a terrific way to grow a following. You may engage brand ambassadors, illustrate how you make your soaps, and generate stunning photographs that showcase your items.

Pinterest

Home décor is a popular Pinterest category. As a result, soap sellers should use the platform to reach new clients.

Snapchat

While relatively young compared to other major social media platforms, Snapchat has a user base of over 200 million. Achieving such results has attracted many firms, and many more are eager to use this channel to reach their target clients.

Selling Your Handmade Soap

As much as selling online allows businesses to reach a worldwide audience, selling handcrafted soaps in person allows them to reach niche audiences.

Homemade soaps, especially when packaged elegantly in custom retail boxes, maybe stunning in person. So it makes sense for budding beauty entrepreneurs to set up shop at local craft fairs, flea markets, and farmer's markets to maximize sales.

DIYers may also sell their goods at pop-up shops, small boutiques, and beauty/ cosmetics stores. Temporary retail and wholesale options also enable early-stage entrepreneurs to personally test and obtain feedback on their handcrafted soaps.

If those aren't enough to convince you of the value of physical sales, consider the following:

Markets and Fairs

While every entrepreneur's main purpose for in-person sales is to earn sales, merchants may also find inspiration at markets and fairs. Connecting with other businesses and DIYers might inspire new product ideas and new strategies to promote the existing stock.

Wholesale customers go to markets and fairs to locate new products to stock in their shops, making these events ideal for meeting new wholesale clients.

Live product testing

Live product testing retail events are perfect for testing new items on customers. In-person feedback may help you improve and handle client concerns quickly.

Boost social media and email lists

Your offline and online marketing initiatives don't have to be separate. Use in-person sales events to grow your social media following and attract new and existing consumers to your email list.

Although in-person selling may seem scary to those glued to their computers, the appropriate knowledge may help you succeed. Along with learning how to sell in person, invest in a mobile point-of-sale system like Shopify or WooCommerce.

Ready To Start A Soap Business?

Now that you know how to start your own handmade soap company, it's time to launch it. Not only do you know how to produce soap, but you also know how to sell your new DIY company online and offline.

So, package your soap in custom soap boxes, and launch your product today!