Want To Be Your Own Boss?

I think everyone secretely wants to start their own business. Little or big, everyone wants to enjoy what they do and make money from the things they are passionate it about. There lies the real question, is what you want to do going to make money, and how are you going to do it?

This really wasn't ever a thought in my mind. I have lived on a Wyoming ranch for most of my life. I have raised cattle, and it's a once a year pay day. You take care of your calves, hope they all make it through the year to fall. Then they are sold and you get your money. The market is either up or dowm, but either way you get your money. Starting my own business wasn't something I had ever thought about. Up until about a year ago I have worked normal 9-5 jobs, hotel jobs, maintenance jobs, etc. Working for hourly wage and having a guarenteed pay check every two weeks.

Last year we got into raising goats, and I looked into soap making with Goat Milk. That is honestly the only reason I wanted to start having dairy goats, so we could both use the milk for ourselves and use it to make soaps, lotions, or whatever else I wanted to make with it. I made a few batches here and there. I didn't understand it much at first, but that is where it all started.

So here are some things I have learned along the way.

Research & Understand Your Product

Now going into this I did some research about how goat milk is benificial to your skin and body. (If you're interested in that info check our my article I wrote on it in my profile). Now the thing I didn't do is research hard about the actual soap making process. I wanted to do it, but I just didn't have the time to look into it to much at the time with my job and all of our animals. Then I made one batch and it didn't turn out like I wanted it. I let it sit and sit and sit. I am one of those people, if things don't turn out right the first time I get frustrated and give up. I expect myself to get things right the first time I try something, and let's face it. That's completely unrealistic for anyone. Anything takes time and patience to learn. So fast forward to this pandemic coming into play. When this was all starting I was pregnant with my little girl. So working in a real estate office and being the office manager I was the one who was always doing deposits and touching the money, checks, etc. So I was constantnly washing my hands. I was mainly worried about my unborn baby getting ill affects if I were to get sick. So I was very diligent about washing my hands all the time. Well this eventually took its toll on my hands. My hands were so bad that they started to crack and bleed. Lotion didn't help at all, it just burned and didn't help anything at all. So I went into the spare bedroom where I was keeping my soap and I grabbed one of my bars. Although I didn't do it correctly. Long story short I added to much water not knowing how the lye worked with the milk. So there was nothing wrong with the soap, just more water than it needed. So the soap was still usable, so I started using it. I was so shocked. Within a couple days of using it, my hands were completely healed and felt soft as they could ever be. I went as far as taking a bar to work so my hands stayed that way. So fast forward a couple weeks later when I'm out of soap. I had gave some to family memebers to try out. So I make a couple new batches. Well, I again didn't do any further research and end up using too much water. Again, soap is fine, just needed less water. Still usable. Turned out beautifully. Cut great. I gave some to friends to use and see how it worked. Everyone loved. So I started getting asked if I was going to start selling it. So I thought about it and I was like yeah, that'd be great to do on the side. Yeah, I didn't know what I was getting into, but then I got serious about it. I did days and days of research and started figuring out what I was doing wrong. And I am still learning. There is a lot to Cold Process soap making. I don't know it all, but I am sure learning and getting very confident in my soap making abilities now. So then comes a couple months before my baby is born. I had my mind set that I was going to spend time with her for a month or so, and then go ahead and go back to work. Well that all came to screeching halt when they screwed me over and instead of giving my the raise I was suppose to get, I got paid $5.00 an hour less than the lady that I replaced. Yeah that wasn't going to work for me. So I was like, well, guess I'm gonna be a stay at home mom then. This was a hard pill to swallow for me. I'm very independent and I like to have my own money. I like to pay my own bills and take care of myself and not make someone else take care of my financially. Which I am not complaining, I am so blessed to be able to do that and stay home with my baby. A lot cannot do that, but then I was like, how can I still make some money while I'm at home? That's where the business started taking place.

What Are You Selling? Is There A Market For It?

Now the hardest part about the business I picked:

THERE ARE A MILLION PEOPLE THAT SELL SOAP!

It really is a hard one to get in on. There are a few people that sells soaps in my area, but only a couple that sell specifically Goat Milk soap. The hardest part is getting your name out there. If you're just starting out, don't get frustrated. It is so hard when you don't have a name. I am just starting out, and we found a place in our town that takes consignments. You rent a booth for a monthly fee, and that is a good store front. We are starting out with a small booth for now, and as we get bigger we will increase our booth size. Now that being said, it is still an iffy thing to be into. We did great our first month, we made about $130.00. May not sound like much, but for products that are under $15.00 it's quite a bit. Then last month we only made $45.00. So, its frustrating, but you just have to figure out what the consumers want. Also, advertising is a huge thing. Word of mouth, business cards, facebook, instagram, anything you can think of. Thanfully my mom is great about using my products to test them out and posting things about them on her facebook when she likes them. She also likes to go to the store and buy stuff then she gives them to coworkers and friends and that helps a ton getting my name and products out there. Word of mouth really does wonders.

What Will You Charge? Will You Make A Profit?

On the business side of things, you do need to make sure you are actually making a profit from what you are doing. I am not the finanical wizard, I do it because I like it. Now, my fiance on the other hand, it better make money or he isn't impressed. So I do make sure that our products make plenty of profit for the money we spend on it. This does involve a lot of research as well. Making sure your product isn't too expensive, but isn't super overpriced either. You should make sure that you factor in everything you use. My biggest suggestion: SHOP AROUND! Don't just find one store that has your stuff and start buying. Make sure that you are looking into all stores and make sure that you are getting a good deal. We buy all of our oils and supplies in bulk. Now, for me the price isn't necessarily a huge deal. The company I buy from happens to have some of the best prices on the ingredients we use. Somethings they sell are a little higher priced, but not the things we need the biggest amount of, so it's not too big of a deal. The biggest thing for me is shipping. Am I going to take a hit for the cheap prices with the shipping? This is the main reason I stick with the supplier I use, if you spend over $25.00 you get free shipping. Now this is a huge deal. We easily spend over that every time we make an order. Now the reason the shipping is huge for me, we buy in bulk. This means 100lbs+ in any orders that we needs our main ingredients for our soap. Any other place the shipping would be absolutely ridiculous because shipping is solely dependent on weight. So when I am buying 50lb tubs of palm oil and 28 lbs of coconut oil all in one order, plus almost 30lbs of other oils, free shipping is a must!

Ingredients- for us oils, butters, lye, colorants, additives, fragrances.

Packaging- paper, tags, printer cartridges, printers, whatever you put into making your products have that eye appeal.

Other- Gas? Do you deliver? Do you ship? Shipping Costs? Packages for shipping? Gas to go to town to put your items in a store front? Anything extra you can think of.

These are little things that I didn't think of when we first started this. When I first started pricing I went on etsy and checked out everyones' pricing. I put mine right in the middle. So then one day Ty was picking fun at me about making a profit, then I got paranoid. So I calculated out, to the ounce, how much each "loaf" of soap cost me to make. Then how much I was selling it for. Just to prove to him that I was making a profit. Thanfully I was pricing well and we were, in fact, making a profit on all of our products.

Now these were just a couple things, but the things I really learned fast. Now the advertising is something I can't say enough. I even spend some money on ads on our Etsy page, because the more exposure the better. Once you can get some traffic and get some sales, your products won't be so far down the list. It is a huge disappointment not getting sales right away, but if you're not pushing hard don't get discouraged. I am frustrated, but I know if I keep pushing and trying I will get there. It just takes time. Most of the big stores didn't just start out successful the day they started. It took time, just like everything else.

One last thing, don't be afraid to be creative! Check out Facebook and Instagram. Instagram is where I got my creative side from. I love looking at what other people can do with what I'm doing. I take their success and make it into my own and come up with my own ideas and designs. It is such a satistfying feeling to have a design turn out exactly how you want it. No better feeling than that!

If you want to learn more about our business feel free to visit our pages!

Facebook: /PondFarmWY

Etsy: etsy.com/shop/PondFarmSoapery

Instagram: @pondfarmsoapery

Feel free to message me even if you just want to learn something about the soap making world. I love helping people learn!

Until next time, thanks for checking in with us!