If you’re deciding how to start a soap business, settle your buyer, product plan and production route first. Choose your first sales channel and build a budget before you commit to packaging. If you’re adding a line to an existing brand, compare our custom manufacturing process with buying ready-to-label blends.
Soapmaking Business: The Building Blocks
Before you can have a thriving soap business, you have to build it from the ground up and learn how to sell soap. Businesses aren't built overnight, but here are some quick tips to help you get started.
Plan the Launch in Order
- Define the customer and choose the first sales channel.
- Choose a small opening range and review samples.
- Compare making soap, sourcing existing blends and developing a custom formula.
- Confirm labels, packaging costs and the money needed for inventory.
- Set the launch date around confirmed production and delivery dates.
- Plan when to reorder before the first stock runs out.
Consider Laws and Restrictions
Before selling online, check the requirements for your business and product. Our soap business permit guide explains the difference between business permissions and product rules.
Check state and local requirements before offering the product for sale. Review the claims on your label, website and listings together. Our frequently asked questions can provide product background, but the wording for your finished product must match its formula, intended use and approved claims.
If you’re running the brand from home, check local business and storage rules before ordering stock. A home office doesn’t mean you have to make the soap there.
Consider Start-Up Costs
Soap business startup costs depend on how you’ll produce, package and sell the product. Build the budget for your opening range instead of relying on a universal starting price. Include development, inventory, packaging, freight, storage and launch marketing. Keep cash for the next order as well as the first one. A business can sell stock and still struggle if all its cash is tied up in inventory.
Check the money left from each order after product, packaging, payment and fulfillment costs. Then allow for overhead and the cost of finding the customer. Sales revenue alone doesn’t tell you whether the line is profitable.
| Budget Item | What to Include | When to Budget for It |
|---|---|---|
| Development or setup | Samples, any custom formulation work and equipment if you’re making the soap. | Before choosing your production route. Confirm any development fees before work starts. |
| Opening inventory | Your first soap order or the ingredients needed for your opening range. | Before placing the order. Confirm minimum quantities, deposits and balance payment dates. |
| Packaging and labels | Artwork, label printing, boxes, bottles, closures and any filling or packing charges. | Before approving packaging. Confirm that it fits the product and meets your label requirements. |
| Freight and storage | Inbound shipping, delivery charges and space to store soap and packaging. | Before confirming your inventory order. Ask whether freight is included in the quote. |
| Launch marketing | Product photography, sales materials, website costs and planned promotions. | Before setting your launch budget. Allow for recurring costs after launch. |
| Next order reserve | Cash for replacement stock, packaging and freight. | Before spending the full launch budget. Your next payment may be due before the first order sells out. |
Consider Your Target Audience
When you're designing and creating soaps and building your brand, it's important to consider who you're trying to reach with your product. Just because you personally love bubblegum-scented soap doesn't mean it's going to be a bestseller! Before you launch a line of your favorite scents, you should do some market research into what your target audience prefers. Learning what other soap makers have had success with can inspire your own scents and help you find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Build Your Brand
With savvy marketing, you could sell your soap in nondescript packaging at your local craft fair and still turn a profit, but building an individual brand will help your business thrive. To do this, you’ll want to create unique and memorable packaging and scent offerings. Your brand doesn't have to be anything elaborate. A catchy name and simple logo can do wonders for brand recognition. Once you've built a brand people know they love, they'll keep coming back to the only place they can get it.
You can find more on soap marketing in our extensive guide.
Outsource Manufacturing
You can source soap without taking on the production work yourself. Our Bulk division supplies ready-to-label blends with no customization. Our Custom Manufacturing division supports formulation and packaging development for larger projects. Compare the quoted order size, development work and delivery schedule before choosing a route. Outsourcing doesn’t guarantee lower total costs for every brand.
Compare the costs and tradeoffs of making or sourcing soap before choosing a production route.
Product Portfolio
In addition to making a profit, most people who choose to sell soap do it because they love making soap as a hobby. However, you can learn how to sell soap without knowing how to make it. All you need is an entrepreneurial spirit and a reliable manufacturer. Besides, selling soap is just plain fun. You get to be your own boss, set your own schedule and meet all kinds of new people.
What Kind of Ingredients Should I Use?
The simplest answer to this question is that you should use high-quality ingredients. To appeal to the largest audience, you should use natural and organic fragrances, oils and additives and stay away from known irritants and allergens. Some oils that are commonly used in soapmaking include:
- Argan oil
- Sunflower oil
- Avocado oil
- Jojoba oil
- Castor oil
- Coconut oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Hemp Seed oil
- Olive oil
The specific ingredients you choose will depend on what properties you want your soap to have. You can find the ingredients used at Botanie Soap here.
Bar or Liquid?
During this time you’ll want to consider whether or not you’re going to sell bar soap or liquid soap. Bar soaps tend to last longer since the user has a good grasp on how much of the product they're using, unlike liquid soap. It's also easy to package and simple to ship, as 4 ounce Botanie bar soaps are rectangular in shape. One common concern you might hear from customers is that bar soaps are more drying. You can easily dispel this notion, because our bar soaps carefully balance the fatty acids to maximize the bar’s hardness, lather quality and moisturizing ability. Another way to give your customers confidence is to familiarize yourself with the ingredient lists for each product in your line.
As mentioned, people can overuse liquid soap more often than bar soap. Its consistency makes it easy to overpour which means the customer will typically finish a liquid soap before a bar soap. You’ll need to determine the best packaging option for your liquid soap, while bar soaps, on the other hand, are often packaged in recycled paper boxes. However, liquid soap can be more attractive for some customers. There are benefits and different perceptions to each type of soap, and it's smart to weigh your options.
For a liquid soap business, decide whether you need bulk soap or a filled retail product. Ask which bottles, closures and label sizes suit the formula. Include filling, packaging and freight in the budget. Review a filled sample before approving a production order.
Deciding on Scents and Volume
You can't select products for your shop without trying and testing each one yourself. Our Botanie Soap sample sets allow you to easily test out different products and scents so you can pick the best for your brand and your customers.
Once you’ve received your sample set, you can select which scents you'd like to purchase and include them in your soap shop. Before purchasing a large quantity of your selected soap, it’s a good idea to consider the following:
- Who are your ideal customers? Different people might prefer different scents and colors.
- Do you sell other items as well? For example, if you also sell flip flops and beachwear, you might choose to sell soaps with floral, summer-like scents.
- Is your brand represented by specific colors? If your brand is all neutral colors, you might want to sell products that stick to that scheme (there’s a wide range of options here).
You may also want to consider the quantity of your inventory by asking yourself the following:
- Do you have existing customers? If so, you might be able to sell soap more quickly.
- How much room do you have in your home or office to store soap? Running a business from your home can limit the amount of inventory you have.
- How much do you want to invest in your business? Deciding how much money you want to spend to start your business will have an impact on how much soap you buy.
How to Package and Label Soap
Part of learning how to sell soap is learning how to package it in a practical and convenient yet captivating way. The packaging doesn't have to be flashy, but it should be able to grab potential customers' attention and stand out from other soaps. You don't want your customers to struggle to open the soap, so keep it simple. As you’re researching how to package soap, you’ll often find that an organic, biodegradable cardboard box is easier to label and open than plastic shrinkwrap. As an added bonus, it's better for the environment, too!
Review the label information your soap needs before you print boxes or sleeves.
Where to Sell Soap
Check our extensive guide on how to sell soap.
In the modern world, there are many avenues you can go down to sell your handmade soaps. Some of the most common places to sell soap include craft fairs, farmers' markets, street fairs, conventions and local businesses (in wholesale form). There are also dozens of websites where you can sell soap, including:
If Amazon is part of your launch, review beauty product approval and listing checks before ordering stock.
- Amazon Handmade
- Etsy
- Artfire
- Craigslist
- Your personal business website
Plan the Supply for Your Soap Line
Before you decide how to start a soap business, confirm the product, budget and supply route together. We offer existing blends and custom manufacturing for different project needs. Compare the relevant order sizes and process before you commit to a launch date.