Outsourcing soap manufacturing lets a brand source production while its team handles the business. Compare that route with making soap yourself before you commit. When starting your business, connect the production choice with picking an appropriate price and where to sell your soap.
Compare the work, control, cost and cash needed for each route. Our manufacturing options explain where existing blends and custom projects differ.
Use the comparison below to decide which production work your team should own and which work a partner should handle.
Pros of Making Your Own Soap
Before making an informed business decision, it's important to know both the pros and cons of making soap on your own. Below, you can find the benefits of making your own soap.
You Have Full Control
When you make your own soap, you have complete control over every aspect of the soapmaking process, including:
● Type of oil used
● Amount of oil used
● Size of soap bars
● Soap color
● Soap fragrance
● Designs
If you don't like how a batch turns out, you can tweak the formula until you get it right.
How much control you keep depends on the production route. Our Bulk division supplies fixed, ready-to-label blends without customization. Our Custom Manufacturing division supports formulation development and prototype approval. Compare those choices with making soap in-house before deciding what control your brand needs.
It's Fun and Rewarding
Most soapmakers fall into the business accidentally after realizing how fun it is to make soap. After all, if you have dozens of bars of soap lying around, you might as well sell them and make some extra money.
Anyone who has made soap before will tell you how great it feels when it slides out of the mold and you get to see all of your hard work come together.
Cons of Making Your Own Soap
Although soapmaking is fun, doing business isn't all about having fun. Below are the drawbacks of making your own soap.
It's a Time-Consuming Process
Making soap is no walk in the park. From carefully mixing the right combination and ratio of ingredients to delicately pouring the soap mixture into molds to slicing the bars by hand and waiting for them to cure, it's not something you can rush.
From the time you start blending the oils together, it can be up to a month before that soap is ready to be used. Not to mention all the time it takes to source the proper tools and ingredients before you can even start.
Higher Startup Costs
When you decide to make your own soap, there are a lot of startup costs you have to consider. You have to buy all of the raw ingredients, additives, molds, blenders, mixing bowls, curing racks and safety equipment, and you must have a way to store it all.
Compare the total cost per saleable bar for each production route. For in-house production, include ingredients, packaging, labor, failed batches, space and equipment. For an outsourced order, include the quoted soap, setup, packaging, freight and any work your team still performs. Divide each total by the number of bars you expect to sell. Then compare that cost with the money left after sales and fulfillment costs.
Soapmaking can be profitable, but outsourcing doesn’t guarantee a higher margin. A lower unit quote can still require more cash up front. Check the order size and payment timing against your sales plan before you decide.
| Cost or Decision | Make In House | Source From a Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| Product and packaging | Enter your actual costs | Enter the full quote |
| Labor and work retained | Include your team’s time | Include work not covered by the quote |
| Space and equipment | Include the cost allocated to the run | Include any storage and handling retained |
| Freight and loss | Include expected loss and delivery | Include inbound freight and expected loss |
| Total cost per saleable bar | Total cost divided by saleable bars | Total cost divided by saleable bars |
| Cash and payment timing | Record when you pay | Record deposits and balance dates |
Include the budget needed to attract buyers and earn repeat soap orders when you compare production routes.
It's Very Difficult to Scale Up Quickly
Your business may have been born out of your soapmaking hobby surplus, but that tends to be very small scale, with most hobbyists only making a couple of dozen bars a month. If you're serious about growing your sales, you'll have to scale up production eventually, which can be very difficult to do on your own.
Scaling up production isn't just working a few more hours a week to make an extra batch. It entails sourcing the right ingredients from reliable bulk suppliers and requires bigger equipment and more space.
Outsourcing can give your brand access to production capacity beyond your own setup. Confirm the order size, packaging work and delivery schedule before you plan growth around it. A manufacturing partner doesn’t remove the need to forecast demand or hold enough stock.
You're Responsible for All the Cleaning
Most people will agree that cleaning up afterward is the worst part of making soap. It's not hard, but it can be tedious to wash every little piece of equipment. You get the final product and none of the mess when you outsource manufacturing.
Why Outsourcing Could Be the Best Option
Choose the route that fits your product requirements, expected orders and available cash. Existing blends can suit a brand that doesn’t need a custom formula. Custom development can suit a brand with specific formulation or packaging needs. Making soap in-house can suit a team that wants to own production and can support the work. Compare the full costs before you commit.
For a new custom bar project, our first-order minimum is 2,160 four-ounce bars, which can be split into two blends of 1,080. Repeat orders start at 1,080 bars per blend. Development and production take separate time, so ask us to confirm the full schedule for your project. Compare our custom manufacturing options and public minimums before you choose a production route.
Outsourcing shifts production work to a manufacturing partner, but your team still needs to manage purchasing, inventory and sales. Compare the full quote with your in-house costs to see whether it saves your business time or money.
At Botanie Soap, we make outsourcing simple. Whether you're interested in one of our popular, ready-to-label scents or learning more about our custom manufacturing services, reach out to our team today to get started.