You see there's more to a business than just making product. Marketing is more of a challenge than making nice soap. Maybe that's why very few soap makers really make much money.
Too much time is spent on soap making and not enough thought goes into selling it. My family started a home-scale soap and crafts business and sold 35,000 bars of soap at a profit. Here are tips based on what we learned.
Make the best soap first...
Don't even think of trying to sell crude, half-cured soap. That hurts your chances as well as all other handcrafted soap makers. Only offer for sale products that are of the highest quality. It takes some practice and study, but that's just the cost of getting started.
No competition???
Soap makers are everywhere. Handcrafted soap is everywhere. So what do you have to offer that someone else doesn't? What can you do with soap to set your product apart, to truly make it unique? Answer that question and you may really have little competition. See, it's no longer good enough to offer your soap as better than commercial soap. Most people have now heard that. How can you make soap that's better than other soap makers? That's the key...
Sell 5 ways.
Once you have high quality, unique soap products, how can you move it in volume? Here are five suggestions that when taken together start to build a marketing system. 1. Find a volume outlet like craft shows or festivals and sell a high volume in a short time. 2. Follow up with customers using simple brochures. 3. Sell through a simple catalog to past customers. 4. Offer volume sales to retail stores or spas. 5. Stay in touch with customers with a simple website. Put all these together slowly for a real marketing network.
Sell more to customers.
The really easy sales are sales to your existing and past customers. That's why you must have several methods to stay in contacts with everybody who has already bought from you before. Do that and you may be able to mostly stay at home and generate an income from home. Repeat sales are the key.
More than soap.
What else goes with soap? Lotions, salves, gift baskets, candles, oils, fragrances, and on and on. You can offer customers much more than just simple soaps. That's another way to sell more without working a lot harder.
Starting a soap making business is easy to do. Making profit at it takes some thought and planning. Get started right and your business can be a serious part-time income fairly quickly..
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Original Post by: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/starting-a-soap-making-business-5-tips-for-profits-1151463.html
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