Working behind the scene
I am on the edge to be ready to sale my homemade soaps. It has been lots of work for me those last months ! There are many steps to go through to manage it properly and. Properly with health, safety, UK&EU regulations & cosmetics industry.
I would like to give some insights and share with my lovely customers what is on going behind the scene and how profesional must be an artisan soap maker to make and market soaps.
1. Idea of trading soap
First of all, the idea ! And beyond the idea, you need the resource, the energy and the good vibes to go through those steps. Of course it is very rewarding and fulfilling to create soaps. Soap making is a long process. The steps are carried out day after day and we must come back to the work several times.. Formulate, Make, Demould, Cut, Stamp, Store, Dry, Test, Pick, Wrap, Pack, Ship…
For me the idea of trading soaps came quite naturally. Before the lockdown, I was running worshops for 5 months where I offered my community DIY natural cosmetic or household products. Last March, the lockdown marked a clear stop to my activities and like all businesses, I had to adapt my business to cope with the situation.
To be honest, the first months of lockdown were devoted to my children (2 and 6 years old) and the house. My husband as a key worker was continuing his working life in an usual way. At that age, it goes without saying that my kids don’t know how to entertain themselves without an adult… So for the first few months, it suited me well not to work and I was really happy to have time to give them during this uncertain period which was a little peculiar and incomprehensible for them.After about ten weeks, I started to miss my professional life. I started to think about how I could extend my business in the situation of the pandemic. That’s when I started doing online workshops for events, companies or charities. Very interesting. But I was practicing less, I was still missing something to be fully satisfied.That’s when the idea came to create my own range of cosmetic products and I chose what seemed to me the most attainable and the less risky: the soap. Everybody uses soap on a daily basis (and even more in times of pandemic!) so I don’t take a big financial risk on doing so.
If I think about it, I have always been attracted by hands-on, craft things and making things for our daily use. Recovering objects, personalising them and giving them a new life are part of my life since ever. In short, I’m not that surprised that I became an artisan.
2. Plan the project
When my decision was taken, I start to thing about all the steps to lead to soap trading. In my previous life, I was a project manager in health industry for more than 15 years so leading a project has absolutly no secret for me. I started a coundown. I wanted to be ready to trade for Christmas this year.
So, less than 6 months to be ready. I love challenges !
So coundown was easy, a soap needs at least 4 to 6 weeks to dry, so the first of November the production must be finished.
For that, I have some specific requirements due to the fact that a soap is in the cosmetic product ‘s category. So as a Soap maker, I have to comply with lots of requirement, Cosmetics making and selling is regulated by the European legislation : the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009.
3. Formulate my own soaps
Before the idea came, I had a precise idea of what should be my perfect soap. For me a soap has to be made with natural ingredients, organic. I love raw things. Simple colours and shape. That was my guideline.
At first, I was dreaming of a soap only made by ingredients produced in my area. I quickly realized it can’t be possible. I can pick so ingredients from Cheshire but unfortunatly not all… So I decided to go further to choose my ingredients, and my condition was to choose fair trade labelled ingredients, organic, made and produced in the respect of our planet. No concession.
I have tried lots of ingredients and shape. I have elaborated almost 30 to 40 differents recipes to assess one at the end !
Everybody around me tried them and review. Intersting. I wanted a balance soap : as cleansing as softening and glowing.
When I was ready, I have sent my 8 formulations to be assessed. and wait for 6 weeks.
Finding supplier, being aware of delivery cost.
In the meantime, I have been working hard on :
4. Establish few documents
All the document to establish to comply with European regulation are listed bellow :
- CPSR (Cosmetic product safety report) : that a safety assessment where a chemist approves all the formulations of my soaps.
- Obtain PIF (product information file) : a file where all information about products, batches, suppliers are gathered
- Elaborate GMP (Good manufacturing Practice) : All process of manufacturing written in a file and explain how soaps are made in a professional and hygienic manner. And in a genral manner, create all the Excel files to follow : stock of ingredients, production, cure, stock of soaps.. I have loved doing this !
- Register formulation to european gate Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) : This is a very useful step for peaople safety : here all the cosmetics makers declare all ingredients used in their cosmetics in case of intoxication if someone eats a cosmetics products or puts it in the eyes or gets an allergy to a component. At least, first aid can find very quickly all information.
- Notify HMRC :We have to declare the business as a company or sole trader. My company was already created since october 2019, but as a new activity was added, I just had to add a new SIC number in my annual confirmation statment.
- Contract the proper insurance : I had already one that expire at the end of october 2020 so that was the perfect time for me to change to a more specified insurance. Mainstream insurance companies does not cover little business cosmetics companies. So i had to find the peculiar one. I choose Ian W Wallace.
- Labelling the soap as asked by the regulation.
5.Create packaging
I would have love to sell a product naked. whitout any packaging, but in european regulation there are guidance labelling that we cannot by pass. So I have tried to think about a really sustainable, minimalist packaging. Actuallu, that was a really fun to create. I had a precise idea of what must be my packaging style. Raw, natural, planet conscious, like my saops. First, I started to look for a graphist and a place to print all. I wanted all the packaging made from recyclable paper, biodegradable, carbone neutral etc.. and all the suppliers of graphism and printer were really expensive…
That’s why I decided to spend money (again !) in an office printer to be very flexible and make all the trials I wanted. Then I designed all the packaging on my computer and I have tried various paper type, colour, thickness. Finally, I found mine.
Then I started to think about how I could wrap my soaps to send them by Royal Mail. Once again, I really want to find something sustainable, recyclable, so the plastic bubble envelops where not an option. I have found a vegetal plastic made from corn, biodegradable etc.. I was keen on the idea, but the price for a single postal bag was prohibitively expensive. So I went my way. I benchmark lots of suppliers, to finally find a good compromise. So I decided to use padded mailer, recyclable and from renewable ressource. But at the moment they are out of stock, so I will start with postal sack Recyclable, Biodegradable & Compostable but not reinforced. I will wrap the soaps properly with reclycled tissue paper to protect them during their way to you.
6. Write description and articles
Writing the products descriptions was not my best moment. Day after day I was postponing this work. As English is not my first language, even not my second language (!!) it was hard to find the precise word, and make people dream of my soaps. It is a very hard job to be subtil in a language you don’t know perfectly. And I am not a big fan of google translate. So aloways trying to find what I want to say with my own words.
7. Catch nice pics
This is the most creative and artisitc stuff I had to do during this time. And it is so important to catch amazing pictures of goods if you want to attract people behind their screen. They won’t be attracted by the nice smell or the interesting texture. Just a pic.
8. Design the website
I had before a website, but a very basic one. Just to have something to show my customer when I was running cosmetics DIY workshops only. I needed something more ergonomic as a e-shop use. I could have chosen to use a market place, but no. It is always a cost to add and a margin to cut. I don’t want to sell my soaps more than £5 and if a market place takes 15 to 20%, it will absorb more than the half of my benefice. So better to start trading on my own website, then communicate on social media as much as I am able to do… and trust people to spraed the word when happy ! So I have uploaded a new theme on wordpress, specialized in e-shop uses.
9. Define the e-shop settings.
First of all, I had to decide about few strategic things before being able to set them up. My main concern was about delivery cost. People are really used to get free delivery from xx pounds spent when they buy on internet. You may understand, that I have decided to use organic ingredients to guarantee a high level of quality and standard at the expense of the cost. For instance, one kilogram of orgnanic shea butter is twice as expensive as regular shea butter. So the cost of manufacturing my good with organic ingredients is twice as expensive as regular one. That means my benefice are not tremedous… That’s a choice. I don’t want to do consession on quality and I can’t offer free delivery. Except for people living 2 or 3 miles around, I offer free bike delivery twice a week at the beginning, maybe once after Christmas. Local pick up is possible as well for free.
Then, when I was ok with my decision not to offer delivery at all, I had to choose the best delivery options for my customers. I spent a while thinking about it… Royal Mail offers so many options ! I could not select them all. So I decided to offer 2 otpions for UK customers and EU customers : the cheaper option whitout tracking and the other with tracking or proof of delivery. I let the customers decide and take there responsability for their delivery options !
Well the delivery settings is just an example among lots of things to set up. It was just a show case to illustrate all the steps it can have when you are setting up your own webstite.
Last, I did the website by myself. It is not my job, but I didn’t want at the moment, to have extra cost, because it can be really expensive. Wait and see. When I’ll be rich, I’ll be able to pay a webmaster ! So be forgiving if it is not perfect, and tell me if you come accross a bug.
10. Kick off !
When every thing was ready, time came to open the e-shop ! Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter will be updated to start with this new adventure…
Finger cross.
Let’s find all my scented and unscented soaps on my shop.