A Bar Of Hope - My Soap Making Small Business

by Francis John

One of my newest soap variants, which has lemon and sage essences.

People often ask me how I got started in the soap-making business, and I am always excited to share my success story.

My name is John, a single dad to a beautiful 4 year-old daughter who spends time with me every weekend. I worked as a technical support agent of a software company until 2006, when I was laid-off.

Unable to find full-time re-employment, I worked as a part-time civic worker of our local parish. At that time, our parish was offering a short, 3-day course on soap-making. I signed up, attended the hands-on training, was so inspired by the first bar of soap I made that I set up a workshop in my backyard, and the rest is history.

I began joining farmers markets and craft shows. The rising demand for natural, home-made products made my soaps an instant hit. Soon enough , I was also supplying soap to a number of small health/beauty stores in my city.

My soaps are very much in-demand especially during Christmas Season that I usually hire two or three workers as early as September, just to keep up with the demand. Likewise, I never stop learning the new trends in soap making through books, magazines, and seminars.

I believe that success in every business does not only entail hard work and perseverance, but also knowing very well what your customers need. In the soap making business for example, one of the latest trends is the use of kitchen herbs such as oregano, thyme, clary sage and lemongrass as base oils. Armed with this knowledge, I began to make new variants of soap using these ingredients and I they were very much sought after.

At present, I am still very much into the business and I have some plans of expansion and increasing production. I look back and smile every time I remember the first bar of soap I made-- the bar that gave me hope.