Teach Soap

Yes, I am one of those people who make resolutions. You can call them "goals" if that makes you more comfortable.

My husband and I have started (today!) a declutter campaign. Every single day, we each have to throw out, give away, recycle, donate or sell - one thing. Doesn't matter if it is big or small, but one thing every day.

Today I thew out a large decorative wire basket full of B&B items (not high end stuff, either) that had been a gift years ago. It was stuffed in the back of a closet and never touched. Out it goes. It felt great!

anyone else?

Yes, I have decided to complete my recipe book. I am scrapbooking it. So to do this I will need to do a page a week. Today my sister and mom came over and I got 4 pages done!
I also set a goal of trying 2 new recipes per month. Also started on that.... hashbrown pizza. It is not a keeper recipe!

I like your goal... maybe will think about that one for next year.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I turn 55 this summer so my goal is to ask for senior discounts wherever I go!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

My goal is to start up my business AFTER moving in with my sweetheart! Loving long distance for 2 years now is starting to take it's toll.

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The Black Currant- Shipping within the US!

My shop: The Black Currant on Etsy!
My blog: http://www.theblackcurrantshop.wordpress.com
Also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I have some pretty big goals for 2014!

2013 was a good year for business, and I want this year to be even better--by a factor of three. We're going to redo the basement kitchen/workspace where I soap, pull out the cabinets, etc, and put in stainless counters, open shelving, and most important, a commercial dishwasher to handle buckets and the like; I'm going to buy a filling machine so that the big batches I'm now making don't take forever to bottle (not to mention the 300+ lbs of honey I bottle every year...).

That will help increase production--because if I could make more, I could sell it. Three stores contacted me at the end of the year, asking to carry my product, and even though I was going to wait to look for new accounts, who am I to say no? So I will definitely need all the capacity I can get!

I'm also going to open a mail order store. So far, I've only done wholesale, but it's time to expand my business by shipping--my customers have been gifting my products to far flung friends and relatives, and the emails are coming in, as people want more! Again, who am I to say no? I also have my first out of town wholesale account, so I need to learn the ins and outs of shipping, and look into shopping cart programs. I'd rather not do an Etsy store--why pay them when I can do it myself? So I'm checking out the various programs out there.

And on a more personal note, I'm going to get the osteoarthritis in my hip taken care of for good--with a total hip replacement in February. I'm in my 40s, and certainly didn't anticipate this--my health has always been good, I've always been relatively fit, and no one that I know of in my family has this problem. But I do, and the situation has gotten so bad that I can't walk without a cane, or carry heavy objects. I managed to get through this busy season of honey extracting by having a beekeeper friend pull my honey and extract it, and I managed to keep up with demand for soaps and balms--and business this year increased 50% over last year. But I could do so much more with a healthy body! So I am going to have the surgery, do the PT, and get back to a fitness routine that I've missed very much over this last year, as my hip deteriorated.

A new hip will also mean my family can finally take a vacation--we kept putting it off because of my limited mobility. But once I'm back on two feet again, yes, please, let's get out of here and have some fun! Maybe NY City--hit the museums and restaurants, do a little shopping and dream about Avital's Apiaries having a store on 5th Avenue... Ah well. First things first. Let's get that online storefront going!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

We moved into our new home a week before Christmas and are still getting settled in (ya know frozen busted pipes, spotty electricity, and a heater going out 3 times in 3 weeks will put a damper on things) but I still have tried to get us started on being more sustainable. We bought the start of our chicken flock and have gotten a total of 9 eggs with 6 of them coming in the last few days, I have resolved to be better about grocery shopping and cooking from mostly scratch (which I have been doing for a while but I want to do more). I was quit proud of myself when I went to Walmart and spent $120 and bought everything for dinners for a week and some lunch items and breakfast items and a few snacky items. I don't think I have ever done that. I am planning my garden but I am undecided if I want to start from seed or buy plants at the nursery. I don't have much of a green thumb but I have been successful with 4 herbs and a handful of house plants lately so I want to branch out now. I want to get organized to keep my home more tidy. I have a lot of goals for 2014 but have to take baby steps to reach them. IT CAN HAPPEN!!! I just have to repeat that several times a day to keep my sanity.

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Haven

My business goal for this year is to come up with some specialty soap packaging. I make soap, just soap. Well, I make lip balms and lotions too, but just for gifting. So what I sell is mostly individual bars. I've never had luck with gift baskets, they just don't seem to sell for me. I do have some gardener's gift packages, and I've done a collection of soaps for travellers (soaps with fragrances associated with different parts of the world), and a collection of different beer soaps.

What I'd like to do now, is come up with some really pretty packaging ideas that I could charge more for than my basic soap packaging. Something that you'd buy maybe as a special gift, not just everyday soap. I have a few ideas that I'm working on. One is a bit labor intensive, so I'll have to see how it goes. I looooove beautiful packaging. I marvel at some of the packaging I've seen on Pinterest and I'm challenging myself to come up with something of that quality, but on a budget. Tricky, but I think it's possible.

I've found some high end looking display pieces to put the collections in. I keep an eye out for them wherever I go, and have been surprised to find some really gorgeous items on clearance. I gone through a lot of trial and error in my craft fair displays. Some things that I thought would do well, didn't and vice versa. And some do great at one craft fair and not at the next. You just never know. But I'm planning to retire in the coming year, and do more craft fairs once I have that extra time, so I'm trying not to get stale, and keep coming up with new things. Time will tell.

I'm just happy to be apart of something that others have a passion for. I'm new to the soap world and just doing a lot of research preparing my setup and supplies, etc. thank you all for sharing

Mieva Soap Co.

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Mieva Bath & Body Elegance
South Carolina