Teach Soap

Question for others who have a soap business, and I know this is likely to be different according to local laws and such, but I'm wanting to get an idea of a direction to take. When you started selling, did you register as a business right away, or did you have to? I've been reading about small business names and see where you can register (and pay) to operate "under an assumed name" aka brand name. For about $26 I can register a business name with my local county registrar, but I'm not sure if that alone makes it legal for me to sell, or if I have to do other things, or if I even have to do it at all. I'm going to go there on my next weekday off to ask questions, but just wondering about others experiences. I'm kind of hesitant to do anything right now, because I won't even know if I've been accepted as a vendor at the craft fair until about 2/15.

Also, I 'm excited to say, I had written to the FDA to ask a few questions and I heard back from them. One thing I was worried about was that my proposed business name might be thought of as making a claim because I used the word "remedy", but they said they don't object to my proposed business name!

You can sell as a hobbiest without having a business. The one thing you'd need for that is liability insurance. Liability insurance is probably one of the most important things you'll need to get before you sell a single bar of soap.

When I registered my business I filled out an application online with my state. If you look up your state name, and then "business license" I'm sure you'll be able to find all the info you need and the steps you need to take. My state does charge sales tax, and so around November they sent me forms in the mail to fill out and pay my sales tax.

This article by Marla Bosworth is by far the best and most detailed article I've read about starting a soap business. I highly recommend it before you get much further! http://blog.worldlabel.com/2010/how-to- ... iness.html

If you're in a city and/or state that has sales tax, you'll need to register for a tax ID number. In many states this can be done online. And, you'll need to file and submit any sales taxes that you collect (generally only required for sales picked up or shipped to your own state). In my state, the first year I was filing quarterly sales tax forms online. Then it went to once a year filings. It's not hard, but you do need to make sure you're keeping good financial records.

Connie

Local laws very from state to state. I would go to your local city hall business dept. and ask what you need.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I agree with Irena, contact your city hall first. It would suck to get everything else done only to find out that you can't have a business in your home. Or if you're in some place like Florida where you can't even make & sell cosmetics from your home.

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Genny

Thanks to all for the input. Especially ariagirl for the link, that is an excellent article, and to ConnieNYC for reminding me about taxes, I didn't even think about that when I was trying to figure out cost. Do you add it into the price of the finished product or do you charge your customer separately for the tax?

As I mentioned in my original post, I will be going to my local registrar/city hall to get info on what I have to do for my area, but am interested in hearing from others because I don't know anyone else who has done this.

Thank you Connie!

In my county I just had to go through my local county Clark's office. It was very cheap to register my business name. I would ask them as well.