Teach Soap

YAY!!! Check this out, it's brilliant for those who want to start their own soapmaking business quickly and easily.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry- ... -in-a-box/

Thank you Brambleberry!!!

Yes, except you still need the experience and the research and the knowledge of why a particular oil(s) works the way it works, what does it add to a formula and what happens if you change one or more of any of the oils or butters? Yes, you might make a safe soap, but is that why people go in this business? No homework, no real research, just make it so you can sell it tomorrow? I am now seeing this all over the net, e-books that tell you how to make soap and how to make lots of money by selling tomorrow. Do you truly believe this is how a business is run?

I have known Anne-Marie and BrambleBerry for a long time, but I feel this is a bad move. Sure; get everything done on a silver platter for you without truly knowing the hows and whys. Soapmaking is such a saturated market already. I realize that a business does what it needs to do to survive and grow, but to me there will be more soapmakers that have no idea what they are doing, which demeans this time honored craft.

BTW. I have been making soap since 1969, so I have been making soap for a very long time. Longer then the internet has been around.

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

Maybe I am the only one, but I think is terrible! To me it encourages people to skip the part where they learn what they are doing! I think this is dangerous! I have been at shows where the soap seller close to me didn't know if they made cp or hp soap. Didn't know what gel was or much of anything else for that matter. They added EO's to their soaps, but didn't understand why they cost so much more than the fragrances they found at the dollar store later, so next time they would just use those. Of course I tried to explain that they shouldn't do that and why, and suggested a few sites and books for them to look at, but who knows if they listened. Meanwhile they actually managed to sell a few bars to people who came in their way. I was physically ill coming home and quite worried about the public.

Yes, this may be an extreme case (it certainly is one of the most extreme I have personally come across), but almost daily I see or hear of someone who just began making soap and thinks that they know enough to start a business selling that soap and whatever else they find recipes for. Aside from the fact that I feel you should make your own recipes if you want to sell products, what happened to studying and knowing what you're doing before you try and pass yourself off as a professional? Just because you make a batch of soap and you think it looks good doesn't mean that you know what you are doing!

To my way of thinking, having all the label info and recipes in an easy access box, telling people to look here, read this, make that, then slap this label on it and bingo you are ready to sell it, just gives the legislators more reason to place stringent regulations on us. And at this rate, maybe rightfully so. I am disheartened that BB is doing this, I really am. Yes the recipes will be good ones, but just like having a Wolf Gang Puck recipe doesn't make anyone using it a master chef, and certainly doesn't mean that they can open a restaurant, having a tested soap recipe doesn't mean that the person making it knows what they are doing, nor does it ensure that they will execute it correctly. And even if they do, it certainly doesn't mean that they know enough about what they did to sell their wares to a public that thinks they are experienced professionals!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Great minds Irena! I took forever trying to word my response, but I feel the same as you. My blood began boiling when I read that link and it truly saddens me. I too have been making soap for over 30 years and there is something to be said for the before internet days. Now people seem to think they can read a few pages on the net (never mind if they they are true or not) make a few batches of soap, and bam, they are experts! I think this will feed into that mentality and I am disappointed in BB for the first time ever!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

It has been my experience that most people who look for a "quick and easy" way to start a business don't have what it takes to stay in business for long. That being said, I'm sure BB will make quite a few BIG sales with this item.

As a newbie, I would have LOVED a kit with just the info in the books. One stop for all the info. I wouldn't have to spend hours searching and researching on the internet, which, is frustrating with all the different opinions, thoughts, lye calculator variations, etc. It is more confusing to me after all the research. I trust that the books in the kit have good info, but with all the supplies there, people are going to jump in with both feet WITHOUT fully reading what they are about to do. to Parapharase a comment on their FB page....this is a slap in the face to those who spent years learning the craft by trial and error....which is how I am learning.

As a newbie, I would have LOVED a kit with just the info in the books. One stop for all the info. I wouldn't have to spend hours searching and researching on the internet, which, is frustrating with all the different opinions, thoughts, lye calculator variations, etc. It is more confusing to me after all the research. I trust that the books in the kit have good info, but with all the supplies there, people are going to jump in with both feet WITHOUT fully reading what they are about to do. to Parapharase a comment on their FB page....this is a slap in the face to those who spent years learning the craft by trial and error....which is how I am learning.

I have mixed feelings about it. I like that everything is in one place, but I completely agree with Irena & Tammy. Even on this forum we sometimes have people that want to sell as soon as they make a batch of soap and we try our hardest to help them research and learn all they can before selling. I spent the better part of a year perfecting my two base recipes and then another 6 months getting everything in order (insurance, business name, etc.) before I sold my first soap.

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

Totally understand the concerns listed here. And, as someone that came up through the soapmaking ranks with the school of super hard knocks (one book, only AOL chat rooms, no one to ask when my first 5 batches failed), I feel some wistfulness over how many resources new soapers have. What I wouldn't have given 'back in the day' for a SoapQueen blog or for this forum or for some of the great books that are out right now.

I've been working on this kit for over two years with the help of our entire customer service team. We started monitoring our customer service calls a few years back and keeping track of what people called for. And, it turned out that only 25% of people called to place a new order, check on the status of an order or report a missing/damaged item. The rest of the calls were all recipe, procedure, business or labeling questions (or any combination of anything you ever see on this forum). We realized that many of those calls were coming from the same people and after 6 months, those people would change out to another group of very heavy users/callers. When we really started diving into it, we came up with a startling answer: these people called us the first time precisely because they wanted to start a soapmaking business. And then kept calling and trying more things as they progressed in their craft. What we also found out was that they were also failing a decent amount as they tried products or recipes or procedures that haven't been tested (the flip side to so many internet resources is that not all of them are fully tested and safe). We made a flow chart of what people tended to ask on their first, second, third, fourth and fifth (and subsequent) calls and then correlated that with what their sales were. We then made a flow chart to go over what would have saved them that second, third, fourth and fifth call and subsequent order. And, then, we created the kit. I believe it will save time, money and frustration while increasing consumer and soapmaker safety.

Ultimately, I believe this kit will function like any other kit we sell. It will be a fantastic foundation with all the resources in one place for a new soaper but it won't save the hard work portion of things that happens when you start a business, it won't save having to figure out a brand, having to deal with accounting, and having to create a consistent product that customers come back to time and time again. The guide that comes with the kit (just in case people don't want to read through 8 books all in a row) highlights the essential chapters and pages that I think anyone and everyone should reads, and highlights safety issues for the soaper and for the consumer and yes, suggests never selling your product until you have a minimum of 10 successful batches under your belt. Most of the kits we sell act as starting off points for more learning, more growing and more safe experimentation. I expect this one will act just like that. Soapers will get tired of the prescription and venture out with the safety net of all the books, this forum, and all the internet resources out there. They'll be further ahead since they understand the ins and outs of labeling (included in the kit), the business aspects of the business (included in the kit), have their business license (instructions for each state are included in the kit) and have insurance (resources and strong suggestion to buy included in the kit).

I am extremely passionate about this industry. If I wasn't, I wouldn't spend the insane amounts of time on the Soap Queen blog, SoapQueen.TV or trying to constantly test and create new and exciting recipes to help further the industry along as we all grow together. I would never intentionally put something out that wasn't fully tested, fully vetted and didn't help the industry (in my opinion). In this case, I truly believe that it is a safer option than what many new soapers are doing right now and I believe it will help improve soaper and consumer safety.

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

AM: From your mouth to God's ears! I do see why this will be good for your business and I even understand why you think it will be good for the industry, but I disagree. I have already stated the majority of my reasoning so I won't repeat, I will just add that I think you are giving too much credit where it is not due.

I also think that most newbies don't bother with business licenses or insurance and really don't think too much about a brand name or accounting. They want to make money and that is all they think of. They don't even really care all that much about repeat business. They load up and go to craft shows and farmers markets and collect their money and move on. For all those people, a kit like this just cuts down the work they used to have to do, making it even easier to get started.
And 10 batches?? Gee, that is so not what I would ever recommend.

I am sorry and I truly hope that you are more right on this than I am, but I hate seeing this kit for sale!

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

Thank you, Anne Marie.

I still have mixed feelings about this. Maybe if it were called something other than "Business in a Box" it wouldn't bother me as much. I don't know.

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

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

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts