Tuesday 1 November 2011

Lessons I've learned

It's been almost six months since I started this business, and usually this is the time when an employee has a job evaluation. Since I'm not only the owner of the company, but also the only employee, I won't be firing myself any time soon. So instead, I'll review what I managed to learn over the last six months.

  1. Write down everything! Treat each soap making process like a science experiment and note each step. I'm not a computer and don't remember everything. In fact, a soap I made early on, I have no idea to date what colour I used to make it like this. I know the general group of colour, but how did I get there? No idea.
  2. Focus. Do one thing at a time, but if there are several soaps that are using the same colour for detailing, do them all at once to save time.
  3. Keep the bottle of rubbing alcohol handy at all times. It breaks up the bubbles and it helps the soap fill the mold a lot easier when filling in specific areas. This is why an apron with pockets is good, so I can have the bottle in my pocket. On my worktable, I leave everything out, so my bottle of alcohol sometimes gets hidden behind other things.
  4. Label the leftover soap. Put down the type of soap, colour, scent and what mold it was used in so that it can be used towards the same soap the next time.
     
  5. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will this business.

4 comments:

  1. All excellent points! No doubt you will be a success! Are you doing lots of craft shows around the holidays?

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  2. Now if I can only commit those points to memory. :D I've only got two on the go this year since I missed the deadline for many of them, but considering how I'm feeling like I'm not making enough soaps for those 2 shows alone, it's probably a good thing.

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  3. I agree with Michelle: great points! And you're probably making more soaps than you think...but I hope you sell so much that you do need to make tons. :)

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  4. Thanks Teresa! I'm learning many more lessons everyday. Hopefully I will sell lots of them at the craft shows with people coming back for more.

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