Herbal soap is a natural bathing soap which has ingredients that is favourable to our skin and also help to enhance and compliment the skin completely.
A lot of people have come to know the important of herbal soap to daily skin care because it contains and retains glycerin which gives the skin a more glitter and moisturizing touch, this in turn has lead to the huge demand of the soap all over the continent. And I can tell you that after bathing with a herbal soap you will be hooked and if you know how to make your own with all the right ingredients, you are sure to have a successful business in your hand.
Now, let's get down to the nitigriti (real business)of how to start a successful herbal soap production company....
1. Have a business plan handy : A business plan is like the blue print of your business, it shows and analyse everything about the business to you and possibly to potential investors in the future. So you need to ensure that when writing your business plan, you are able to map out a good marketing strategies, operational and management costs, ways to get your product to target market and also future goals for your company.
2. When you're done with the business plan, the next step is to source or get funds for your business. Although this business is not capital intensive, you still need to pull some resources together and if you can't get all by yourself, you can always source for funds from individual investor, bank of industry(BOI) sponsored by the government and they are ready to assist new entrepreneurs/start up businesses get their business off the ground.
3. After getting your funds, the next best thing is to go register the business. Going into this kind of business that involves skin care, it is required by the government that you obtain and get all the necessary permits and license that will allow you operate freely. So get the required documents and go to the corporate affairs commission office in the state or country you are and get your business registered.
4. Purchase the necessary raw materials/equipment that will facilitate the smooth running of your business and ensure that they're always available, but if you can't get them yourself then you need to get a supplier who will relieve you of that duty.
Optional ingredients/raw materials for making herbal soap:
*organic or virgin olive oil
*coconut oil
*Palm oil
*Palm kernel oil
*avocado oil
*Shea butter(ori)
* rain water
*vinegar
*glycerin soap (a pure unscented natural soap)
*lye chemical (sodium hydroxide)
*calendula flowers/powder
*chamomile powder/flowers (decorating flowers)
For the equipment:
*organic or virgin olive oil
*coconut oil
*Palm oil
*Palm kernel oil
*avocado oil
*Shea butter(ori)
* rain water
*vinegar
*glycerin soap (a pure unscented natural soap)
*lye chemical (sodium hydroxide)
*calendula flowers/powder
*chamomile powder/flowers (decorating flowers)
For the equipment:
*rubber gloves
*safely gloves
*measurement scales (to measure the ingredients)
*towels
*big stainless pot and spoons
*plastic pitcher
*plastic spatula
*soap mold
*newspaper or carton papers
*freezer
To purchase these ingredients and equipment together will cost you roughly $350, that's #150,000 thousand Naira.
5. Location: Getting a suitable space/place that have good electricity and water supply is something that you should take seriously into consideration when finding location for your production company.
6. Hire good workers: since this is a start up business, you might need to employ a couple of workers to help you especially when you want to market your herbal soap. You will need the workers to not only assist you in the production process but to also get your product fast to buyers/customers.
7. Production process: let me quickly take you through on how herbal soap is made....
*clear your work area and place the newspaper or carton papers on the table or floor
*grind the dried flower/herbs in a mortal or grinding stone
*gather all the ingredients you want to add to the herbal soap together in one place
* boil 60ml of rain water and add the dried flower/herbs and steep for 15mins then drain the flower out of the water
*then put the soap mold in the freezer so its cool
*now you can put on the goggle and the gloves
* mix the lye and the water mixture together (be careful with the mixture so as not to harm yourself)
*grate the glycerin soap and melt it then add the coconut oil,palm oil, Shea butter and the rest
*pour all the mixture into a soap mold, leave to harden until soap becomes slightly firm
*then put the soap mold in the freezer and leave for 30mins
*lastly, remove the soap from the soap mold and place on a towel then cut into bars or any desired shapes to complete the drying process for another 48hours. After that your herbal soap is ready.
There you have it, now get started on that herbal soap production.