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How to start a soap business is the most common query amongst creative entrepreneurs. If you dig down the reasons, then it is not surprising to know why.

You can start the easy way with melt and pour kits. Plus, once you figure out profit margins in your soap business. Then, it is all about scaling what works and getting deeper into the artisan bath and body business. So, as a home base entrepreneur, you start with soaps. But then you progress to bath bombs, lotions, shampoo, conditioners, and much more. I hope you get the idea. 

If you have a zeal to succeed as a solo business owner, combined with digital marketing skills. Then, there is a lot you can do as a handmade soap business owner.

Read more to know —–> 

How To Start A Soap Business That Earns Profits

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase any of the products mentioned in this article through routing via the links in this post. Then, I may end up receiving a certain monetary percentage from the sale. Though the one who purchases through the link does not end up paying anything extra apart from the mentioned MRP on the product. Full disclosures on the Affiliate Page.

Learn How To Make Soap

In case you intend to start a handmade soap making business. Then, you need to know how to make soaps. 

But if you are a small-scale handmade business owner. Then, you have no other option but to take charge of production.

That means you have to know how to make soaps. Since you are reading this article, it shows that you have some idea about soap making.

If you are a complete beginner, you can start with soap making kits. But once you have enough experience with beginner melt and pour techniques. Then, you can move on to the complex process of handling lye with oils. 

Moreover, you can make use of online courses to master the basics of soap making. That will give you the knowledge to experiment with different ingredients.

Prepare A Bath and Body Business Plan Sample

But if you do not have a plan. Then, the chances are that it might get cumbersome to reach your goals. Thus, having a successful artisan soap-making business requires a solid plan.

You can make use of any business plan that you can get your hands on. But if you are a complete newbie trying to convert your hobby to a business. Then, the various generic business plans that you find for free on the internet might confuse you.

Or rather, you can make use of the one that I offer at my shop. It is a simple one that you can fill up in a few hours. It will help you put the ideas and fears stuck in your head on paper.

So, the moment you zero in on the niche of your bath and body business. After that, your next step should be chalking out a plan to visualize your business.

Procure Ingredients and Equipment for Soap Making Business

The next step is to begin making soaps and other bath and body products. The list of materials to buy will depend upon your niche. Though a few ingredients will be the same for all categories of bath and body businesses.

Some of those materials include:

Base Oils – Coconut, Safflower, Mustard

Essential Oils – Rosemary, Sandalwood, Carrot Seed, Tea Tree

Lye – Sodium Hydroxide (for bar soaps); Potassium Hydroxide (for liquid toiletries)

Soap Moulds – Various shapes as per your niche

Additives – colors, fragrances, and added materials as per the type of soap

Melt and Pour Base – this is helpful if you cannot handle lye

You can source the above materials from wholesalers to get the best price. That way you will be able to make the best profits.

But if you are unsure of what niche to start. Then, buying in bulk might not do you any good. That way, you will end up wasting your money on a stock that will go to waste.

In that scenario, buying from online stores like Amazon would be ideal.

Work on a Marketing Plan

After, you have created a soap business plan. Then, you can create a marketing plan with ease.

Depending upon how much budget and time you have allocated in your plan. According to that, you can designate relevant social media channels.

Irrespective of how many marketing channels you land your hands on. Your marketing strategy will be incomplete without search engine marketing and email marketing. 

The combined ROI on both is phenomenal compared to social media and paid advertising. I have been able to scale my handmade business because of SEO and email marketing. When done the correct way, they both help you expand your business without investing a lot of time and money.

If online marketing perplexes you. Then, at least start with a blog for your craft. Then, from there, you can move on to social media like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. 

Scale as Per Your Profit Margin 

Keeping a tab on your earnings is a crucial element of an artisan soap business.

If you are serious about how to start a soap business. Then, apart from earnings, knowing profits is also important. If your sales outnumber your costs, then you are good with your business.

But if you wish to scale up your soap business with different product assortments. Then, you must figure out your profit margins. 

Since profit margin is a percentage. Thus, it will help you measure and compare your products with each other. That way you will have a realistic view of what works in your handmade soap business. You can then take an informed call about scaling or limiting any particular product.

Conclusion

If you consider yourself a creative person. Then, the time is always right to turn your hobby into a full-time career. 

Soap making is a creative hobby that is easy to get into. Moreover, if you consider the price of handmade soaps. Then, you can understand how lucrative it can be to have a successful handmade soap business. 

But you must also consider the fact that not all handmade soap businesses get victorious. Only a few get to become worldwide popular brands, while many never get to break even.

If you do not want to fail as a soap business owner. Then, you must read, understand and make notes of this article. That way you will start the right way and avoid common pitfalls.

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Ever thought about products you can make at home and sell? Yes, you can make handmade products and sell them online as well as offline. 

The growth of Etsy compelled Amazon to create Amazon Handmade for handcrafted products. This brings in opportunities for creatives to start home-based ventures. 

If you have a creative bent of mind and looking for financial independence. Then, you can read further to know about turning your skills into a business. 

7 Products You Can Make at Home and Sell 

     1.     Bath and Body Products

I have been successful in selling handmade soaps and other bath and body products. That is why these are my favorite handmade business ideas to start from home. 

If you have the know-how of making high-quality artisan toiletries, then there is a lot you can do. You can start from soaps, and then move on to bath bombs, scrubs, lotions, shampoo, conditioners, etc. 

The list of bath and body products is huge making it a multi-billion dollar industry. That means you can add enough dollars to your account even if you capture the category’s smallest pie.

The handmade beauty products category is super competitive. So, if you are a complete beginner, then, start with a micro niche and stick to it. That way you will grow faster and develop a reputation for your brand.

     2.     Digital Products 

If you have been following my journey, then you would know that these days all my products are digital.

The best part of handmade digital products is that you make them once and sell them forever. Moreover, there is no cost of delivering them to the end-user. That means there are huge savings of time and money. 

I always stress about creating digital products so to earn more returns on efforts. But I agree that it may sound overwhelming to switch to digital if you have never done it before. But it is easy to learn. 

As I write this article, it may surprise you to know that it has only been a year that I sold my first digital product. Within this time I have made hundreds of dollars with my digital planners and printables. That is huge compared to the amount of time and tools involved in creating and delivering them.

So, irrespective of whatever kind of handmade business you run. You can always add digital products to it. Believe me, within a few months of making the change, your bank account will surprise you.

     3.     Handmade Jewelry 

Every girl loves jewelry. No matter how many pieces of jewelry she has, it never seems enough. That is a big enough reason for you to consider it one of the products you can make at home and sell.

In the past, I have created and sold jewelry made out of crochet and paper. In a similar way, you can also figure out a sub-category to come up with your handmade jewelry label.

The best part is that you can even include precious stones and metals to create art pieces. That way your portfolio will have expensive things to make and sell.  

     4.     Woodworking Projects

Woodworking projects are a great way to make money from home. There are several sub-niches under the wood-crafting domain. Thus, you can stick to a few to utilize its monetary benefits.

All you need is a few projects/plans to get started. Instead of spending money upfront, you get a few of them for free.

It is a general perception that dealing with woods is a masculine craft. But considering the facts, many women are also into woodworking and making good bucks.

Thus, with a few hours into learning the nuances of the craft. You can get started with small projects till you grow up to the big ones.

     5.     Candles

If you ever made soaps yourself. Then, you can make candles as well. Both the crafts involve dealing with waxes and essential oils. Thus, they are similar. 

There is a lot of scope in making handcrafted candles. You can play around with various shapes, aromas, and colors. 

There is also a tremendous amount of scope with viral trends and themes.

For instance, handmade candles with Game of Thrones themes and adult humor are a rage.

As long as you figure out the best combination for your waxes and aromas, you can get yourself repeat orders. The best part is that candles are one of the easy things to make and sell for money. 

     6.     Fiber Art Products

When it comes to things to make and sell from home, fiber art tops the list. Knitting, crochet, sewing, macrame, embroidery are a few examples within it. 

I am a big fan of crochet because I have made and sold many of my creations from home. Earrings, bare-feet sandals, and bags are some of my best-selling crochet items. 

Similar items you can make through knitting and macrame as well. 

Sewing and embroidery also offer ample opportunities. You can pick up any as per your skills and then craft a monetization route.

     7.     Paper Crafts

Needless to state that papercrafts are one of the most profitable crafts to sell. The cost of paper is inexpensive as compared to other raw materials. Also, the cost of shipping handmade products made with paper is less vis-a-vis other crafts. 

Paper is a versatile material. It offers various craft options such as quilling, cards, flowers, origami, papier-mache, etc. 

There are several tutorials online to get started for free. You can binge-watch them to figure out what you can create with paper. You can even make handmade paper out of used paper. 

Important Pointers to Sell Handmade Products

As you can notice, there are products you can make at home and sell for profit.

Though it is not as simple as making stuff and waiting to collect money from rabid buyers. Rather, the difficult part is about finding buyers for your handmade creations.

As a creative, you should not let the selling part daunt you. The advancements in technology help you sell both online as well offline.    

Your website, Etsy, and Amazon Handmade work for the online sales. And, your brick-and-mortar store and local handmade craft fairs bring in offline sales.

But for both the channels to work, you must take a note of few pointers as below:

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase any of the products mentioned in this article through routing via the links in this post. Then, I may end up receiving a certain monetary percentage from the sale. Though the one who purchases through the link does not end up paying anything extra apart from the mentioned MRP on the product. Full disclosures on the Affiliate Page.

1. You must comply with the local laws regarding handmade products. There is no fun in investing in a business and later on jeopardizing it for some legal issues. If you are dealing with cosmetics and eatables, you should exercise due caution.

2. You should build client data from Day 0 of starting your handmade business. No matter how tiny your enterprise is, you must have direct contact with your customers. Email marketing works the best to attract, engage and retain your existing clients.

3. Apart from selling physical products, you must venture into digital products as well. Digital products add to your bottom line without engaging a steady flow of resources. Please do not think that your craft cannot have a digital version. It is a pleasant surprise that selling patterns and instructions of craft projects is a big market. Creating e-books is another lucrative option for digital products.

Conclusion

There are numerous products you can make at home and sell to earn a living. From simple flowers made of paper to oversized blankets made of wool, the options are plenty.

The ride will be smooth as long as you are willing to put in hard work and put technology to use. 

In case you know someone who is looking for things to make and sell for profit. Then, you can help them by sharing this article.  

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A digital art business is a viable option to leverage the advancements in technology.

In the current scenario, the digitization of art museums and online auctions is a norm.

Thus, the future of becoming a digital artist entrepreneur seems promising.

Of course, as an artist, you can debut on Instagram. But to pivot your art skills to form a stable business, you need some strategy in the picture.

If you are looking forward to making money as a digital artist. Then, please read further to know how to go about doing it.

How To Start A Successful Digital Art Business

What Defines a Digital Art Business?

Art created through digital technology takes the form of digital art. Digital art could be virtual or its elements could transfer to a physical form as well.

A computer is a basic gadget to create digital art. Though with the advancements in technology there are newer gadgets to create art.

Creating digital art to sell digital/physical products makes a digital art business.

What Types of Art Businesses You Can Digitize?

The short answer to the above question is – ALL.

Yes, all kinds of art can have a digital version. But to provide you with a myriad of possibilities, some of them are as listed below:

1. Backgrounds
2. Book covers and templates
3. Calendars
4. Cards
5. Clip art
6. Designs and patterns for embroidery, sewing, crochet, knitting, laser cutting, etc.
7. Fonts
8. Journals and diaries
9. Paper
10. Photography
11. Planners, organizers, and trackers
12. Portraits, drawings, and illustrations
13. Prints
14. Stamps
15. Stickers
16. Templates
17. Vector Art
18. Videos
19. Washi Tapes
20. Zine

The above list is from the actual digital art selling on Etsy. So, if you are a newbie on Etsy. Then, you can start your handmade business by picking up one of the categories above.

The above list includes a few examples of niches in the handmade digital art business. You can expand it further to include almost every kind of handmade art and craft.

Furthermore, the above list is ever-evolving. Thus, with time, other forms of digital art will include in it.

How to Monetize Digital Art?

If you have picked up one or a few kinds of digital arts to sell in your handmade craft shop. You can upload your digital artwork on your Etsy store. But the severe competition on the platform limits your selling potential. Also, if your Etsy shop has closed down. Then, you might face a difficult time in making your digital art business a success.

Hence, the next challenge is to figure out a strategy to sell them. 

I have been able to double up my earnings from digital art in 6 months by following the exact process as below:

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you purchase any of the products mentioned in this article through routing via the links in this post. Then, I may end up receiving a certain monetary percentage from the sale. Though the one who purchases through the link does not end up paying anything extra apart from the mentioned MRP on the product. Full disclosures on the Affiliate Page.

     1.     Learn How to Create Digital Art

This is a no brainer. But because of this logic, I delayed my plans to start a digital art business.

Though I wish I had known that professional designing skills are not mandatory.

It is great if you are a fabulous multimedia designer. But if like me you also lack designing skills. Then, you can hire designers from Fiverr or Upwork. Also, you can buy design bundles from websites like Creative Market.

But you will see positive results in developing design skills. I confess that I cannot operate sophisticated design softwares like Adobe and CorelDraw. But I can use Canva and Picmonkey to my advantage.

A little search on the internet will help you explore the options to create all kinds of digital art. But if you plan to make Planners and Organizers as I do. Then, you must consider enrolling in Suzi’s course Printables by Number. That course also teaches creating coloring books and nursery art.  Moreover, it also teaches how to come up with funnels to sell digital products.  Hence, it is a course worth investing in. 

I owe this course for teaching me how to create and sell printable planners. That is how my income increased after implementing the strategies in this course.

If you are a pro digital artist. Then, you can skip this step.

     2.     Create a Shop to Start a Digital Art Business

Your designs/ products must have an address where your audience can view and buy.

A digital shop serves that process well.

It houses the products and becomes an accelerator in monetization.

Thus, a digital shop is a must for setting up a digital art business. There are several options for the same. Some of them are as follows:

1. Gumroad – This is what I am using to host my printables. You can use my invitation link to open your account for free.
2. E-junkie – It is an economical option to start a minimal store for 5$/ month.
3. Send Owl – You can upgrade to this option to sell upsells at a low monthly cost.
4. Shopify – It is the most popular e-commerce storefront that increases conversions. It comes with tons of features through integrations with various apps. But it can get expensive if you are a beginner crafter.
5. ThriveCart – I intend to switch to this one since it has tons of options for upsells and order bumps. Also, its one-time payment for a lifetime plan seems impressive.

     3.     Bring Traffic to Your Store

Traffic is the most needed aspect of selling digital art. At times, even the established artists struggle to bring eyeballs to their online stores. Hence, for a newbie, the challenges are prominent.  

So, if you wish to know how to make money as an artist online. Then, you ought to understand how to bring traffic to your digital shop.

This topic needs a separate post. But to summarize the concept, there are three possible ways to generate a stream of traffic. They are:

• SEO Optimized Content
• Social Media
• Advertising

You can dive into one or more of the above as per your levels of understanding of the concepts.

I use all the 3 to bring in new visitors to my store. But amongst all, working on an SEO craft blog brings in the best results.

A well-maintained blog helps sell from any or all of your stores. That way, it can even help you to begin selling digital art on Etsy along with a stand-alone store.

Conclusion

If selling digital art is anywhere in your art business plan. Then, it makes sense to explore the options beyond selling clipart on Etsy. 

The field is vast and has several options for monetization.

Operation costs of running a Fine art business increase because of high shipping costs. That is why adding digital products to the portfolio helps in bringing quick wins.

Hence, if you are looking forward to turning your hobby into a business, this article is for you.

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