Running Your Soap Making Business – Time is Everything

When you are starting out in the world of Soap Making,
the time you spend on your business is the biggest and most
important factor in your success.

There is just one question you need to be able to answer and this will make or break your success.

Are you spending your time on the right things?

I think the most important thing I learned is what to let go of.

You can work and work and work all day and night.  Every day, sacrifice the time you spend with the people you love,
tell them it will all work out in the end and because you are so darned determined, it HAS to work out.

But the truth is, you need to be thinking about working smarter.  Not harder.

I encourage you to try new things, but don’t become attached to the idea that it is THE thing that will get you where you want to go.

Having hope and praying for results are both great.  But….. are you hoping and praying for the right things?

If you keep doing the same time sucking things over and over, thinking that one day everything will fall into place,
you might be missing the boat on the real opportunities.

Be really careful with your time.

I keep hearing over and over from so many vendors at some of the markets…… I am here for a reason,
it might  not be a great market, but there is a reason I am here today.

Okay, I am a very spiritual person, I know there is a reason for everything.

But maybe the reason you are at a specific market or show is to give you a clue that the show you are at is not worth your time.

Maybe the message you should be receiving is that it is time to move on.

I really do think there is a time to hold on steady ( a wonderful opportunity to capture a new account)
and a time to let go (like a terrible market that you keep showing up for and barely make your booth fee).

Be very careful with your time.  This is your most valuable asset.  Make it count and cut out time wasting, energy sucking tasks.

Do you spend too much time on the computer?  Get off it and get to the creation part.

Research is a good thing, but there comes a time when it becomes a crutch.  You need to try out what you have been researching.

When I am at a really bad market, and I am considering pulling out,
I sit and make a list of all the things I could be doing at that very moment that would be a much better use of my time.

Here is a brief list of things that might show up on my list:

*Going through my schedule to plan for more live classes.

*Prepare materials that are needed for upcoming classes (print outs, soap samples, etc)

*Plan out a few upcoming videos for the Soap Making School Members

*Actually make the new videos for Soap Making School

*Visit my wholesale accounts and talk about new products that they might be interested in carrying.

*Get some NEW wholesale accounts that look interesting to me.

*Clean up some soap that has been curing so I can post the new ones on the website.

*Take more updated pictures of my soap because every batch is different

*Work on my website and make the members page more user friendly

*Call my mom on the phone because that is priceless.

*Get together with a few potential business partners over coffee and toss some idea around

*communicate with my British Graphic Designer and get those new wholesale brochures happening

*Work on my metaphysical line and website

*get some bills entered into business software program

*blog, blog, blog

*do some planning for a few Christmas shows (haven’t even booked any yet)

*Get a floor plan worked out for the big November Vancouver show

*Look into gift shows and wholesale shows.  Check them out for new packaging companies and contacts.

*Take a few classes and learn to use things like photoshop.

*Really sit down and think about a few ideas that are floating around in my head

*Get more liquid soap made (I am running low)

*Spend more time looking through the trade magazines (I pay a lot for them and haven’t had a lot of time to read them lately)

*Look at some new suppliers that I have been told about.  Order a few samples and see what they are like

*I have just been accepted as an Organic Coconut Oil distributor and I haven’t even been promoting it!!

*Check up on my Orangutans and see how everything is going at the Orphanage.

*I could go on and on and on………..

If this list is this big, what on earth am I doing at this market that barely pays for itself?

Time to get tough, time to stop wasting time.  Time to put on the boss hat and get honest with yourself.

If it helps, pretend you do have a boss.  This boss is critical but fair and ONLY wants this business to succeed.

What if you were called into his or her office right now.  Today.  And had to answer some questions.  How would that go?

What would he or she want for you? Probably things like this:

1. Is the time you are spending on your job productive?

2. Are you getting enough leisure time so that you are fresh on the job?

3. Are you getting enough sleep/ exercise/ water/ healthy food to be able to focus and not crash energetically?

4. Are you meeting with your support staff (family, soul mate, friends)  enough to help with some ideas you are considering?

5. Are you open to the suggestions of your support staff or do you get defensive then get angry at them for not being upfront if things go wrong with your plan?

6. Are you so attached to the outcome of your plans that you are blind to any other options even if it would create better results?

7. Is the majority of what you have been doing either  generating revenue or building your business in some way?

These are just a few questions you might have to answer to.

Another way of measuring how you are doing is by using the 80% to 20% rule.

This gives you a little wiggle room and allows you to have  some creative space in your day.

80% of your work day should be all about revenue generating and business building.  The hard work, the bill paying part.

20% of your work day should be about dreaming, planning, exploring and experimenting.

This is a good balance and it helps to keep you loving what you do.

Your Soap Making Business should be a pleasure, not a burden.

That really is the most important part.  Don’t burn yourself out.  Work on what needs to be done.  Look after yourself.

And most of all, keep soaping!

Rene