What it costs to start

One of the lowest material costs in this estate and one of the highest hidden ones.

Cheap to start, expensive to scale

A first batch of soap costs very little. The oils are grocery items, the lye is inexpensive, and the mold can be a lined box.

Which is why so many people start, and why so many are surprised later.

The cost arrives when you go from making soap to selling it: packaging minimums, insurance, a market stall, a label print run, and shelving.

The first run

Oils, lye, a stick blender, a digital scale, a mold, protective equipment, and a thermometer.

That is a genuinely small number, and it makes real, sellable soap.

Add a cutter when you are tired of uneven bars, which is usually around batch three.

The things people forget

A scale accurate enough to weigh lye properly, which is not the kitchen scale.

Protective equipment, which is not optional and is the one place not to economize.

Labels, which have a setup cost and a minimum, and which you will reprint once you understand the determination.

Insurance, which markets and shops require.

And shelving, which is the largest physical cost in the business and the one nobody budgets.

Where the money really goes

Into stock that cannot be sold yet.

A maker running at two loaves a week has a month and a half of production sitting on racks at all times, paid for and earning nothing.

That working capital requirement grows every time you grow, six weeks ahead of the revenue.

Which is the number to model before scaling, and it is what the break-even tool is really for.

References