 Have you recently felt being bombarded by marketing campaigns for all natural products, be it social media or television? Wherever you turn, there are at least one or two snippets about handmade soaps. Hello and welcome to Start It Up. Here, we talk to you about business ideas that you can do. And today, we are going to talk about handmade soaps. According to reports, soap making is an art which dates back to 2800 BC. The art has now been adopted for modern day handmade soaps and personal care brands. A few famous Indian companies including Chennai-based skin scents, natural luxury soaps, aroma essentials and the soap company started off by making soaps but now they have a complete line of personal care products. Before we dive into understanding how amazing this business opportunity is, let us understand some basics. Even though there are numerous number of videos on YouTube and books about soap making but we recommend that a basic education is very necessary. Since there are no proper schools giving education on soap making, it is advisable to attend workshops. This could cost anywhere between Rs 1200 and Rs 4000. When you are starting out, you can do pretty much everything out of your kitchen but you would need a few new items such as blenders, weighing scale, mixer, molds, pigments and essential oils. A weigh scale costs up to Rs 1000. A stick blender might cost you anywhere between Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 depending on the brand and the range. As this is a creative process, there are unlimited number of molds that can be used. You can buy a few basic ones and rent the fancy ones. The basic ones start at Rs 200 and can go up to Rs 1500. Essential oils improve the quality of your soap. However, they are expensive. You can substitute this with fragrance oil which are a little cheaper. However, there are many essential oil brands in the market and it is advisable that you consult an aromatherapist. All of these are part of your fixed investment. Now that you have the essential knowledge, start making soaps. To start with, social media is your best marketing tool. You must concentrate on making high quality products and get your families and friends to use them. Post that, ask them to post reviews on Instagram and Facebook pages. Showcasing your products at trade shows and corporate events also help in getting a lot of orders. A lot of soap makers or soaps we spoke to started this way. You can hire a marketing agency at a later stage which can charge you up to Rs 15,000. A good website will cost you around Rs 25,000. However, it is advisable to make this much of investment only if you plan to make it a full-fledged business. If you plan to keep it a side business, then social media, corporate events will keep you busy. Well, if you plan to make it a full-fledged business, then there are a couple of regulations that come in. First, you or your partner needs to have a degree in chemistry or pharmacy. Also, you need to register with state government. Remember, there are few regulations in this space which might not allow you to have a full-fledged business out of your kitchen. Pricing is the key aspect of any product-based business. You need to take into account each and every cost incurred for material, packaging or equipment. Making a single bar could cost Rs 80 to 100 which you can sell for Rs 150 to 200. To get some extra income, you can also conduct soap-making workshops and charge Rs 2000 to 3000. Many do charge as high as Rs 8000 but again that depends on your client's ill and the name you have made for yourself. There are more than 150 type of soaps that you can create. This is a very creative process and it keeps evolving and so it will keep you at the edge of your seat. Hope you like the idea and for more such ideas, log on to www.entrepreneur.com and if you want to boost your existing business, look up www.entrepreneurplus.in for more such videos.