Category: Vintage Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such

In last week’s blog post, I outlined four ways to ruin a good small business.  This week, I want to look at the positive – ways to grow a good small business.  Part of this post is inspired by an email interview my daughter, the head of Girly Arts Made by ME, completed yesterday.  (When the interview is due to air online, I’ll post it here.  And on Twitter.  And Facebook.  And maybe on that electronic sign over the interstate.  OK, I don’t think NCDOT will let me get by with that last one.)

1.  To grow a successful business, take care of your customers.  This is the most important lesson I can give you.  I once saw a sign in a small business that said, “If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.”  Small business or large, this is an absolute truth.  Prices and products are not going to usurp customer loyalty if a business takes them for granted or treats them with less than the most awesome, personal customer service possible.

2.  To grow a successful business, strike a balance between work and play.  When you can get ahead, do that; it could free you up for some play time later.  Make time to play.  A relaxed company owner is herself a happier, more productive worker and that, in turn, inspires the employees to be happier, more productive and more efficient.

3.  To grow a successful business, create a positive experience for everyone.  You absolutely won’t make everyone happy – that’s not your job, anyway – but do your best to create positive experiences for contractors, employees, customers, even the delivery folks.  Have an employee who just botched an order?  You as the boss have to work with the employee to fix it, but how can you turn that into a positive?  A customer is unhappy with their order.  Take care of the customer; making this into a positive has the best chance for keeping this customer loyal.

4.  To grow a successful business, approach it with a childlike attitude.  In my faith, there’s an emphasis on coming to Jesus as a little child – total faith, complete trust, not over-thinking it.  My daughter approaches her business like this.  She says, “I approach every product I make with the same question:  What will make this product sell?  The answer is, ‘Because I made it, and it’s a great product!'”  The possibility of failing in any way is not even a blip on her radar.  She moves forward with the full knowledge that she will be nothing but successful.  She embodies the thought, What would you do if you knew you could not fail?


What other steps would you consider necessary in growing a successful small business?  How might you implement these steps?

Sad but true, the inspiration for this week’s blog post came from observing the business practices of an area business.


Being a small business owner has made me extra-sensitive to the business practices of other small businesses.  I feel that observing what they do well and what they do poorly can provide some powerful vicarious learning opportunities to me.  If a business is doing something great to meet its customers‘ needs, then I want to emulate that in my own business.  If a business is doing something that could cost it customers or lead it to get shut down, then I want to avoid doing those things.

1.  You ruin a good business by hiring family.  While some family involvement is often normal for young businesses, hiring family members to “help them out” can lead to a tense work environment and lead to feelings of resentment among employees.  This goes double when the family members just aren’t the best employees.

2.  You ruin a good business by showing favoritism.  This is somewhat related to the first one.  Some employees are going to be better than others; that’s just natural.  However, be sure to play up those things that all employees do well.  In the case of this particular business, the best that can be said of one employee is, he does a very good job of not over-exerting himself.  Unfortunately, he’s a relative of the boss (see #1) and therefore will be around a while.

3.  You ruin a good business by putting employees above customer service.  If you had an employee who cost you several high-paying customers, what would you do?  Shrug those customers off because, after all, there will always be more?  In this economy, there’s no guarantee of that.  There’s a fine tension to this.  I’ve had customers ticked off at me before and complained about me to my boss, and each time, I was grateful that my boss heard the customer out and stuck up for me while satisfying the customer.  There has to be a cut-off point, though.  If one or two customers register complaints about an employee, then maybe that’s on the customers.  However, if several customers complain about an employee and immediately seek another business to meet their needs, then, regardless of how much you may ADORE that employee, they’ve got to go.

4.  You ruin a good business by turning a blind eye to illegal or unethical practices.  Bottom line, in the eyes of the law, the boss is responsible for ensuring that the employees conduct business and represent the business in ways that are lawful and ethical.  In this case, the boss is much like the parent of a minor; while the employee may get in trouble by being terminated or even, in some cases, incarcerated, the boss could lose the business altogether.  Allowing one employee to engage in illegal or unethical business practices can be doubly detrimental to the business:  (1)  As previously stated, it can cause the business to be shut down, and (2) it ensures a bad reputation for that business.

What are some business practices that you’ve seen or experienced that can ruin a good business?  How could the business have turned that into a positive?

For those customers who don’t mind if their body care products are vegan-friendly or not, I like what beeswax does for certain formulations, such as lip balms and lotion bars.  It gives it a silky glide that’s incomparable.  There are many places online to purchase beeswax, but since the North Carolina state insect is the honey bee, then I personally prefer buying my beeswax from local beekeepers.  My favorite source for this is my friend Rick Coor, a beekeeper out of Goldsboro and a member of the Eastern North Carolina Beekeepers‘ Association.

When I get my beeswax from Rick, it’s golden yellow and in a hefty 2-pound block of refined goodness, bearing that lovely warm scent that only beeswax can have.  However, it’s not completely refined, so I have to give it a little extra refinement.  I thought I’d share that with you.  This is what it takes before I can even begin to put this luscious wax in my lip balms, lotion bars and bug repellents.

One pound block of beeswax as Rick gave it to me.

I wrap the block in a double layer of cheesecloth

Into the boiling water it goes.

The beeswax will melt in the hot water, but all the debris on the wax will stay in the cheesecloth.

Beeswax beginning to mix with the water

Checking to see how much of the wax has melted.  There’s still a good chunk left.

All the wax is melted now, and all the residual debris (flecks of dirt, bits of wings, etc.) clings to the wax on the cheesecloth.  It’ll go into the trash.

Melted wax and water.

Now this will sit for several hours while the whole mixture cools down.  The wax will harden and float to the top.

Wax hardening and cracking – a good sign.

Back to that beautiful golden yellow of the block initially.

After the beeswax and water mixture cools completely, the beeswax is now completely hard but will need to dry out for several hours before I can use it in anhydrous formulations.

The solid block of pure beeswax, nice, clean and ready to use.

When the beeswax gets dried out, it gets brittle, making it very easy to chip apart.  From here I’ll chip it into smaller bits for body products.

Last week at this time, my husband, older daughter and I were in Orlando, hanging out with a Mouse, many Princesses and a whole bunch of other characters.  We had a wonderful time, and while we were in Orlando, we had to get in a visit to Clean The World, a nonprofit organization that provides soap, lotion, shampoo and conditioner to people in places all over the world where diarrheal, skin and autoimmune diseases are a very real, daily problem.  Soaps, shampoo and conditioner provide needed hygiene measures that help prevent the spread of diseases.  The lotions help soothe the skin, offering relief to open sores among people suffering with HIV/AIDS-related conditions.

This graces one wall of the Clean the World warehouse.

I first became acquainted with Clean The World through the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild after the earthquake that ravaged Haiti in January 2010.  Since then, I’ve been connected with them through Twitter and Facebook, and Jeremy Chambers, their social media specialist, and I have gotten to know each other through tweets and phone conversations, and he’s helped me discover new ways to help support this great organization.  When I knew we were going to be in Orlando, Jeremy arranged for us to meet and to tour their offices and warehouse.

This table of soaps greets visitors.  There’s a painted turtle soap on the right-hand side that’s adorable!

Jeremy took my husband, daughter and me on a tour, and we were able to meet some of the people behind the scenes at Clean The World.  I’m sorry I don’t remember all their names; I’m horrible with names, though I remember all their faces.  One of those we met was Paul Till, co-founder of Clean the World.  (Check out his smile.  You just get the sense that he always exudes this calm joy.)

Left to right – My husband Peter, older daughter Mary, Paul Till, me

After the grand tour of the offices (physically, nothing elaborate or extravagant – “cube hell,” mostly), Jeremy took us into the warehouse, which was a marvel of organization and contains a mind-numbing amount of soap.  See for yourself!  Check out the end for opportunities to support this amazing organization, even with something as simple as a text message.

Watch this space, because there’s going to be some more opportunities for you to help support this awesome organization, and check out their website at www.CleanTheWorld.org to see everything they’re doing.

Peter and I were invited to attend a Derby party Saturday night.  Unfortunately, our sitter had a family emergency of her own, so we weren’t able to attend.  Despite that, though, I was determined to make my hat nonetheless, and I could always wear it to church.  So, this week’s blog post will be showcasing my non-soapy creativity.

I started off by placing whisper pink tulle over a white hat I’d bought.  I was originally going to put silk gerbera daisies in raspberry and light pink around the brim with some feathers thrown in for fun.

After stitching the tulle in place, I created a little poof of tulle to fill in around the crown.  This would provide a nice backdrop to the flowers.

All the tulle is now in place.  Now it’s time to figure out the placement of my showcase flower (a large gerbera daisy-type number) and perhaps some feathers.  After all, what’s a Derby hat without feathers?

This is the tentative placement of the feathers and the flower.  Don’t you just love that huge, funky flower?  My older daughter suggested the yellow feathers should go into the arrangement, too, claiming they’d look good with the flower, since they match the center.  She has such a good eye, doesn’t she?

This is me showing off my new creation (of the non-soapy variety).  The dark feather tied it nicely to my white shirt and brown-and-white skirt.  It wouldn’t have mattered; I’m bold enough to wear a hat regardless.  I wore it to watch the Derby at home (and I would have lost if I’d placed a bet, unfortunately), then wore it to church on Sunday.

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby?  Were you pleased with the outcome?  If you watched it, what did you do special ?

Image via WikipediaWe spent yesterday visiting with my parents, paternal grandparents and aunts.  It was a lovely visit and well worth the drive there and back.  My grandpa served in the Army during WWII, and it’s only been in the past few years that he’s really begun to speak of that time in his life and to share his pictures and memories.
                                                                                       
Yesterday, he had Grandma bring some of his treasures out to show me – a letter he sent to her in 1945, some pictures and some centavos, the Japanese-printed currency in the then Japan-occupied Philippines.  He told me that the Japanese had introduced this currency when they went into the Philippines, but once the war was over and Japan was ousted, the money was worthless.  Citizens would throw it out into the streets and soldiers would pick it up for souvenirs.  Grandpa has nearly 200 centavos, their monetary worth likely equal only to the paper on which they’re printed.

Grandpa went on to tell me that, when the U.S. troops went into the Philippines, their primary objective being to liberate them from Japan, they took the new Philippino currency in with them.  Go back and read that again.  It gave me pause.  Do you hear what he said?  I looked at Grandpa and said, “There’s a lesson for small business in there,” and the lesson is this:  March forward as if you know you are going to succeed.


Why in the world would the U.S. Army have carried all this newly minted Philippino currency with them if they didn’t have utter and complete confidence that they were going to succeed in their mission?  Obviously, they wouldn’t have.  It would have been a waste of paper to print it and just excess baggage to carry.  When Grandpa’s unit entered the Philippines, they were going in to win.  Not try to win, not negotiate with the Japanese for more favorable conditions for the Philippines, not lose, but to WIN.

This is how small businesses should drive their businesses – like a liberating army that is going to win the battle.  Of course, there will be set-backs.  Some American soldiers were injured, captured or killed during the Pacific War of WWII, including Grandpa.  However, the divisions, squadrons and platoons kept advancing, kept driving the Japanese back.  It was this steady forward progress that enabled the U.S. to defeat Japan.

This same steady forward progress helps small business be successful.  Like most small business owners, I have had set-backs.  I have made mistakes… and I have learned from those mistakes.  I have lost some squirmishes – made business deals that ultimately weren’t beneficial, was poorly organized for shows and forgot to ship a customer’s order.  Like some soldiers do, I’m sure, I’ve also wondered what the crap I was doing, why did I want even to go on, why didn’t I just give up.  Then I look at my daughter and young apprentice who has fully embraced soapmaking and running her own segment of the business, and my husband who really likes making swirled soaps and think, “No man left behind!”  They’re counting on me to keep us motivated and driven.

My Twitter friend @ThatRikkiWebb posted today

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

Business pains…  Business growing pains…  All serve to make for stronger small businesses and stronger small business owners, which serve to make stronger communities.

If you haven’t heard by now, IT’S HERE!!!  It’s bright!  It’s sunny!  And it’s made especially for little girls on the go.  What is it?  It’s Sun On The Go, my daughter’s fabulous new set of girly essentials.

This set is made for little girls on vacation.  My daughter said that little girls needed their own products when they’re traveling, and that was the catalyst for this epiphany.  She doesn’t really like the soaps and shampoos available at most commercial hotel chains, and who can blame her?  Usually what they are passing off as soap is a very drying detergent bar, and the shampoo has no conditioning properties at all, making hair brushing after a day in the wind and water a truly miserable experience.  Sun On The Go ensures little girls have their own moisturizing soap and conditioning shampoo, as well as a yummy after sun lotion.

This set contains four fabulous products.  As the girl enjoying this set comes back from hiking in the mountains or riding the waves at the beach, she starts her bathing experience with cheery yellow conditioning shampoo.  Not only does this product clean all the dirt and sweat out of her hair, but it’ll also help reduce tangles.  Next, she’ll wash with our homemade body wash, a fabulous castille liquid soap.  After bathing, she’ll moisturize her sun-kissed arms and legs with Sun On The Go After Sun Soother, a premium lotion made with organic aloe vera juice to make her skin feel cool and softer.  As she’s running out to the afternoon’s and evening’s fun with her family, a swipe of Sun On The Go Lip Balm will please her pucker with its juicy tropical fruit flavor and very moisturizing balm.  Each product has a scrumptious, robust tropical fruit fragrance or flavor (as applicable) that will make your senses dance.

Sun On The Go is available for an introductory price of $12.00.  That’s 20% off the regular price.  I’m sure you know a girl who’d love one of these.  Surrounded by boys?  We’re currently developing a similar product just for boys.

P.S. – Please don’t forget that Flipping For The Flops and Running For the Son is still going on through the end of the month, with net proceeds going to support Christian Motorcyclist Association.

About two weeks ago, as I was preparing for that big show at Camp Lejeune, my daughter walks up to me where I was wrapping soaps and says, “Mommy, I want to add a lip balm to my line, and I want to name it this, flavor it that and package it like this.”  Once I picked my jaw up off the ground – I was very impressed by her well thought-out presentation – I said, “Sounds like a great product!  Let’s see what we can find.”

After several discussions, she decided to extend it to a set that would include products that would be scented to complement the lip balm.  Last Friday evening over dinner, we hammered out some of the details about the specific products.  Saturday over lunch, we browsed online for the packaging elements.  I placed the orders Saturday afternoon and most of them arrived today.  My goal is to present these beautiful creations at Bee Fest in Kinston this Saturday.

Since the timing was so tight, we decided to go ahead and make up our bases on Sunday.  That’d save us some steps and a lot of time once the fragrances and containers showed up.

These are the bases we created. The top one is lip balm base, a luxuriously silky, nourishing treat made with beeswax from North Carolina bees and premium oils. The second base is homemade castille soap base. This soap is fabulous! It has a nice fluffy lather and leaves skin so silky smooth.  Finally, the white base is our homemade aloe vera lotion base.  This lotion is the best treat for your skin after being out in the sun all day.

Sooo…  What are we doing with these bases?  Well, that, my dears, is a big ol’ wait and see.  We should be ready for the big reveal by week’s end.  Yeah, we’re really stoked about these incredible products and just know you’ll love them, too!

This past weekend saw me spending a considerable amount of time on base at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC, working the Hidden Talents Craft Show.  The show was pretty disappointing; lots of people, lots of browsers, but few buyers.  I discovered on Sunday as I was in a c-mart getting gas and munchies that I figured out what was going on.  The federal government has failed to pass a balanced budget so far, and if they miss the deadline, then none of the federal employees get paid, including the military.  Sure, they get paid retroactively, but retroactive pay doesn’t put food on the table now.

Finding redemption in every situation, I encountered a lovely lady named Lisa who is new to small business.  Lisa is owner of Bath Bombs Away and her business is, obviously, all bath bombs.  Oh my gosh!  They were huge!  And gorgeous!  If I didn’t know what they were, I’d want to try sticking a spoon in them and taking a bite; they looked like sorbet in mixed flavors, and her packaging was clever and eye-catching.

We often take for granted those things that make our businesses run and that make people want to enter our space – whether a show booth, an online store or a brick-and-mortar store.  I know I often focus more on my products than the intangibles that I bring to my business.  Given that slight jadedness, it was refreshing to see a relative newby working the show (Lisa’s booth was across from ours and over one).  This is what I noticed she had going for her:

• Great products – As I said, her bath bombs looked absolutely delicious and smelled awesome.  They were also all-natural, scented with essential oils.
• Product knowledge – Unlike some bath and body manufacturers who go from making a product to wanting to sell it in a week, Lisa demonstrated that she’d done her research.  She knows her ingredients and possesses information about shelf life and essential oil properties.
• Awesome personality – Lisa was working the crowd.  She cooed over babies, warmly welcomed customers into her space and engaged people.  Her magnetic personality was a great draw.

First it was Spa Soaps.  Then it was Mediterranean Spa Salts.  Then it was a Mediterranean Spa Scrub.  These all have come together in a delicious Mediterranean Spa Collection that’s waiting for you to create a relaxing spa retreat in your own bathroom.

First, pour yourself something to drink.  While wine is relaxing, water does a body good.  This is your spa experience, though, so savor whatever you wish.  Perhaps an array of candles bathing your bathroom in golden light, their flames dancing to some soothing nature-inspired music, would be next.  Sprinkle about one-fourth of a tube of Mediterranean Spa Salts in your warm bath water before sinking to your chin in the warm, scented bliss.  Feel your worries start to fade away as you settle back and lose yourself in a good book.

Set your book aside and pick up the Spa Bar.  Take a moment to feel its heft; each bar weighs a solid six ounces.  Take a moment to bring it up to your nose and savor its scent.  (I’ll confess, I do this to every bar of soap, every bath.  It’s all part of the experience.)  Now rub it on your washcloth or sponge and wash your skin with it, enjoying how it moisturizes you.

Once you’ve dunked yourself to rinse all the soap off, grab the jar of Mediterranean Spa Scrubs and rub the scrub on your skin, paying special attention to those extra dry areas.  In this step, you’re removing that outer layer of dull, dead skin and richly nourishing the layers underneath with a deep moisture treatment that keeps going and going, leaving your nice, soft skin lightly scented for several hours (I still have a remnant of scent on my skin from my scrub treatment this morning, and that was over 12 hours ago!)

Rinse the salt off your skin and finish your soak.  Will you start to nod off over your book?  It might be time to step out of the tub, gently wrap your towel around you to get rid of the extra water while leaving the great remnants of olive butter from the scrub on you.  Now it’s time to crawl into bed, to sleep, perchance to dream.