How to stay positive in the face of the small business conundrum & how to solve it?!

Enjoy a relaxing bath with our Christmas Spice Soap!

Christmas Spice Goatmilk Soap is back and active in the store! You can order it, but we will not ship it out until August 5th, its' 4 week curing time. Just to be sure you don't use it before it is ready!

How to stay positive in the face of the small business conundrum & how to solve it?!

So now to our conundrum (a confusing or difficult problem or question). And not just ours, I realize that pretty much any small business and any consumer is struggling with this nowadays. The rising cost of EVERYTHING! Specifically this time our soap packaging prices. I order in quantities of about 22,000 every two to three years to keep the price per package lower with a quantity discount. The last time in 2021, I paid $5,500 plus freight for 22,000 boxes ($0.24 per box). So last week I asked for a quote and this is what I got: 22,000 boxes would now cost me $8,750 plus freight ($0.40 per box) and don't even get me started on shipping prices. How can a small business afford this? The answer is, they can't. We can't. And did I mention that last time they went from glossy to matte (which I didn't even complain about).

Here is the conundrum. There is an easy fix, but it's a hard pass in my brain: raise price of packaged soap by $0.15 per bar. which on the surface doesn't sound like much, especially considering all groceries doubled in price. The extra $0.15 would take the bar of soap from $6.85 to $7.00. Is the soap worth it, sure. Is the quality there, of course. But all of us have so much to pay extra for, groceries, electricity, internet, fuel, insurance, rent, mortgage! It just doesn't feel right. Our soap is supposed to be for every day use, it is supposed to make you feel good and it's supposed to make me feel good selling it to you. But this wouldn't! So what to do?

Of course, another quite easy answer would be: you all just buy nekkid soaps from now on! No packaging, no price increase, kiss my cheek down under :). It would be sad though, because the boxes are our goats and our story and have been associated with us forever. A third, more complex answer is to solicit quotes from other custom packaging manufacturers and hope they can do it cheaper. We own the die, so it should be doable. This takes time though, but I'm on it. Anyone know a nice custom box manufacturer who I could approach? Or have any other suggestions?

Anyway, thank you for letting me vent. This was just one oversized price increase too many and it caught me off guard.

I compensate by playing with AI and bringing you and my friends fun images of goats and the farm!

With Love and Hugs, the Serenity Team made up of

Wayne and Julia, Jake, Ash & Summer, Molly and Sunny, along with cats Grandma Cat, Micasa, Shadow, Baby Cat and Jonah. Also Lilli, Radar, Adele, Tiggr, and Dora.

Btw, Ash & Summer have a new YouTube link, for those of you who have been following their farm adventures: https://youtube.com/@cookiesanddreamchannel?si=CWhFsO4YgKiMBIm_

Goat Wisdom #40!

In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different!

(ALL MY GOATS)

 

1 comment

As you know me I am a minimalist. I vote nakkid soap. If they would like it gift wrapped maybe give that option for a small fee. Or a box labeled with serenity logo & art, that holds like 5 soaps, but no specific scents & can be hand written or stick on label. It is much greener to not have all that waste.

Luv ya

Penny Staffney September 04, 2024

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