Goat Milk Soap Business Plan, With a Projection

A goat milk soap business plan is two businesses: a few dairy goats, milked every day whether soap sells or not, and a soap kitchen that turns a little of that milk into bars that cure for weeks before they can be sold. The goats are a fixed cost, the milk in a bar costs nearly nothing extra, and the time is in the making, cutting, curing and wrapping. The plan also has to keep the soap a soap: what a bar says on its label decides whether it's regulated as soap or as a cosmetic. In the example below, a goat farm in Tennessee makes goat milk soap and lotion from two does' milk, sells bars at markets and to shops, gift sets and lotion, and ends its first year about $16,600 ahead on $52,000 of sales, with the milking and the soap-making paid. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, the rules, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: the goats, the soaps, where you sell, the goals.
• Two does give far more milk than the soap needs; the goats and the daily milking are fixed costs.
• Cost a bar from the oils up: oils, lye, scent, wrap, your minutes, fees.
• A bar sold directly leaves more than three times what a bar sold to a shop does.
• Cold process soap cures for weeks; make ahead, and keep curing batches off the shelf.
• Say only "soap" on the label, or it becomes a cosmetic; the lotion is a cosmetic either way.
• TaroStack keeps every batch with its lot, curing batches on hold, and bars counted by scent. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Sequatchie Valley Goat Soap, a made-up goat farm and soap maker near Dunlap, Tennessee, I use in these examples, writes:

Sequatchie Valley Goat Soap keeps two Nubian dairy does and makes cold process goat milk soap and goat milk lotion from their milk in small batches, sold at two farmers markets, in gift sets, and to about a dozen gift shops and general stores.

Part 2: the rules

Soap made from fats and lye, labeled, sold and represented only as soap, isn't a cosmetic under federal law; a body cleanser that isn't that, or a bar that claims to moisturize or soothe, is a cosmetic, with the labeling that comes with it (21 CFR 701.20). The lotion is a cosmetic in any case, and a cosmetic's label lists its ingredients in descending order of predominance (21 CFR 701.3). What labels need is in cosmetic labeling requirements, and what the federal cosmetics law asks of a business this size is in MoCRA small business. The milk goes into soap, not food, but your state may still have rules for the goats and the kitchen. This is general information, not legal advice.

Part 3: what a bar costs

Two does give well over 20 gallons of milk a month in season; the soap and lotion use about 10. The goats' feed, hay and vet, and an hour a day of milking and chores, are fixed costs.

The goat milk replaces the water in the recipe and is frozen before the lye goes in, so it doesn't scorch. How to cost a soap recipe gram by gram is in soap making cost calculator.

Part 4: customers and prices

At full speed the shops take as many bars as the markets, 400, but bring about $530 of contribution against the markets' $1,890; the lotion brings about $1,210 from 120 jars, more than the shops' bars. Shops are worth it for the name and the steady reorders, but the plan's money is at the market table and in the lotion. What a bar leaves at different prices is in soap business profit margin.

Part 5: curing

Cold process soap cures for weeks after it's cut, drying and hardening on racks before it's ready to sell, so every bar on the market table was made a month or more before. That means the soap for November's markets is made in September and October, and a batch that's still curing has to be kept apart from the bars that are ready. Each batch gets a lot number when it's poured; how to make them is in how to create batch numbers for soap.

Part 6: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $965 a month: the goats' feed, hay, minerals and vet averaged ($150), an hour a day of milking and chores ($480), milking supplies ($20), insurance ($50), market fees ($150), the website ($40), lotion testing averaged ($40), and software and card fees ($35). Sales start at 15% of full speed and reach it in month 11:

The year's sales are $51,952 and the profit $16,580, with the milking and the soap-making paid. Cash dips to −$481 in month 2, and the first month's soap is made and cured before it sells, so the plan keeps $1,500 of working cash. Does dry off for a couple of months before kidding; freeze milk ahead for those months.

Part 7: the startup budget

At $16,600 a year, the $6,200 spent before working cash is earned back by month 9. A soap business without the goats is in soap business plan.

Get the template

Download the goat milk soap business plan workbook. Four sheets: your bars, sets and lotion with price, variable cost and a month's volume at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales, profit and cash; your fixed costs; and your startup budget with working cash. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

Twelve scents, a batch of each every few weeks, every batch curing on the racks for a month with its own date, frozen milk by the week it was milked, lotion in jars, shop orders, and market weekends. A notebook can't say which batches have finished curing, how many lavender bars are ready for Saturday, or which batch a shop's bars came from.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps every batch with its lot, curing batches on hold, and bars counted by scent.

Batches with their lots. Each soap is a recipe of its oils, lye, milk, scent and wrap; each batch takes them off stock and gives the bars a lot, noting the oil lots it used on its own.

Curing on hold. A batch goes on hold when it's poured, which keeps it from being sold or picked for an order, and comes off hold when its cure is done, so a bar that's still curing never reaches the market table.

Bars and shops. Bars are counted by scent and lot on a phone, and each shop's order is a sales order, with the lots it got recorded as it ships.

Recipes, batches, lots and holds are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

Is making goat milk soap profitable?

It can be. In the example, two does and a soap kitchen end the first year about $16,600 ahead on $52,000 of sales, with the milking and soap-making paid, and most of the money from bars sold directly and lotion.

How many goats do you need for a soap business?

In the example, two dairy does, which give well over 20 gallons of milk a month in season, against about 10 gallons a month for the soap and lotion at full speed.

How much does goat milk soap sell for?

In the example, $8 for a 4-ounce bar at the market and $4.50 to shops, which leaves $4.73 and $1.33 after the oils, the minutes, the wrap and the fees.

Is goat milk soap a cosmetic?

Not if it's made from fats and lye and labeled, sold and represented only as soap. A bar that claims to moisturize or soothe is a cosmetic, and so is goat milk lotion.