Rosemary: Making soap from home
Category: Women Enterpreneurs
Her intention was to go headlong into liquid soap manufacturing but getting capital to invest in the business was a challenge.For now, her intention is to make ends meet. She believes what a man can do a woman can do even better.
She gets her raw materials from her tutor at the workshop. Her tutor brings the chemicals from Lagos, she told this reporter, who visited her residence in Masaka, Nasarawa State.
Her major challenge, like every other entrepreneur in the country, is electricity. Also getting mixing machines to mix the soap is another challenge.
She said: “If there are machines it makes the work much easier and less strenuous because the chemicals used for making the soap can burn the skin if one is not careful.”
The initial capital for her business was provided by her husband. She has never gotten any assistance from the government nor has she ever worked in any government or private firm.
She markets her product by taking them to people’s houses, car wash and laundry shops. Her husband also assists her by taking the products to his work place to create more awareness because according to her, “if you don’t go out people would not be aware of what you are selling.”
She makes between N2000 and N2500 on a daily basis. The soap is sold in cans and bottles. There are varieties of colors ranging from purple, yellow, green and even colorless ones for customers to pick from. She uses PH paper to accertain when the colour of the soap is correct and in the right proportion. She said this is very necessary to get the perfect colour.
Asked if she has ever participated in the federal government sponsored ‘YouWin’ programme, Rosemary said she heard about it but didn’t have details of it. She also does not know the procedure to apply.