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HBN Success Spotlight on
Susan and Pentti Ryhanen of Creekside Soaps
July 30 , 2001 Member
Success Spotlights are one of the benefits of HBN membership. To learn more
about this and other HBN member benefits, click here. Introduction
To Creekside Soaps
Susan and Pentti Ryhanen are the industrious husband
and wife team behind Creekside
Soaps, a part-time family business in Crompond, New York.
Susan's full-time job is as a media specialist, while Pentti works in auto
body repair. Between the two of them, Creekside Soaps
manufactures handmade soap, soap molds, cutter blades and wooden soap
dishes. Their best selling product is a straight blade soap cutter which
Susan says "is well made, simply designed and functional. It's a soap
cutter that a hobbyist can buy without taking out a loan!!"
All In The Family At Creekside
Soaps
Beginning about 6 years ago, Susan became fascinated with soap making.
She quickly began making batch after batch after absorbing all the
information she could find at her local library and through online
bookstores. Says Susan, "The books were great, but when I discovered soap making online
discussion groups, I though I had died
and gone to heaven. All of a sudden, at my fingertips, there was all the information I could ever need about
the challenges of soap making!!"
Eventually, using cardboard boxes as molds became extremely cumbersome
for Susan. That's when she turned to her inventor- husband who built her a
wooden box mold with a lid so her soap would remain warm during the
saponification process. Pentti also designed a soap cutter so that Susan's bars
could be evenly cut. By the 1999 holiday season, Susan found herself selling
her handmade soaps at local craft fairs and to
friends and colleagues. She used the money earned then to launch a Web site
in January 2000, and the business was officially opened in by March. Since
then, Creekside
Soaps has continued to add wood working machinery and office equipment, including
Susan's favorite business tool: a laptop computer.
How Creekside Soaps Makes It Work
According to Susan, "Our most important outside contractor is our
Web site designer, whom we found on the internet. She's in Tennessee and we have neither met nor
even spoken on the telephone. Even so, she has
been an integral part of our business. We receive so many compliments on our
site and feel strongly that it has contributed greatly to the success of
Creekside Soaps. We have learned that you can't do everything yourself, and
Web design is one of those things we felt unqualified to handle."
Susan says that the best part about her business is talking to customers about soap making.
"I have made friends all over the world," she says. On the other hand, she
acknowledges that, like many small business owners, "our
biggest challenge is finding the time in the day to do it all. We love
our business and enjoy doing it," says Susan. "We just wish we had more time."
Susan and Pentti are excited about their future
business plans. Says Susan, "While we hope that our business will continue to grow,
we plan to keep
it manageable for just the two of us. We are planning to retire from our day jobs
in 2 years with the knowledge that, because we have a web-based business, we can
take it with us where ever we go. That's the beauty of the Internet for any
business owner. We will continue to add new products to our line as we find new things that
will be of interest to soap makers. We expect to gross over $40,000 in 2001.
Susan's advice to other growing businesses is
simple: "Read, research your product and love what you do. If your business takes
off, you'd better love it!"
Benefits of HBN
Membership
Susan says that HBN is a great way to network and
spread the word about Creekside
Soaps. "It provides great networking
opportunities and spreads the word about what we have to offer in this ever growing market
area," says Susan. "Through HBN, I have found suppliers that I
need in my business and I appreciate the member discounts afforded only to
HBN members. I use the one from From Nature With Love each time I buy. By
promoting our products, HBN gives credence to what we do in the handmade
toiletries business. I also enjoy the Beauty Calls™ because they link
members to real headliners in the beauty
industry that may otherwise be
unavailable. I also think it's important to display the HBN logo on our Web
site and handmade products. HBN keeps us updated on EVERYTHING that's
happening!"
Creekside Soaps can be contacted at
susan@creeksidesoaps.com
and through their Web
site.
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