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How to Start a Bath Bomb Business from Home [2024]
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Starting a bath bomb business from home is a great idea if you’re looking to start a business with a small budget.
Bath bombs (also known as bath fizzers and fizzies) have been a popular product for a long time — not just in the United States but also worldwide.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why it is worth starting a bath bomb business, the step-by-step guide on starting a bath bomb business, and the challenges you need to keep in mind.
Why Start a Bath Bomb Business?
Let’s start with an inspiring story, shall we?
It’s the story of two sisters and cofounders of Da Bomb — Caroline and Isabel Bercaw. The sisters started making bath bombs in their parent’s basement when they were just 10 and 11 years old.
Then, their parents joined hands in the business and they went on making it a multi-million dollar business. When these sisters were just 16 and 17 years old, they made it to Forbes 30 under 30.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of starting a bath bomb business:
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Easy to make on your own
While you definitely need to learn how to make bath bombs, they are relatively easy to make on your own. If you want, you can even buy ready-to-sale bath bombs from wholesalers or suppliers. But making them on your own will give you more control over quality and cost.
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Work from home, at any time
When starting a small bath bomb business, it doesn’t require a production facility or office. You can simply start making it at your home, based on your capacity. Also, it doesn’t require strict hours and you can dedicate the time as per your feasibility.
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Requires a reasonably small investment
Raw materials and tools used to make bath bombs do not require huge investment. Also, since you can start making them from your home, you don’t need to invest in an office or facility rent. All in all, you can start selling bath bombs online with a small investment.
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Potential for a good profit
The bath bomb business has the potential to be a profitable venture. What you need to do is — get quality raw materials at an affordable rate, be creative with your branding and marketing, and bring target customers to your store — and you could earn good profits as you grow your business.
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Upward rising market growth
According to Verified Market Research, the bath bomb market has been leveraging the popularity of social media platforms like Instagram and is estimated to cross US$82 billion in 2024. Also, it's estimated to grow at nearly 4% CAGR and will reach about US$114 billion by 2031.
How to Start a Bath Bomb Business from Home
Step 1: Prepare for Bath Bombs Production
1.1 Finalize your product type and ingredients:
While making bath bombs at home is not too complex, when you plan to start selling them as a commercial product, you need to ensure that you have a tried and tested formula with key ingredients.
First, decide what kind of bath bombs you want to create. Broadly speaking, bath bombs can be categorized into two major categories:
- Cosmetics: Bath bombs claimed and labeled as cosmetic products
- Drugs: Bath bombs claimed and labeled to have physical or mental health benefits
Depending on the intended use of your bath bombs, ingredients, and claims made related to their benefits, you may need FDA approval. But more on that later.
Apart from the above major categories, here are the different types of bath bombs:
- Classic bath bombs - Simple bath bombs.
- Theme-shaped bath bombs - For example, animal-shaped, cartoon-shaped, based on superhero themes, etc.
- Jewel bath bombs - Comes with a surprise element, like a ring or other small jewelry piece, when the bath bomb is dissolved in water.
- Men’s and Women’s bath bombs - Separate fragrance-based bath bombs for men and women.
1.2 Meet the government’s requirements for registration and approval:
The government rules and regulations may vary for different regions or countries. Also, it may be updated from time to time. So, it’s advised to refer to the latest guidelines and stay updated with them. You can also consult the applicable government body for more details on registration and approval.
For your quick reference, here are some critical information published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Small Businesses & Homemade Cosmetics: Fact Sheet.
“1. Does FDA regulate cosmetics?
Yes. FDA regulates cosmetics under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).”
The FDA has also provided more information on how one can categorize the product:
“2. How do I know if my products are regulated as cosmetics, and not as drugs or some other product category?
A product’s intended use is determined by factors such as product claims, consumer expectations, and certain ingredients. A product is a cosmetic if it is intended for uses such as cleansing the human body, making a person more attractive, or changing a person’s appearance…”
FDA wants to ensure the cosmetics must be safe for consumers and the product must be properly labeled as well.
“3. Do I need to have my cosmetic products or ingredients approved by FDA?
The law does not require cosmetic products and ingredients, except for color additives, to be approved by FDA before they go on the market. However, cosmetics must not be adulterated or misbranded. This means that they must be safe for consumers when used according to the labeling, or as people customarily use them, and they must be properly labeled. To learn more, see Key Legal Concepts: Interstate Commerce, Adulterated, and Misbranded.”
Also, you may need to register your facility and bath bomb products with the FDA. - Read more here.
1.3 Manage your suppliers:
Find a supplier that can provide high-quality raw materials for all the ingredients at a reasonable rate. The supplier plays a crucial role in managing your production with a fair profit margin.
- Key ingredients used in making bath bombs:
- Baking soda
- Citric acid
- Cornstarch
- Epsom salt
- Essential oil
- Carrier oil
- Food coloring
- Fragrance
- Water
- Tools:
- Mixing bowls and a whisk to mix all the ingredients
- Molds to create custom shapes of bath bombs
Also, if you have the budget, you can purchase a bath bomb business kit.
1.4 Make your bath bombs:
Before we talk about the process of making bath bombs, here’s one tip you should keep in mind. When making bath bombs, precisely note down all the ingredients you’re using along with the exact quantity details. This way, you can make sure you produce the same result every single time.
How to make bath bombs?
Disclaimer: It goes without saying that we aren’t professional bath bomb makers. So, the ingredients and the method of making bath bombs are provided based on our research for informational purposes. Depending on the purpose of making bath bombs, the ingredients and the method may vary on a case-to-case basis.
Okay! So, with that out of the way, let’s see what the process of making simple bath bombs looks like:
- Mix all the dry ingredients (except citric acid) in appropriate quantities.
- In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients.
- Then, slowly pour the liquid ingredients into the dry mixture. Keep whisking the materials while mixing them. Also, slowly mix the citric acid with all the ingredients.
- Once mixed, take out a small portion and squeeze it to see if it’s sticking together properly.
- Then, fill in the mixture in the molds. If you’d like to decorate the bath bombs with things like flower petals, put them at the bottom of the mold first. Or if you’d like to add a little surprise gift like jewelry or something, put it in the middle of the mold.
- Leave the bath bombs to dry in the molds for 3-4 hours and then take them out carefully.
If you’d like, here’s a short video you can watch on how to make bath bombs:
How to Make Bath Bombs | Bath Bomb Recipe
Again, remember that you’re making bath bombs for commercial purposes. So, you should test the products multiple times before you finalize the formula and start selling them.
Testing your products will also give you an idea about any potential areas of improvement. After all, you would want to deliver the best quality products to your customers so that they keep coming back for more.
Step 2: Finalize Your Branding
Like many other beauty and cosmetic products, the bath bomb market has high competition too. Your goal must be to stand apart from the competition.
But if you’re just a small business, you may think — how to stand apart from the competition with a little budget?
Well, your branding can do that magic.
However, before you start working on your branding or marketing, it’s imperative that you research your target audience. Everything you create in your branding and marketing should revolve around your target audience.
When talking of branding, we must mention Da Bomb again. Right from their website design to product packaging, they’ve weaved the brand storytelling along with a great color scheme.
Here are the important factors you should consider in branding your bath bomb business:
- Finalize a unique and catchy brand name
- Create a brand logo and color scheme
- Create your branded packaging
- Prepare your unique selling proposition (USP)
- Prepare your social media theme
If you’re looking for some inspiration or ideas on bath bomb business names, you can try these tools:
Bath Bomb Business Name Ideas Generator (2024)
Step 3: Create Your Online Store with Shopify
Starting your online business with Shopify is relatively easy.
3.1 Signup with a free trial:
Currently, Shopify offers a 3-day free trial and then just $1 for the first month. Post that, you can go with the Basic plan at $39 per month (or $29 per month if billed annually).
Signing up will take just a few minutes, and then, you can move forward with all the customizations and configurations.
3.2 Select your theme and design your store:
Shopify has a wide range of free as well as paid themes to choose from. If you’re starting with a small budget, you can go with a free theme.
Here are some of the free themes that are good for bath bomb business websites:
- Sense
- Refresh
- Taste
- Publisher
While themes can be customized in Shopify’s native editor, if you want to take your store’s design to the next level, GemPages can help you create stunning website design.
GemPages lets you customize your store with powerful features like:
- AI-powered image-to-layout feature
- Intuitive drag-and-drop editor
- eCommerce and marketing design elements
- Professionally designed templates
3.3 Configure your Shopify settings:
This is one of the most critical steps in the Shopify store setup. Here, you’ll need to ensure you have the correct shipping settings and rate configured in the admin.
Configure taxes and duties as applicable. Also, make sure you have the payment providers set up and tested on your store.
3.4 Install the necessary Shopify apps:
Many Shopify apps can help you enhance your store’s functions and capabilities.
Here are the recommended Shopify apps for your bath bomb business:
- GemPages - Store & Landing Page Builder
- Yotpo - Email & SMS Marketing
- Judge.me - Product Reviews
- Tidio or WD-Live - Customer Service
- Selleasy or ReConvert - Upselling & Cross-Selling
3.5 Prepare your policies:
It’s imperative to have store policies in place to manage your business operations with a solid foundation.
Especially, shipping, returns, and refund policies can help customers with transparency and build trust in your brand.
3.6 Launch your store:
Once everything’s good to go, launch your store!
Remember — it’s okay if your store isn’t perfect right from the get-go! You may keep improving and adding more details on your storefront. But the goal should be to launch your store in a timely manner and start collecting feedback.
Learn more: Shopify Tutorial: Everything For Success
Step 4: Start marketing and advertisements
Here are some of the best ways you can market your bath bomb business:
4.1 Social media marketing:
Use Instagram and TikTok to get your bath bomb business in front of your audience in creative ways. Here's how LifeAround2Angels does a great job of promoting its brand on Instagram:
4.2 Influencer marketing:
Collaborate with micro-influencers that have a following of around 10,000. Offer them free products and create user-generated content.
If you want to connect with influencers inside your Shopify admin, you can install the Shopify Collabs app to recruit creators/influencers.
4.3 Go to local events:
Participate in local events for small businesses. One of the best things about going to local events is that it can help you with real-time feedback.
4.4 Partner with local retail shops:
Local retail shops could help sell your bath bombs in their stores. You can build good relationships to regularly distribute your product at their shops.
Challenges in Building a Bath Bomb Business:
High competition in the market:
Since it’s a relatively easy business, there are a lot of businesses that are competing in the market. You need to have solid strategies to stand out and keep your prices competitive, yet profitable.
Also, there are already some big names in the bath bomb market. Here are the leading players as reported by Verified Market Research:
- Lush
- Bath & Body Works
- The Village Company
- Pearl Bath Bombs
- Level Naturals
- Hugo Naturals
- Swanky Sweet Pea
- Heavenly Bubbles Ltd
- The Natural Soap Company
- Oliver Rocket LLC
Scalability challenges
As a small business owner, it’s easy to start a bath bomb business at a small level. But when it comes to scaling the business, it may be challenging due to certain factors such as high overhead costs and warehouse maintenance.
Shipping cost issues
For a small product like a bath bomb where you don’t have a huge profit margin, it could be tough to manage shipping costs. If you add it to your pricing, it might be tough to keep the prices competitive. And if you don’t, customers may abandon the checkout due to the shipping costs.
Start Your Bath Bomb Business Like a Pro
No matter how small your business is, you must set your aim and benchmark high. Manage your business with an entrepreneurial mindset.
Once you’ve started your bath bomb business, work on every possible way to raise your brand awareness. More importantly, be obsessed with customer feedback.
Focus on delivering the best quality products and customer service — and keep looking for ways to improve further. With dedication and the right strategies, you can build a profitable business and scale it to the next level with other products too.
FAQs about Bath Bomb Business
However, if you want to start it on a bigger scale with a dedicated facility, the cost may go up to around $25,000.
