Hello, my name is Olga, and my family and I came to Estonia just over 2 years ago. We now live in Olustvere — a place that's impossible not to fall in love with at first sight.
My Entrepreneurship Journey
By profession, I am an ecologist, which perhaps has influenced my lifestyle. For me, it's important to treat not only the environment but also my own health with care. I make sure to carefully read the compositions on the labels of personal hygiene products, watch my diet, and generally take care of my body and mental health.
After arriving in Estonia, I started thinking about a remote profession and decided to try myself at UX/UI design and one of my first websites was for natural cosmetics. Natural soap was the first thing that attracted me, and I began to study the properties and benefits of this product. At night, I would spend so much time in the internet and watch soap production with admiration. Despite fear and uncertainty, I ordered all the necessary ingredients, molds, a cutter, and made my first soap. When I succeeded, I began to experiment with recipes, adding clays, mixing essential oils.
At some point I realized I had loads of soaps so I could try selling it at a fair. The first fair was at my son's kindergarten, and I was very impressed by how many people wanted to buy a bar of soap, especially seeing children's admiration as they spent their pocket money on a soap instead of buying sweets. The fair was charitable and a large portion of money went to the kindergarten fund, and soon children got football goals, which was doubly pleasing.
This marked the beginning of my journey; I started traveling to fairs around Olustvere, where I successfully was selling soap. In September 2023, I joined an entrepreneurship program "Empowering Women", where I got a business training from one of the best mentors in Estonia.
I managed to creatively transform the idea of selling soap, significantly improve the quality of the product, and launch my brrand SOIHA. Now I make soap from decoctions of Estonian herbs — these can be dandelions, nettles, sage, chamomile, and everything that grows around Olustvere. The soap can also be used as a face and body mask, thanks to a balanced composition of cosmetic and essential oils, the addition of clays, extracts, and spices.
At the end of March this year, I opened my own company, and now my soap is successfully sold in stores in Tallinn, Tartu, and Viljandi, at the Estonian National Museum, and at a small SPA in Suure-Jaani, near Olustvere.
My Team
Of course, I would not have achieved success without my family, who is my team, and who supports me at every stage.
- my grandmother, who planted calendula for soap this year,
- my mother who always helps me with the children,
- my husband, who is my psychologist, loader, and driver,
- my son, who is my PR agent since he always gives soap to his friends and receives feedbacks from their parents. I am very pleased to see how proud he is of his mother.
- and of course my little daughter, who happily sniffs, sometimes tastes the soap, and also shares feedback.
Also, my relatives and friends test my products and give feedback. And every one of my clients is a part of my team.
My Future Plans
Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how many soaps I've sold, but already about 500 people from different parts of the world have bought my soap, which is very nice because my goal is not just to sell, it's important for me to convey the value of this product to people. I have confidence that I am fulfilling some mission, I want to believe that with each piece, a person acquires a piece of light, goodness, love, and spiritual harmony.
Recently, I have got a hope that I will be able to realize my little dream — to move to a new level, leave the home kitchen, and make soap in a separate facility. Now I have my own space in the heart of Olustvere - in the house of ceramics and glass, where I am setting up the soap production process. I have also started experimenting with producing other cosmetics products and natural candles.
But so far I have not been able to fully transfer my activity from home, as I lack some equipment for preparing decoctions and products. So I have to carry some of the raw materials from home to work and back.
For me, my activity is a creative process, and I am happy to share my skills and secrets of preparation with everyone (not for commercial purposes). I already invite you to visit me and take a tour, where you can see the soap production process, meet, chat, see, touch, and buy finished products in person.
As soon as I have all the necessary equipment, you will be able to make soap, candles, and other products with my help, I will share with you the nuances of making homemade cosmetics, the benefits of cosmetic and essential oils, and you will also be able to develop your own recipe and implement it in my workshop. I will be conducting the first master classes in October, so that everyone can prepare New Year's gifts for themselves and their loved ones.
My Financial Needs
To fulfill my dream - to fully equip my workshop and start organizing master-classes - I need €3500. I have divided this sum into stages.
First and foremost, I need a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and a kitchen mixer to cool decoctions and oils, store raw materials and certain types of cosmetic products, melt and heat oils and waxes, and automate the processes of whipping and mixing components. Their cost is €900.
For conducting master classes, I will need a dishwasher, a separate extractor hood, and a cooking surface so that everyone can perform all the soap preparation processes alongside me. Their cost is €1200.
There are also various small expenses, such as additional dishes, molds, packaging, racks for arranging my space, blenders, as well as certification of cosmetic products. Their sum is €1400.
I am grateful to everyone who helps me not to stop on my path, and I believe that only together we can achieve success. Today I invite everyone to become a part of my team.
Thank you for any monetary support, and reposts on social networks.
I hope for your sincere desire to become a participant in my project, in return for my endless gratitude, personal discounts on purchasing products, and unique gifts.
You can find a detailed description of the gifts in the presentation via the link.
NB! All master classes, which are offered as gifts, are conducted exclusively for educational purposes. The use of technologies, recipes, and acquired knowledge for commercial purposes is prohibited.
Email: soiha.store@gmail.com
