Shop Local: Part of a Smart Business Plan

Shop Local – the phrase is meant to highlight the value of spending our retail dollars close to home.  However, it is also critical to how DANSOAP operates. 

When we founded our company a little over a year ago we made the strategic decision to maintain our independence by declining investment capital and loans.  This approach, often call bootstrapping, requires quick turn around on revenue to fund expenses and growth.  It is like building the train track ahead of you while running a locomotive full steam ahead!

So with no track ahead of us, we set out to create the best natural laundry soap available on the market.  The term “best” encapsulates a lot for us:  stain fighting, odor eliminating, biodegradable, hypoallergenic, eco-friendly, and low cost.   Here is how we are doing it:

Step One (build the locomotive):  Research and test top rated cleaning ingredients for effectiveness and low environmental impact.  We took the best from science, DIY laundry detergent recipes and our own experimentation.  The result?  An effective stain fighter that is safe for you and our planet. 

Step Two (lay the track):  Find local suppliers.  Here is the truth - when a major customer places a large order we rush out that day to get the ingredients.  We’ve developed a proprietary soap curing process and perform all of our packaging ourselves.  It is a slick operation that hasn’t failed yet to deliver on time.  But, it is 100% dependent on local suppliers.  In fact, DANSOAP purchases 89% of our raw materials within 21 miles of our manufacturing facility.  If we waited on distant suppliers to ship the product, the locomotive would have derailed long ago.

Why does this matter to you?  We often state that DANSOAP will be run with a sense of corporate responsibility, and we want to influence others to do the same.  We make a great natural laundry soap and offer it at an affordable price.  Our environmental impact is low and we source products locally. 

Our point is that high quality, environmentally friendly, locally sourced, low cost… those are actually complementary qualities in a good business plan.  Sure, it takes a little more effort and a little more discipline, but we think it’s okay to demand more from our corporate neighbors.