There is a very pretty version of starting a small business.

In that version, you formulate beautiful products, put them into beautiful jars, arrange them on a table with a little driftwood and some sea grass, and voilà:

You have a business.

We would like to formally report that this is not how it works. 😂

Around here, getting RAH/CEL market ready has looked a little more like making products, remaking products, printing labels, staring suspiciously at labels, ordering supplies, realizing we need another supply, learning equipment we didn't know existed three months ago, and occasionally standing in the middle of the room wondering:

“How did making tallow cream turn into needing an induction sealer?”

Turns Out, Making the Product Is the Easy Part

Okay, maybe not easy.

But there is something wonderfully straightforward about standing over a batch, weighing ingredients, adjusting a formula, and finally getting that texture exactly where we want it.

Then you finish the product and discover it needs:

A jar.

A lid.

A label.

A back label.

A seal.

A shipping weight.

A SKU.

A product page.

Photographs.

Inventory.

Pricing.

Packaging.

And approximately 47 other things nobody mentioned.

We have learned a lot.

There Have Been Bloopers

For example, labels.

A label can look absolutely magnificent when it's six inches tall on a computer monitor.

Then you print it at its actual size.

Suddenly you're holding it three inches from your face thinking,

“Well. Apparently we have created an eye exam.”

Back to the drawing board.

We've filled tins and discovered that the mathematically correct amount of product leaves approximately enough headspace for one molecule of oxygen.

We've adjusted batches because the texture wasn't quite right.

We've learned that if you want 80 ounces of finished product, making exactly 80 ounces is an excellent way to end up with less than 80 ounces.

The bowl gets some.

The spatula gets some.

The transfer container gets some.

Apparently everyone gets some except the last jar.

Lesson learned.

We make extra now.

Then Came the Equipment

There are pieces of equipment you imagine owning when you decide to make natural skincare.

Mixers? Sure.

Scales? Obviously.

An induction sealer with settings that look like you're preparing to launch a small satellite?

That one was a surprise.

But every new piece of equipment and every new process has been part of figuring out how to make RAH/CEL products not only beautiful, but properly packaged and ready to leave our hands.

Because that's the part that matters.

The Table Is Starting to Come Together

Little by little, the pieces are becoming something real.

Salt & Stillness.

Gentle Tide.

Tallow Beard Balm.

Paw & Nose Balm.

And now Whipped Tide.

Bottles are being filled.

Tins are being stacked.

Labels are being printed.

Packaging is arriving.

Stock is slowly growing.

And somewhere in all of it, the market table we've been imagining is starting to take shape.

There will be no giant warehouse behind that table.

No assembly line.

No enormous team.

Just small batches, a lot of care, an unreasonable number of shipping boxes, and one woman who has learned considerably more about labels, seals, packaging, essential oils, websites, and jar dimensions than she ever expected to know.

Why We're Sharing the Messy Part

It would be easy to show only the finished photographs.

And there will certainly be plenty of those.

But RAH/CEL was never supposed to feel like some mysterious company where perfect products simply appear on a shelf.

This business is being built right here in Florida, one decision at a time.

Sometimes we get it right the first time.

Sometimes we print it twice.

Sometimes we change the formula.

Sometimes we order another piece of equipment.

And sometimes we just have to laugh.

But every little mistake has made the next batch, label, package, or process better.

That's part of being small batch.

That's part of being handcrafted.

And right now, that's part of getting RAH/CEL market ready.

We're getting close.

And when we finally set up that first market table, we'll know exactly how much went into every little jar sitting on it.

Including the bloopers.

Rooted in Nature • Living Essentially

Handcrafted in Florida