Soy white: gourmet fragrances

Blanc Soja is an authentic, resourceful company that manages to do a lot with little. Creativity is at the heart of the project! This company is an excellent example of balancing business, couple, family and work! The two owners have made a living from their hobby by creating enticing and unique fragrances while relying on word of mouth. We invite you to discover the couple behind Blanc Soja.

From a hobby to a family business project

Myriam Fortin, a trained nurse, works full time in her field and is actively looking for a way to unleash her creativity. “I started by creating fragrances, by launching a few ideas for products to make as Christmas gifts, all for the pleasure of working with my hands,” explains Myriam, co-owner of Blanc Soja. She imagines making some income to round off the end of the month, without hoping to make a business out of it. This is the first large-scale creative project in which she perseveres, where ideas are constantly bubbling and for which the products make her vibrate. Quickly, it is slow to meet demand and delivery times are constantly increasing. She asks for help from those around her. It was then that she realized that her “hobby” met a community need. Three years later, Myriam and her husband are working part-time in the business. Her spouse even has a more active role there since he combines different contracts and devotes time to the management of Blanc Soja. The tasks of the company are separated in line with the strengths of each: Myriam manages the social networks ( Instagram , Facebook , Etsy , etc.) and her spouse is in charge of deliveries, packaging and invoicing.

Collaboration at the heart of the project

The owners of Blanc Soya can count on the support of Myriam's parents who lend a hand in the production rushes and who provide space for the workshop in their home. "I develop a lot of projects in collaboration and subcontracting in order to maximize the time invested in the company", Myriam tells me about the cosmetic aspect. For example, she makes a body bar, adds her brand image to it and sells the product, which is subcontracted by a cosmetics entrepreneur. The creation and sale periods operate by season and this management makes it possible to better target condensed production moments. Myriam must create more and more links with various merchants in order to find new points of sale. Due to changes in Etsy's internal algorithms, the company has seen its online sales decline. Luckily, marketplaces make it possible to sell directly to customers and reap positive feedback.

Culinary inspiration and local purchase

Myriam finds her inspiration in gourmet products. “Ricardo inspires me a lot with his photos and the flavors he presents in his recipes,” continues Myriam, explaining to me that she decided to make a candle inspired by a pineapple and cucumber sangria recipe. . The entrepreneur plays a lot with the different senses in her creative process in addition to betting on the purchase of raw materials in her locality. For her, buying local is important both for the promotion of her product and for manufacturing and marketing. The couple work so hard to produce entirely handmade items that they are happy to say that they have found the right price for their products.

Communication, conciliation and mental load

Myriam explains to me that it "is important to update yourself and learn from errors”. She has learned a lot from entrepreneurship, which takes her out of her comfort zone. She finds it stimulating to get to know other entrepreneur-artisans and to discuss “business” with them. Contacts are an important source of knowledge, potential customers and resources. Myriam is creative, there is no doubt about it, however she had to develop her sales and marketing side in order to present her products to potential customers during the markets. She works daily to manage all aspects of her business, her job and her family. Communication is key! You have to be able to clearly target the needs and make them understood by the team. Myriam explains that a simple misunderstanding in understanding a message can create funny situations. For example, she says: "I left a note for my mother telling her to produce a few (by writing the abbreviated version of the word: qqs) candles, she read 99". Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's expensive!

In order to reconcile her various commitments, Myriam must develop several strategies. For example, she uses her cell phone to follow up during her breaks and maintain quality family time in the evening. According to her, it's all a matter of perspective and priorities. Myriam's mental workload can become heavy when deadlines are tight. She then creates moments of calm and avoids working on evenings when she has had a busy day. Myriam dreams of being able to dedicate a full day a week to her business in order to visit the shops that sell her products and create new products.

Speaking of novelties, if you like unicorns, a new product will be released soon! Go visit his sites to know more about it. In the near future, Blanc Soja would like to further develop the offer of personalized fragrances, especially at the corporate level.

Reviewed By Melanie