State of Wetshaving

While I do think it's a bit of a fad, I also think it is one that will last. Is the current growth rate sustainable long term? Probably not, but I don't think you'll see a bunch of wet shavers leave the game in a mass exodus. Even if carts became cost-competitive, I think most of the community does this for more than just monetary reasons. Now, if carts somehow got considerably cheaper than DE blades, you might see some movement.

As far as Strop Shoppe and Knockout Shave, I believe they probably ran into the same issue as many small businesses. They probably had a hard time being profitable. I'm not in the shaving world, but as someone who helped my wife run a small business for a couple of years, it is SOOO hard to be cost-competitive while maintaining a decent profit margin. My wife and I ultimately decided to make our business a hobby, rather than an actual small business. We just couldn't charge what we wanted to charge people while making it worth our time. We could have charged more, and people probably would have paid it, but it would have violated one of the reasons we started the venture in the first place.

Gareth, I thought you might be having some of the same questions, given that your business is inexorably tied to much of the same market. I personally don't think it's a fad, nor do I think that the great businesses will go under. I do however think that there will be some market correction in many of the products and services, and some good businesses will close up shop.

Men's grooming has surged in popularity over the last 5-7 years, and in that time the trends have changed immensely. Both hairstyle, and shave trends.
The most important thing for me is to adapt. That's why the traditional barbershops of old disappeared. Barbers didn't want to learn how to cut/style longer men's hair, and once The Beatles came up longer hairstyles where what men wanted. That's when lots of men switched over to salons for their haircuts and they stayed there ever since.

Shave goods are similar. When I first opened shop in 2012, there were very few artisan companies and the Three T's still dominated the shaving market and dominated the forums, amid a handful of artisans. Taylor and Trumper were HUGE sellers for my business at the time, but by 2014 I couldn't sell the stuff. The entire market shifted towards artisan products. Will it stay that way forever? Certainly not. But as a business you must adapt.

It's hard to say why anyone exits. Some people never intended to start a business and simply don't have the time. Ordering supplies, Shipping orders, Customer contact. Tax filing and maintaining a website or manually taking orders is only the tip of the iceburg. The time commitment is much bigger than anyone anticipates. Something that was fun turns into a low paying job with large time commitments. It may not be a problem with too little sales, but too much sales. I've found a way to moderate my sales to a manageable load that keeps it fun. I'd have to quite if at 50 brushes a month, but it could still be fun with as little as one a week. Somewhere in there is my happy medium. Luckily I've found a throttle and I'm able to stay as busy as I care to.

Add Tim's Soap to that list today

Add Tim's Soap to that list today

I wonder if some of these folks who have shut down their businesses have considered selling or licensing their brands and lineup? There is some value in the goodwill of Stroppe Shop and Tims, I'm not familiar with the other artisan but there could be value there too. A lot of sweat went in to creating and growing those brands it would be nice if they could generate a stream of income even if a small stream.

Marko

Marko I don't think Tim was a full time soaper and instead used the extra income as a bonus- and to envyshave 's point, the time commitment for this hobby can be huge compared to the return. I don't think selling the brand to another soaper was something they even considered, but it's an interesting idea! Not a bad idea actually.

These are just a few of my thoughts. Some of this I have thought about because I had considered going into making a product, but mostly just my own ramblings and observations.

I think wetshaving has grown really fast recently, and maybe too fast. I believe that this growth will not continue at this pace. I have converted a handful individuals to wet shaving, and those are not going to be hobbyist (though all own Stirling). They will though be steady customers. I believe that we will start getting a measured growth, and will hit a steady state. There will be many of us that will have introduced our children to wetshaving as the way to shave. I know when I have a chance to talk to people about wetshaving I convey that it is a better way.

My experience in wetshaving is that it is more enjoyable, and giving me better results. My journey actually started in looking for ways to avoid ingrown hairs from shaving. Having only had one since I started wetshaving close to a year ago I attribute this to wetshaving. I would not go back to multi-blade razors at this point, and would definitely not give up my shave soap and brush. I believe I have gotten to a good spot with razors and brushes. Perhaps an open comb or something more aggressive, but as a whole I good for hardware. Not software...I am hooked. I like the variety, and I am sure I will continue to purchase based on desire and not need far into the future. Wet shave Texas...challenge accepted!

As far as ensuring viability...? So on one hand we need reasonable priced quality products. Many wetshaving vendors are doing this with razors, brushes, and blades. Not everyone is going to drop a mint for ATT razors, and Wolf Whisker brushes (oh, they are beautiful!!). I think for many it will be a daily or so shave, and only a shave. They will need replacement software and blades. These people may not be inclined or able to purchase some higher priced pairings. Their will be those of us that will. What these levels and balances will be is what vendors/artisans will need to determine based on their sales.

Getting quality products into groceries, pharmacies, and other retail stores will be one factor in future viability. A portion of the population will not want to order online to shave. Having products sold through channels that get high "foot" traffic like Amazon will be another factor. I also believe word of mouth and advertising will help.

Will those that try it stay? Perhaps not, but we need support videos and resources like that of the Sharpologist. Like many things that are adopted the support of the community is super helpful. We should be providing links on packaging and inserts to shaving resources. We should actively support others, and encourage them. Teach our kids the technique. It is amazing how much kids do what their parents do, and how, once we learn to do something, it is hard to change this.

As far as artisans going forward. I would think it is harder for a non-diversified producer. Having items like soaps, lotions, balms, lip balms and other such consumable products will allow a customer to frequent more often even without shaving products. I know I frequent a particular artisan due to this.

Women...they have slightly different needs. At the core it is the same, but slight variations. I know my wife does not like most of the "crazy" scents I possess. She is happy with the Bergamot Lavender shave soap I got her, and wants no other at this point. So I am sure that I will need a steady supply there. Bicycle manufacturers often have women's lines that are custom geometry for the woman. This may be something the shave world would look into. I am sure some women will use the standard products too. I think also here is building community that is visible and supportive. I have sent a few female converts to youtube for support. Unified product groups that are a benefit outside the shave soap, but are unified in theme. Example being a lotion, body butter, shave soap, and bath soap that match and provide SPF coverage.

Monte

I won't go anywhere, but I have enough soap for 20+ years after B/S/Ting a ton of it and some hardware. I bought different things to use just to see how different they were. Some I kept some I sold. Shaving for me is 30 minutes of relaxation time where I don't have to think about anything else. I honestly wouldn't have to buy anything for shaving at all for easily over a decade unless my brushes and DEs fail. I use mostly vintage stuff that has been around for 50+ years so I doubt it will just stop working.

There are always people that are going to try to keep up with the joneses with every new product that that comes out. I believe that is why some that produce razors in a limited fashion do so to keep those types of consumers on their toes. It's like watching the next new iPhone come out. I've only been back at this for several years and have watched the total explosion in products within the last two years, and it was HUGE. I kept wondering when we would get to this point where people start to close their doors.

Coming to ezlovan's post late, I figured while reading through it that I'd have a lot to say on the subject. I shouldn't have been surprised, however, that the 27 replies, thus far, have nicely covered whatever I would have said about the points covered and anything further, from me, would be repetitious.

Personally and fortunately, I know myself pretty well after 80 years, and know how easily I have slipped into the "acquisition disorders" of many previous hobby interests. This time I saw it coming and clamped it at 5 vintage Gillettes plus a Feather AS-D2, about 7 or 8 soaps, 4 brushes, 5 AS and 1 cologne. I'm doing so well with the AS-D2 that it's blunting the desire for several configurations from ATT's goodie box and James' wunderazor aka Wolfman! I may have reached my limit with nothing else needed except replacement of consumables. Health considerations may mean that there won't be that many replacements, so I'm a poor prospect for future explosive growth. That established, I'm still grateful to have benefited from the output from all the great vendors catering to this new/old interest and hope that it continues to thrive notwithstanding some vendor shake out!

Many of you have touched on a good point. If you have outside work and making and selling soap is something you do on the side, it can become miserable. It really is a ton of work and requires immense dedication. Mandy lost her job as a govt contractor one month before I left active duty in the Army. For us, the decision to go from side hobby to full time endeavor was something that we had little choice on, as I was still two years from finishing grad school at that point and we had to throw all of our savings and time into the company. Basically, if we didn't sell soap, we literally would not have had money coming in. There is no way we could have the product lineup and the attention to the company that we do have if even one of us still had an outside job. It is a massive amount of work just to make the product, not to mention shipping, customer service, and research and development.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more artisans take a Mike's Natural approach, ie. the soaps will be there sometimes and sometimes they won't. Even for someone who does this full time, scalability is a monstrous hurdle for the long-term viability of just about any business.