State of Wetshaving

I, myself, can only praise and commend all of the artisans offering their wonderful products to us with such dedication and passion, be it soaps, razors, brushes, et cetera.

I believe we are extremely fortunate at this time with the state of 'wet-shaving' and I hope it continues to become even more popular.

ezlovan, thank you for this thoughtful thread. The various responses pretty much cover where I am coming from. I have way too much hardware and software yet the bug still bites from time to time and I find myself trying something new. In fact, I currently have two things out for delivery. This, however, is not sustainable for all of the artisans so only those with the best products and customer service will make it. Also, if wet shaving becomes more appealing to the average shaver out there, both ladies and gentlemen, then that can only help.

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.

Hi Gareth, I can't help it, I'm a lawyer and I worked for years in trademark and branding. Goodwill is an interesting concept and can be worth nothing or a lot. Its interesting when a company is formed and a group of people sit around and come up with a name and maybe a logo. Initially the name/logo sounds and looks strange, not comfortable but over time and with success and exposure the name and the logo (brand) begin to be associated with the company and its products in the minds of employees, customers, clients or the general public. It begins to acquire goodwill - if you look at any purchase and sale agreements dealing with the sale of a business there will always be a line item for goodwill and it can be nominal or the bulk of the value of the company. Its prudent to capture and preserve that value. Brands like Tim's don't have to be registered to become trademarks - trademark is a common law right that arise through the use of a mark in trade. Yes you can register a mark and you will have additional protection, however, there are costs associated so lots of companies just go with unregistered trademarks - the tm in the little circle - registered trademarks use the R in the circle to denote registration.

Licensing is also another option - Tim could license both his trademark and his soap formulas to another soap maker - they make it exactly according to the licensing agreement and pay a royalty to Tim - whatever they negotiate. There are several excellent soaps out there that are made in this way or similarly - under contract. I think people have to be creative in order to make their businesses thrive in challenging times.

Oh, and none of the foregoing constitutes legal advice

I know from experience that trying to make soaps (I have not tried selling yet) very time consuming. It is time consuming. I have full time job and kids. So trying to make time for them, and then making soap resulted in some very long days. It would not of been anything I could sustain. Making the soap, concentrate on growing, and scale it up would be more time than I could ever dedicate. So as much as I enjoyed the soap making, and I decided it was better to support others that are doing this.

I will probably continue to make my own here and there, but I would rather support those making a living creating the soaps I love.

So I can imagine that we will see some artisans appear and disappear as this load effects them, and their tolerance for this. Some will take Mike's Natural approach. A portion of buyers will be frustrated/turned off with an approach like this no matter how good the product may be. Particularly in the set that are not into wet shaving as a "hobby". I have only anecdotal evidence of this based on myself and couple others who went to buy.

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.

I think I speak for most of the forum when I say that I am glad you made the decision that you did and I really love and appreciate your products, customer service, and hard work. I really hope that it has been as much a blessing to you and your family as it has been to all of us.

I will continue shaving with a DE, soap, and brush for as long as I am able. My sensitive skin cannot tolerate shaving with a cartridge anymore. Shaving every day while active-duty Air Force was hard on my skin so, when I got out I decided to wear a beard. After nearly 8 years of wearing a beard I learned about DE razors and bought one to shave my neck. Using an EJ DE89 I experienced smooth shaves with little to no irritation. I was enjoying shaving for the first time in my life so I decided to shave my beard and start shaving daily. Later I started trying new razors and soaps which resulted in some periods of bad shaves until ultimately finding what works best for my skin. Looking back it was all worth it. My skin has never felt or looked as healthy as it does today.

I do not see wet-shaving with soap and brush as a fad but, I do think more artisans will close shop. I believe artisans have to continue developing new and interesting scents and products, offer seasonal or limited edition soaps, and provide exceptional customer service. They should also listen to their custumers and be open to change when necessary. Those are merely my opinions that I based on what seems to be working for the most popular artisans which, by the way, Stirling is among.

This is part of my lifestyle and it has been for many years, so it will not go away. I encourage artisans to continue to offer the variety of products they do, it keep things interesting.

I believe the wet shave market place in the midst of change. With so many quality soaps and aftershaves available and the hobbyists pretty much already overloaded, I think that two distinct market sements are going to be where the action in the near term future is: products perceived by the market place as higher end artisan and products perceived by the market as offering incredible value at a low price point. Any artisan whose product the marketplace does not perceive as fitting in one of those slots is going to have a rough time of it going forward, I think.

But beyond that, I really think that it behooves the artisan soap and aftershave makers to start targeting cart shavers. I know this is sorta anathema in the wet shaving community, but it is reality. That is a freaking huge market. An idiot-proof soap like Tabac with a more universally appealing scent (I love the Tabac scent and use it weekly, but I know that a lot of folks do not), coupled with cheap high quality synthetic brushes and matched with newer widely liked after shave scents have a real shot at making an inroad into the cart shaving cream market. I don't see DE razors impacting that market, but the canned gel/foam market is ripe for picking, I see Mr. Fine going in that direction exactly, if it is true that he has indeed gotten his hands on the Tabac soap formula. Of all the best wet shave artisans I see right now, he is the one that I think will be best positioned to do that if his new soap is indeed of Tabac quality (and assuming M&W (Tabac owners) do not tie him up in litigation). Put it this way, if he was selling stock, I'd be buying a lot of it right now.

Mr. LegalEagle1, regarding your post:

Overruled.

Actually, I think it was a fine post.  I just love that line from Fred Gwynne.

+1 Tom Slick. Being a lawyer, I love the humor in that movie - one of my all time favorites!