I have been making herbal soaps and selling to my immediate friends and family, but now strangers want to buy and I need to find out what kind of insurance I should carry and where to get it.

Talk to some insurance agents. You do need liability insurance in case your products cause harm.

Hello amy:

The leap from selling to friends and family, to selling to the public, in my view, isn't a gradual one. It's my bet that you're going to need more than just insurance. I say that, if for no other reason than I'll bet you'll find liability insurance for your product to be VERY expensive - probably more expensive than you can afford just selling a few bars of soap here and there. So the costs of that alone are going to force you into either starting your business and giving it a real chance of success, or going back to just selling to family.

Although, I don't think you have any LESS liability just selling to your family. I mean, they'll sue you too - maybe even quicker than the public would.

In addition, I'll bet your insurance carrier is going to require that you run more of a professional organization than running it out of your home. They may require that you have the proper health department inspections of your facility, and a license from them. Now I don't know about soap, but they won't license a home kitchen for commercial use. So, it's my bet that they won't license your home for commercial use, either.

All I'm saying here, is that if you want to take your business to the next level, then do it. I LOVE entrepreneurship. I'm just trying steer you in the right direction as to exactly WHAT that next level might entail.

If you want some answers to these questions, you can buy a good business plan software package for about $50. It'll guide you through ALL the decision making stuff you need to do before you take the next step.

excon