Budgeting can be tough as a small business starting out. To save and still provide high-quality organic products, I need to buy bulk as much as possible. I’ve also started selling wholesale (more on that to come, wink!) so every penny counts these days. Sometimes, however, this gets out of hand ….
Normally, I order organic carrier oils by the gallon, in jugs that have handles. I was creating a lot of recycling, and since I work out of my home and we already recycle, the recycling bins (yes, plural meaning three full-sized stand-up bins) were overflowing each week. Baltimore County co-mingles, so we take advantage and recycle everything that can’t be composted. I needed to find a better solution or the waste management people were going to start yelling at me.
When I realized that I could save packaging and money by ordering the carrier oils by the pail instead of the gallon, I thought it would be perfect. Don’t ask me why, but I didn’t even think about what those pails would look like or how heavy they would be. Foolish. So foolish.
Here is the pail of organic soybean oil, next to a gallon of organic olive oil in the normal-sized jug:

Clearly, there is no way I can lift that pail by myself. I guess maybe I thought it would come with a removable lid and then I could scoop it out with a pitcher ….? Either way, I didn’t think it through. So last night, like the hero that he is, my boyfriend used his “man-strength” to pour while I tried to catch the soybean oil in my measuring pitcher. Even as strong as he is (and he is significantly stronger than I am), he had trouble with that beast of a pail! I mean, I lift and carry a 50-pound tent on the weekends and haul 160 lbs. of tent weights around craft fairs by myself and this thing scares me!
Even more absurd, the bulk organic coconut oil didn’t even come in a pail at all! It came in a bag. Like a boxed wine.

What if I had punctured the bag while opening the box? What happens when the temperature in my house drops below 76 degrees F (realistically 80 degrees F)? How the heck is this supposed to work? Even boxed wine comes with a spout!
In all honesty, I should acknowledge that the website where I purchase my carrier oils does mention in the fine print that this is a “bag-in-a-box,” but I never envisioned this! I suppose I pictured it as a solid, but then again, it is summer.
Lesson learned, I humbly submit myself to the mockery and shame of the blogosphere. Judge me if you will, but learn from my mistakes. Tiny Business Owners: bulk is NOT your friend!