Let me say good luck and congradulations on your future soap and candle making adventures. I've been at this about a year now and this is what I've found. When I started soaping I believe I could just mix a batch let it cure and be ready to sell. my plan was 6 weeks from my first sopa batch to market. Every book that I purchase addressed selling. taking your hobby to a business. I found out quite quickly that wasn't going to happen. I have also learned to do a lot of research, there a many, many message boards with lots of good information, but they also may have a lot of nasty negative folks, so be prepared for discouraging post. I will say that this board has some of the nicest and most helpful folks you will ever find. If you want to make and sell soap and/or candles I say go for it. At this time I am still not ready to market a product, but I haven't dedicated the time and testing to get a product I a confident with. I think the most expensive equipment purchase was the scale and a stickblender, everything else came right from the kitchen or the thrift store. My first molds were paper quart milk cartons. I started with cold process soap, but I think melt and pour would be a fun place to start, I haven't tried it yet but I have seen and used some pretty impressive soap. Craft shops carry kits. As for candles I am very new to this as well. I just started with a kit, containers and all off ebay. It was a farly inexpensive way to see if this was something that I would enjoy doing. (and it is:yay: ). Lastly, the last bit of advice I can give it don't let yourself get overwhelmed and lost in what everyone else is doing. (A classic do as I say not as I do statement) If you try to soap and use a lot of exotic/expensive oils and additives, the expensive may be discouraging, with the exception of lye you probably have the materials to make soap already in your kitchen. Vegatable shortening, canola oil and olive oil is a good place (cheap) start.