Want to be a perfumer? It’s more than just playing with pipettes.

In a recent video we shared on YouTube, Sarah and Arthur talked about a few things related to the early days of setting up a perfume business. Their discussion eventually led to the age-old question: What is success?

Sarah and Arthur may have had slightly different answers – and isn’t that the point? Success looks different for everyone.

In this video, they also touched on how starting your own perfume business is about much more than sitting around dreaming up wonderful scents, unfortunately. Because for creative folk, that’s the best bit. It’s what most would happily give every minute of the day to, if they could.

But that’s simply not the reality. Running a creative business is never just about the art.

This isn’t to put you off. You will have time for creating, crafting, making, and mixing. But you’ll need to fit some other tasks around it too.

What’s involved in running a perfume business?

At the start, you’ll need to wear three hats. Big sombrero-sized hats.

• The visionary hat – the person who can see the big picture and has ideas coming out their ears.
• The creator hat – ideas are all good and well, but do they work? Can they be created?
• The organiser hat – you don’t just make a few bottles of perfume and have a business. There’s a lot to be done.

You’ll need to understand ingredients and the regulations around them, work closely with suppliers and stockists, and keep your customers happy. Then there’s handling orders, packing them nicely, and making sure they’re shipped on time. Add in marketing, customer service, and all the other things that crop up, and your days will be chockablock!

Perfumery as a hobby, side hustle, or full-time career?

The question you – and anyone else having a little look around – need to ask is:

Should it be a hobby, a side hustle, or a full-time career?

Sarah and Arthur briefly (very briefly) covered some of the things involved in running a perfumery business. If you still can’t shake the idea, and you’re sure you want to spend all your working hours in the world of perfume, it can be done. Sarah’s doing it. But it takes work to build a business you can commit to full-time and still make a comfortable living.

On the other hand, if legal stuff, accounts, admin and marketing make you feel a little queasy, perhaps the best way to enjoy the beauty of scent is by keeping it as a hobby.

We should all enjoy hobbies — not everything needs to be all or nothing. Doing a thing simply for the joy of it is rather nice, and not enough of us do that lately. Why not just make perfumery the thing you do for the fun of it?

If you’re still on the fence, looking for more answers, or sure of what you want but need some guidance to get there, the Scenthusiasm community is the place for you.

Scenthusiasm is a community Sarah created on Patreon for anyone who wants to learn more about perfume-making, and at the top tier, you can learn about running a perfume business. There are different monthly themes with assignments, Zoom Q&A sessions, and regular posts on anything and everything relating to perfume. 

If you think Scenthusiasm might just be what you're looking for, you can take a look here. 

Sarah has also created a self-paced course with all the information you need to start making perfume: a recommended materials list, explainer films on using your equipment and materials, and an in-depth look at 12 popular scent styles - Scenthusiasm School. 

Take a look at the film to see where their discussion went and find out how soap can even be a sign that you’ve reached the pinnacle of success: Success? A Scenthusiasm strategy chat.