From the kitchen table to a main street shop front - in some ways the story of how Bianca Workman and Nicholson River Soaps is your classic maker’s success story.
But its beginnings are deeply personal, the journey not of an ambitious entrepreneur, but of a mother doing what she had to to care for her child, and her family.
“In 2010 our son, Cooper, was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome, which is a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioural challenges and other medical conditions,” Bianca writes on her website.
“With many different therapy appointments needed each week, and his ongoing immune deficiencies that would cause him to be unwell constantly, it was impossible to hold down a 9 - 5 job and also have time to take off work.”
But, Bianca knew she had to help provide for her family.
So she started making soap using goat milk from the goats on her farm.
At first the goat’s milk soap was intended to help soothe her son’s eczema.
But after receiving encouragement from friends and family, Bianca started selling the soap at local markets.
It soon became clear she had a great product, and an enthusiastic local customer base.
From there Nicholson River Soaps expanded slowly but steadily, to bigger and bigger markets and then, in 2019, to a small retail shop front in an arcade off Bairnsdale’s main street.
Specialising in goat, buffalo and camel milk soaps, Bianca’s business also offers bulk refillery of bath, body and cleaning products.
As demand for Bianca’s high quality handmade products grew, her business challenges became capacity - the physical space and staffing capacity to produce and sell more soap.
Nicholson River Soaps quickly outgrew the small shop front and in 2020 Bianca moved into
a bigger shop in a prominent Main Street location.
Assisted by the business’ first full-time employee, that move sparked a new era of growth for Nicholson River Soaps, with sales doubling since moving into the larger retail space.
Like many businesspeople in East Gippsland, the tough times of recent years has forged in Bianca a resilience, and willingness to think creatively about future business opportunities.
“After drought, fires and COVID-19, we are still going strong and love all the support our customers show us,” she said. “Moving forward I am looking at increasing our wholesale and private label customers.”
Learn more about Bianca and Nicholson River Soaps at www.nicholsonriversoaps.com
