In this testimonial video, Lee McFarland, founder of The Soap Company of Nova Scotia, describes the launch and rapid growth of her handcrafted small‑batch business that produces soaps, creams, bath bombs, and laundry powder. She outlines three key services she received from the Community Business Development Corporation (CBDC): a small loan to fund initial operations, a cost‑share marketing program (10% client contribution, CBDC covering the rest) with professional guidance from Barb Hicks, and funding to develop an online store and payment system despite her limited web‑development experience. Lee emphasizes her overarching goal of fostering economic development in rural Nova Scotia by creating at least ten jobs and maintaining a positive workplace culture. She credits the CBDC’s support network for enabling her to attend farmers markets and fairs, and expresses optimism about scaling the business while keeping a positive mindset.
Hi, I'm Lee McFarland from The Soap Company of Nova Scotia in Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia. We started October 23rd last year, sales started July 10th this year, and at The Soap Company of Nova Scotia, we're in the business of helping others feel content naturally and simply one handcrafted small batch product at a time. We do soaps, we do creams, we do bath bombs, we do laundry powder, amazing laundry powder, and that's basically what we do. We're just growing with that.
When you're a small business person, it can be really isolating, and knowing that there are people who I can pick up the phone and call and say, okay, there's this going on, or they listen to what I say and then they come up with ideas of things I didn't even really understand were even possible. And so it's just really encouraging to have that support network around me and, and have the support that I needed in the shop to get all of the things that I needed together for a weekend of going to farmers markets, going to fairs, and so on. I cannot imagine having been able to accomplish that without the support that I've had from the CBDC.
The services that I've utilized from the CBDC, there's 3.
The first one was they supported me by allowing me to obtain a small loan. The second one that I was able to part in was the help for marketing. That's one of those ones where you pay a certain percentage, 10%, and then the rest of the money is provided by the CBDC, as well as the person, the professional, in that case it was Barb Hicks, was able to work with me and do, really come to understand my business and get me the resources that I need, the knowledge that I need to go forward from a marketing perspective. And the third one, and this is super, super important, I'm a former web developer, but because I sort of knew a little bit what to do but not what to do with respect to an online store, not what to do with respect to setting up an online cash collection system, they provided funding that I paid a percentage of as well to get someone who could help me understand all of that as well. My goal from starting this business right from the very get-go was to create economic development here in rural Nova Scotia. I believe firmly that there's no reason we can't have very successful businesses running here. My goal is to have at least 10 people working in my company with me together, people who are passionate about helping other people feel content.
It's a very positive kind of place to work. I work hard to keep it positive, work hard to keep myself positive, even though you have those days when you're like, "Oh," and it's like, "No, no, no, just stay positive and keep going forward." I want to grow this company and I want to see it be a big success from here, from rural Nova Scotia.
