Tips for Starting a Candle Business
You love the pleasant smell and relaxing glow of a candle. In fact, you love candles so much, you’ve began making them yourself as a hobby. Birthdays, anniversaries, at Christmas time, you dole out your candle creations. You’ve become proficient at making candles and can make a variety of colored, sized, shaped and scented candles. What if you turned your passion of making candles into a dream business? If you have the passion and the patience and some basic business know-how, the process is easy. You just have to know where to start and what subsequent steps to take next.
So, what exactly are the steps to launch a successful candle making business?
Step 1: Begin Small
Chances are, you’re not going to have the supplies needed for large-scale production and large quantities. That’s okay. It will take time for people to notice your company and begin buying your candles. The small batches of your candle inventory should be ones that are your favorite that you make often and well. You’ll want to wow your first few customers so they’ll keep coming back. Every big, successful company started off small, offering limited inventory to a small, niche audience. For your business, this small audience will likely be your friends, family and co-workers. This small pool of people will happily tell others they know about your candles and your customer base will exponentially grow.
Step 2: Determine Your Business’ Growth
If you provide quality candle products people enjoy, your business will grow. How much it grows depends on how far you want your business to go. How big do you want the company to get? Do want to have it as a side business or do you eventually want to have your own storefront? The size of the business will dictate how much advertising, marketing, and research/development that will need to be done. Expenses for products, supplies, equipment, shipping, marketing, taxes, and rent (if looking to have a storefront) will be based on what your goal of the business is. In terms of advertising and marketing, online is the way to go. Advertising on image-heavy social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook are inexpensive ways to promote your brand and products to as specific or as large of an audience as you like.
Setting up an online shop and e-commerce site is also a must if you want your business to grow. The two most popular e-commerce sites are EBay and Etsy. EBay gives you a larger audience and it’s on a more reputable site. Etsy will give you a smaller, more niche audience. There is a post we’ve written outlining the pros and cons of eBay and Etsy to help you find out which is right for your candle-making business. As your candle making endeavor grows, you’ll have to learn divide up your time and attention between producing products and running a business. Continued growth will require branding, marketing, and advertising. There is also the accounting and money management aspect of running a business to manage.
You’ll have to do research on the competition to get an idea of pricing and what advertising works, how to set up an online shop, what the refund policy will be, how products will be shipped and packaged. You’ll need to set up a website so you can be found online. Most importantly, you’ll have to establish your business brand. Branding is what will be broadcasted in your advertising and marketing and will be how people identify with your candle products.
Step 3: Perfect and Experiment
As your candle-making business grows, you should continuously look for ways to improve and perfect your candles. If you’re able to provide the highest quality products at the most competitive prices, you’ll easily soar above the competition. As your company continues to grow, you can experiment and expand your product offering to attract new customers and provide more variety to existing customers.
Step 4: Enhance the Customer Experience
Your customers are what makes your business successful. Without people buying your candles, your business will never take-off. Always go above and beyond for each customer. Make him or her you’re your full attention. Let them know that their business is greatly appreciated. Your customers should be pleased with the quality of your products and know that they are getting a unique product and experience. Good customer service won’t only drive people to become repeat customers, but it can help boost your referrals and reputation.
Step 5: Create Value
The higher the quality, and the more unique and valuable your candles are, the better. There are many candle-making companies out there. It’s important you set yourself apart by offering a superior and unique product and customer service. You should give people a clear reason why they should buy your candles over buying candles somewhere else.
At Bulk Apothecary, you’ll find a wide range of at-home candle-making kits and supplies to fuel your passion and get your dream business off to a great start.
Contact us today for more information about our candle-making supplies.
Tips for Starting a Candle Business
