Are you launching a home-based candle company to sell scented or essential oil candles in order to put at least a little additional money in your pocket? Although you may launch a candle company from home, is it the best move for you? Continue reading to find out the benefits and drawbacks of establishing a candle company from home.
Step 1 – What Kind Of Candles
You must first choose the type of candles you wish to produce. Candles come in a wide range of varieties, including soy, beeswax, gel, and container candles. Each kind of candle has advantages and disadvantages of its own. Which candle is ideal for your company will depend on your needs.
Step 2 – Choosing Target Audience
Christoff Visscher invented Cantrip Candles to enhance his own tabletop gaming experiences. Since he had been organizing gaming evenings for some time, he wanted to enhance the atmosphere and increase the immersion for himself and his friends.
When he was unable to locate what he was seeking for, he started making his own candles with an adventure theme. He had finally produced the item that he and many others had been searching for. He currently owns and runs a business in Los Angeles where these magical candles are sold.
Step 3 – Choose A Location To Begin
Your candle company needs a nice location, so pick carefully. You’ll need a quiet area where you can concentrate on your task without interruptions. Additionally, you’ll want a location to keep your tools and supplies.
What location do you plan to sell your candles at? What about purchasing at your local farmers market, online, or at a store? Although you may always build your own shop, it might be best to start off small by offering your candles to nearby boutique owners. Think through all of your possibilities, and don’t be reluctant to launch small in order to cultivate brand loyalty and collect client feedback.
You may always sell your candles on an online marketplace like Amazon or Etsy if you want to sell them online but aren’t ready to build your own ecommerce website. There are several advantageous ecommerce platforms to select from, so take your time figuring out one is perfect for your business.
Step 4 – Set Up Shipping And Payment Options
After deciding on the kind of goods you want to sell, you must choose how you will send it. Do you want to personally deliver them? Or would you want to use a third party to handle the shipping process? What payment procedures will you use? Do you intend to take credit cards directly from clients, or will PayPal be required instead?
Step 5 – Crafting A Business Plan
Make a business strategy, you must. You may use this to establish your objectives and business plans for candles. Additionally, it will assist you in figuring out how much capital you require to launch your company and how much revenue you may anticipate.
A solid business plan will have parts that can keep your enterprise on course and prove your value to potential backers or lenders. Although you ought to do this before beginning a firm, it’s never too late to do so.
A business plan will make the process of expanding your company more simpler and will assist you in communicating to others the key aspects of your candle-making enterprise. Consider using a business plan template or business plan software to help you through the process if you are scared to write a business plan from scratch.
Step 6 – Build Your Online Store
Where should you go to sell your completed candles? A excellent way to start is with your own online store.
Making an internet business seems like a big undertaking as compared to offering your candles on online marketplaces like Amazon. These markets, however, reduce your profitability and prevent you from freely expressing your brand. Long-term profits from your online store are increased, and it also acts as the digital headquarters for your company.
Consider building an e-commerce website if you’re trying to sell goods online. There are a number of reasons you might wish to. To start, you may control your inventory and sales using an e-commerce platform. The second option is to use an affiliate program to get money from any sales that are made on your website. Third, you may create your own unique e-commerce site using an online shop builder.
Shopify is the easiest platform to utilize for setting up an online business. You don’t need to know how to code or have a lot of money to start an online store.
For a little monthly charge of $29, you receive a lovely shop, SSL certificates, fast web servers, cart abandonment recovery, and other user-friendly marketing and sales features. The Shopify App Business, which has over 4,000 plugins for enhancing your store and boosting online sales, is also available to you.
Etsy is another option for selling your candles. This is an online marketplace where the most delicately crafted handicrafts are listed and offered for sale to art-loving customers.
Step 7 – Get Small Business Funding
It’s a cliché, but beginning a candle business is no exception to the rule that you need money to earn money. To pay for supplies, marketing, manufacturing, insurance, legal advice, and other costs, you could need business financing. Start by thinking about the financing possibilities provided below.
Credit lines for businesses: A business line of credit gives you access to a predetermined amount of money that you can only withdraw when you need it, making it a more flexible kind of credit than a standard company loan.
Business credit cards: Because they require less credit history than loans, business credit cards may be a better choice for startup business owners. Generally, if you pay off your debt before the introductory period ends and a variable APR takes effect, you may obtain a credit card with a 0% initial APR, which is the same as having an interest-free loan.
Equipment financing: If you need to buy pricey equipment for your business, this can be your best option. Typically, a lender will provide a loan just for the purpose of buying equipment for this kind of financing. Then, the piece of equipment is utilized as loan collateral.
Startup finance sources, such SBA microloans or company grants, should be investigated by a new business owner. Another well-liked way to get fast startup capital is through crowdfunding.
Once you’ve received funding, begun to incur costs, or begun to generate money, you should take efforts to keep your personal and business funds separate. Then, research accounting software to aid in managing the finances of your business.
Step 8 – Getting Candle Supplies
You must obtain the necessary tools and supplies for your candle company. Things like wax, wicks, molds, colors, and perfumes are included in this. Additionally, you’ll want a sizable number of containers, including jars, tins, and votives.
From first, you might be able to purchase wax and fragrances for your candles at your neighborhood craft supply shop. However, when your business expands, buying materials in bulk from a wholesaler will help you save a ton of money. In order to evaluate for quality and identify the finest provider for you, you should start looking for inexpensive supplies straight away.
Determine how much inventory you’ll need and how you’ll handle it before making any significant purchases. This will not only make it simpler for you to locate suppliers, but it will also enable you to begin developing a dependable inventory system. Consider utilizing an inventory management tool to monitor the arrivals and departures of your candlemaking supplies.
Step 9 – Add Images And Clips
If you’ve never sold anything online, you might not know where to start. You have many of alternatives at your disposal, so you should be careful to pick one that suits you best. Utilizing an e-commerce platform like Shopify or Bigcommerce is one alternative.
These systems let you build up a storefront, control inventory, and offer customer service. Utilizing Amazon FBA is an additional choice (Fulfillment by Amazon). As a result, you may sell goods on Amazon without having to manage a different website.
Step 10 – Marketing Your Candles Online
Finally, you must advertise your candle-making enterprise. You may achieve this by making a website, handing out brochures, or setting up shop at craft fairs. Or perhaps you found that to be too conventional?
Once you’ve chosen a name and started building your brand, you may start marketing your company. Though ideal, word of mouth cannot be trusted. This is when having a solid marketing plan is useful. Consider your candle’s selling features before anything else.
Do they live longer than others do? Is the odor better? Do they include elements that are less harmful to the environment? Identify your key selling proposition and how to most effectively convey it to prospective clients.
A free, entertaining, and easy place to start is social networking. Choose the channels that will work best for your business and begin to establish a presence there. Email marketing is another inexpensive choice to take into account.
The nicest thing about using email and social media for marketing is that your target audience voluntarily agrees to receive your adverts. Use the captive audience you have to your advantage.
Final Comments
You’ve made it this far, so you clearly understand how to launch your own home-based candle company. Using the resources and information mentioned above, you can proceed to start your own side business making and selling handmade candles.
