Even though it’s just a part-time job, you’re working hard selling real estate properties. Your listing includes houses for sale, condominiums for rent, and office spaces for lease in Daybreak, Utah. The kids are a bit older now. That’s why you’ve taken this part-time gig.
Your dream is to set up your own business at home. You’re well provided for, but you like to keep yourself busy and do not want to depend on your husband’s income. He’s very supportive. He offered to give you a starting capital, but you said that you want to try to make it first on your own. But his offer is a good backup plan.
You’ve been doing some research lately, and one thing that caught your eye is making candles. It seems that it’s something that you can do from home. You want to know more, so you’ve dedicated more time to find out what it takes to start a candle-making business from home.
A Brief Overview of the Candle Industry
Candles have transcended its purpose from a source of light to a decorative piece for your home, the office, or even for businesses like spas. Because of this, the industry is trending downwards, but it is still earning around $2 billion (July 2019). The number of businesses in America is fewer than 500. This might present an opportunity for you to enter the market and offer something unique.
Making Candles
Your business must compete well with other home decorative items and must attract the attention of buyers with disposable income. Your price point will be a critical component of your business plan. Here are more things to note when starting a candle-making business at home:
- Legal requirements. There are zoning laws that you need to consider before you start this business. Check with your county or state office to find out more information about zoning laws and the licenses required. The wax and other items used in making candles probably wouldn’t be that regulated. For tax purposes, however, you need to register a business entity, perhaps as a sole proprietor or an LLC.
- Your candle lines. In terms of the material used, you need to decide what kind of candle line you will be producing. Your options include paraffin-based wax, beeswax, or vegetable wax. Paraffin is sourced from petroleum. Beeswax is produced by bees giving it the natural honey smell, and vegetable wax typically comes from soy. You can narrow down further the definition of your product line in terms of the audience you want to serve. Will it be for home use or businesses like aromatherapy spas? Will you focus on specific scents?
- Know the technique. You need to learn how to make candles. You can watch online videos for tutorials but also explore learning in a formal setting, like in community colleges or technical schools. Knowing how to make your product will give you credibility.
- Distribution channels. You can start selling at home or taking advantage of scheduled bazaars. Candles do well when sold in person, according to some research. But creating an online presence helps you capture not only the local market but also international ones as well.
In your business plan, you will identify partners like vendor-suppliers. You will define your marketing and financial strategies. But these points will help you kickstart your business in the right direction.
