Candlemakers produce and supply custom made or speciality candles. The business owner can either market their candles online, through craft markets or by party plan. Or they can sell their goods to other businesses, like speciality craft retailers or new age stores.
Some candle makers place their goods with retailers on a consignment basis, where they sell on their behalf for a small commission. The style of a candle can vary in terms of the type of wax used, shape, fragrance, color, or texture. In this business, you are only limited by your imagination!
| Market Opportunity | Candle Making |
|---|---|
| Business Type | Manufacturing |
| Target customers | Specialty craft retailers |
| Materials | Wax, fragrant oils, wicks, and dyes |
| Equipment | Mentioned below |
| Marketing | Yes |
Requirements
To begin your candle making business, you need imagination and a sense of colour and style. The equipment you need includes a large stockpot (for melting and mixing the wax) and moulds for each shape and size you want to make. The equipment’s cost will range between $100 – $500 depending on the number of moulds you want to use.
The first thing you will need to stock up on is your raw materials for making your candles. Your shopping list will include several different types of wax, fragrant oils, wicks, and dyes. If you want to experiment with different textures, you might also want to stock up on some bits and pieces like dried flower petals.
If you are selling online or using a party plan model, you will also need to consider packaging the candles not to be damaged during delivery.
If you want to look very professional, you could have gift small cards made to be attached to each candle with information about that particular candle (what it is made of etc.) and including safety information (do not leave a lighted candle unattended etc.).
| Requirements | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| Equipment | $100 – $500 |
| Website Web designer | $300 $1000 |
| Income | $10,000 to $50,000 |
If you intend to sell your candle online, you will have to organise a domain name, arrange to host and design the website. A website’s cost can range anywhere from $300 per year if you do it all yourself to many $1000’s if you hire a web designer to create it for you.
Excluding the equipment discussed above and the cost of setting up a website, your setup costs will range from $300 – $1,000.
The income for this type of business can range anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 depending on how many candles you can make and which marketing strategy you follow.
Using a craft market or party plan strategy will probably generate a smaller income than an online method. You make the sale personally (i.e. you have to be there!)
