Business Ideas

It is very possible for you to start a business making candles if you are a creative person. Many people do this as a hobby, but with a little more work and a slight increase in the investment you are willing to put into it, you can make candle making a very good business.

One must plan carefully when deciding to make the jump from hobby to business in the world of candle making. This is because your products will have to compete with cheaper, mass produced, less stylish candles for a share of the market. Yours will likely cost you more to make than some retail for. However, you can make candle making a lucrative business if you work at it and create your own unique candles that nobody else has and market them as your own original style.

 

There are many different ways to make candles. They can be dipped, rolled, molded, fused, layered, or sculpted. You could even combine techniques in the making of your own original candles. In addition, you can color your candles, add essential oils to scent them, or even add foreign elements such as flowers or sea shells to beautify your candles. All in all, you be as creative as you wish when making candles. One example of the creativity of a true candle maker is pouring hot yellow-orange wax over small ice cubes. As the wax hardens and the ice melts, cavities are created that give the appearance of Swiss cheese.

 

There are a few basic requirements that must be met before you will be ready to start producing your candles.

1. You will need a special place to work. Candle making and working with hot wax is much too dangerous and messy to be done in your kitchen.

2. You will need a storage space where you can keep your supplies, molds, and other materials needed for the candle making process.

3. You will need to have a cool place to keep your finished candles. Higher temperatures could cause them to sag.

4. You will need a special set of pans and utensils specifically for use when you melt and blend your waxes and whatever additives you use in your candles and molds in whatever shape you want your candles to be in when finished.

5. You will need to have a good double boiler and and a source of heat that provides a constant temperature for melting wax safely. Wax heated too quickly or that comes into direct contact with the heat source can become extremely flammable.

 

To get started making candles as a hobby can cost in the neighborhood of $200 for supplies from a wholesale provider. You will need your equipment and molds, wax, stearic acid, any essential oils you want to add for scents, and dyes for coloring your candles.

 

The process is not complicated. It does, however, require a great deal of attention to details and care while working to ensure your safety. A wick is inserted into the bottom of the mold and pulled to the top, where it is tied onto a stick or similar device that reaches across the top of the mold. The inside of the mold is sprayed with silicon to keep the wax from sticking to the mold. The hot wax and whatever additives you have blended in are then poured into the mold until it is level full. As the wax cools, it tends to contract. This is why more wax is kept at pouring temperature to add to the mold as it cools until the finished candle is completed. Many candle makers dip the molds into cold water to speed the cooling process and allow them to add the additional needed wax in as short a time as possible.

 

Once the candle has cooled, it can be removed from the mold and have the wick trimmed. Any final details can be added to the candle at this time and you will have a finished work of art that also serves a useful purpose.

 

Molds are often made of plaster of Paris, metal, or a type of flexible plastic. However, you can make molds in whatever shape or size you desire without too much difficulty. People have used everything from damp sand to paper funnels or cones.

 

If you have an item that you think would make a good shape for a candle, you can make your own rubber mold by coating the item in silicon, to act as a release agent, and painting on thin layers of latex or similar compound. As each successive layer dries, you can add another until the mold reaches the thickness you desire. Then, you carefully peel the mold off the item it is formed around. This type of mold may need to be supported on the outside to hold its shape while forming candles. Otherwise, the procedure is identical to that used with the metal or other stiff molds.

 

There are no limits on what you can do to make your candles unique and beautiful. Some like to dip partially formed candles into different wax blends with different colors added as the candle dries and contracts, it is dipped into another color until the mold does not hold any more wax. Then, after removing the candle from the mold, it can be carved in different manners to reveal the various colors composing it.

 

Another trick involves digging out a mold in damp sand and pouring the hot wax into the hollow created. This will yield a candle with a rough, sandy surface.

 

One technique that was discovered quite by accident involved making a rubber mold from a wooden statue that the candle maker had purchased in the Philippines. Aborigines had made the statue and used shoe polish to give it a “stained” appearance. Heat generated by the mold making process caused the shoe polish to separate from the wood and give the statue a rough, pitted appearance, almost a frosted look. This texture was transferred to the mold and then to the candles made inside it.

 

This candle maker made several black candles using this mold and applied bronze “rub and buff” to them. The finished candles appeared to be made from solid bronze and sold out quickly.

 

It is a good idea, if considering candle making, to start out as a hobbyist and see how well you like the art of making candles before deciding to go into business. You can get started with about 50 pounds of wax and the other supplies mentioned above. Experiment to see what sort of unique touch you can bring into the candles you make. Once you have an idea, take some pictures and make some samples.

 

The next step is to meet with different businesses that could make good outlets for your candles and try to sell them on the idea. You can also sell on Ebay or other online auction sites, or set up your own e-commerce website to sell from. In any event, you will be facing a great deal of competition from commercial candle makers around the world. The following are a few steps that may help you to overcome this competition:

1. Focus on just 1 or 2 designs that you can produce in large quantities and sell to local craft shops at a wholesale price.

2. Create your own original design candles. These could be something like a school emblem or mascot, a statue of a local hero, or anything else you can think of. Then market your design at the wholesale or retail level.

3. Visit stores in your area and get their input on what sells in the candle line and what sort of prices customers seem willing to pay. Plan your pricing and production based on this information.

4. Rent a space (a window in a vacant store would work) where you can display your candles. Include a sign with your name and phone number as part of the display.

5. Arrange to teach candle making classes. You can sell both finished candles and candle making supplies to your students.

6. Rent a space in a local flea market or swap meet where you can display and sell your candles. This is also a good venue for “test” marketing new designs.

7. Contact a professional photographer and arrange to have photos made of your finished candles for creating your own catalog that can be shown to potential customers.

 

One of the best parts of the candle making business is that it almost forces you to expand your creative limits. You may choose to mass produce simple taper candles, or make intricately molded or sculpted candles in small quantities but with high quality. If the quality is there, one candle can be profitable.

 

Of course, you are not limited to working only in hot wax as a candle maker. You may choose to add items that would be complimented by your candles such as wreaths, driftwood carvings, or other items that could be decorated with your designer candles. The possibilities are endless.