Candle Business ideas / tips / advice please?

[Tristan Finch]

Good evening,

I am 23 years old and looking to start my own candle business near the beach. I am looking for ideas and advice on my start up to make it as successful as possible.

What should i concentrate on? Scents, colour, design.

Should i look at franchises? Any advice on suppliers?

marketing?

Any help or design/ ideas that you can provide will be highly appreciated.

regards,

Tristan.

 

[fisicx]

Have you made candles before?
Where do you plan to sell the candles (forget online - far too much competition)
How are you going to market the products?
Where are you gong to make them - you will need a garage or shed to do this
Have you got packaging sorted?

The actual business of making candles is almost incidental to all the other things you need to consider.

 

[joe-jen12]

The only thing I would say is spend as much as you can on marketing.

But that is my opinion, I'm sure others will tell you different

 

[MikeJ]

"near the beach"? Is there a niche that I'm missing there? Why would you buy a candle near a beach?

 

[Tristan Finch]

Thank for your replies,

Although I do my have any previous experience in making candles, I am very artistic and I am going to teach myself.

Initially I was going to buy candles from wholesalers and sell them. But I wondered whether to concentrate on a particular niche I.e colour, scents ect.

I will market them via a website, social media, business cards, competitions, mailing lists....

The location isn't just one random shop, there are other business and around 10,000 tourists visit that particular beach area each day, even more on hot sunny days. I I tend for this to initially be a summer business, however, I will look into the winter months if it all goes well. People buy candles for all occasions and the beach is a perfect gift. Also the area is renowned for local produce.. So perhaps I could incorporate that somehow.

 

[fisicx]

I will market them via a website, social media, business cards, competitions, mailing lists....

The location isn't just one random shop, there are other business and around 10,000 tourists visit that particular beach area each day, even more on hot sunny days.

Soooo..

You are going to sell them via a website to people visiting the beach.

As I said, forget online sales - it's just not going to happen. Selling on the beach (which beach and where?) is only going to work if people want to buy candles on the beach. Have you done any market reaseach on this?

 

[makeusvisible]

Before you start thinking about how to make them, what types, colours etc etc, you need to establish if there is demand. Is there a gap in the market, or perhaps a niche gap in the market?

Dont start making candles and go the the expense of setting up a website, or shop only to find that you don't have a unique selling point and target market.

Imagine you had a shop now, up and running and full of candles......how are you going to get people in there and spending money? Imagine the same with a website...how are you going to get people to your website?

If you can establish that there is a gap in the market, you need to then determine how much people are willing to spend on what the expect for their money. You need to look at your competition, and come up with a pricing point and a USP. You should then be able to look at your own costs, and profit margins (or indeed if there is a viable margin).

Im not being down on the idea by the way.....the above stands true for pretty much any business idea.

Best of luck!

 

[Tristan Finch]

Thank you both for your replies,

I have done a lot of research and there is no competition, there is a local cheese shop, jewellery and tshirt business to name a few but no candle shops in the area. It is Hastings beach and renowned for small start up businesses.

The 35 shops are in a specific shopping area and it always seems to be over populated with visitors/tourists. (They are similar to the christmas market stalls/wooden huts) I definitely think that there is a gap in the market. There isn't a candle shop within 8 miles. In the summer there can be up to 70,000 visitors a day.

I think the attraction would be the range and quality of products. I can then move on to quality/unique hand made candles. Attending trade shows would also be a good way to publish myself.

Perhaps i need to think of something that hasn't been done before, maybe making candles out of shells, or the next generation of candles, or could i survive being renowned for having such a good quality and a vast selection of all types of candles?

I appreciate both of your assistance.

 

[fisicx]

Have considered that there isn't the market for candles in Hastings? It's possible that it has been tried before and failed. You may be far better off making the candles and selling them in an existing store. You can test the market without the expense of a whole store.

PS: just googled and found a number of stores selling candles in Hastings...

 

[JamieM]

There is a growing market for candles with jewellery hidden inside. Starting a website might be challenging as there is already some established businesses who have a strong following. Perhaps there is room to adapt it in some way or to make the candles for wholesale supply to retailers.

 

[marklew]

Further to above comments. Personally I would associate candles more with the winter/xmas market than a casual purchase I would pick up on a trip to the beach on a nice sunny day.

Focusing on summer instead of winter as your seasonal model maybe wrong.

But as others have pointed out, until you have done the market research on who the customer is, do they want them, what do they want (styles, colours, fragrances), when they want them etc then you have no business plan and cannot form any strategies from sourcing suppliers, production to point of sale and marketing.

 

[Tristan Finch]

There is a growing market for candles with jewellery hidden inside ??

Prehaps i should have been more specific, it isnt the actual beach, its a tourist/ harbour area where there are cafes and shops ect.. People are not there to relax, it is more a place for a casual walk/chill out and many of the other businesses there appear to be doing well.

I think what i have learnt from all of your points is that i need to conduct lots of research. Thanks

 

[AsifDilshad]

Don’t worry about the marketing, just consider on quality and creativity first As you said your shop is on a good place (I am assuming you know where your target audience hangout) if the product is good you can easily got word of mouth. If you are planning to go online to sell your stuff, Facebook advertisement should be your first place to start. You can also try folksy dot com, etsy for uk or similar sites. Forlksy work well not sure about the etsy uk it work well for USA though.

If anything still confusing just let me know I will be glad to help.

 

[Christine Hough]

More candles are bought now than before we had electric lighting according to Daniel Pink in his book 'A Whole New Mind'
But
They are bought for different reasons.

Off the top of my head, candles are bought for

• celebrations (Christmas, birthdays, wedding table decorations etc)
• relaxation/ ambience (smells and design)
• romance ( in a table decoration?)
• spiritual feelings

I would guess most are bought by women, though I have not researched this.
Start with getting to know each customer group. You may end up selling through different websites aimed at different markets.
Without knowing your beach site, I do not know if you are selling arty things to people willing to pay, or people having a cheap day out on the beach not in the shops.

 

[Tristan Finch]

Thank you both,

Very valid points and the websites look great. I think word of mouth would be the best marketing technique but i will use what ever is availible to me.

 

[Christine Hough]

How about candles in shells; lighthouse ornaments, in sea urchin shells.
I am not sure you would want the scents of the beach tho!

 

[Tristan Finch]

Exactly some of the ideas i have! except the sea smell! haha