Candle Making Business - For the Creatively Inclined

A candle making business or hobby can be a wonderful experience for the creatively inclined individual.

Unlike other hobbies, a great deal of planning and effort is required to creating and marketing your home-made candles. You'll be competing with many cheaper, mass-produced and even attractive ones in the market. But with hard-work and creativity, you can succeed.

If you are versatile then there can be nothing better than candle making as it offers unlimited opportunities to unleash your creativity. Candles can be processed in number of ways like dipping, molding, sculpting, etc. They may be also dyed, tinted or painted. You can also perfume them and embed decorative materials like colorful beads.

To start a candle making business, you need:

1. A separate work area, as it can be untidy and hazardous to work in your kitchen.
2. Sufficient area to store materials.
3. Comparatively cooler place to place finished candles for setting.
4. Few utensils for melting and mixing the wax ingredients.

Typically, it would cost around $100-$200 to get started at amateur level (wax, colors, stearic acid, temperature gauge, double broiler, heating, medium, molds and accessories like wicks, etc.)

Though making candles is relatively easier than other craft hobbies, it requires a great deal of patience and attention to ensure safety and good quality. Molten wax can catch fire easily and utmost care should be taken while handling it. As a result, double broilers are used.

The best way to start with this business is to start at home as a craft or hobby. Locate a supplier close to your home as you'll incur lot of expenditure on the freight charges. After having thoroughly analyzed the market and the feedback from your customers, you can consider expanding.

The most difficult part can be marketing your business as you will be competing against wholesalers as well as hobbyists. Here are some suggestions on how you can effectively market your candles:

1. Initially, target certain niche segments like candles for special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
2. Create something exclusive that is not available in the market like candles of favorite cartoon characters.
3. Visit your local retailers for ideas on what is in demand and the price consumers would pay for.
4. See if you can rent out space in supermarkets to display your works.
5. Conduct candle making classes and offer finished products and supplies at discounted rates.
6. Set up stalls at exhibitions and fleas markets to test demand for your candles and sell surplus stocks.

Like stated earlier, the best part of this hobby is that there is no limit to your imagination. You can come up with unlimited variations to come up with beautiful and expressive candles within few weeks of working with it.

Candle Making Resources

Classes

• Candle Making Classes & Workshops in Quakertown, PA
• Candle Making Classes in North Hollywood, CA
• Aromatherapy Candle Making in Richmond, CA
• Candle Making Classes, Shows, Workshops and Events in Ontario, Canada

Supplies

• Pacific Northwest Candle Making Supply
• Peak Candle Making Supplies
• The Candlewic Company

Links

• Candle Making Instructions @ General Wax and Candle Co.
  Basic guides, recipes and formulas for common candles.
• Candle Making Techniques
  Candle and soap making instructions, project ideas and information.
• Campbell-Light Online Candle Making Instructions
  Comprehensive information on various aspects of candle making like waxes, wicking, scents and colors, additives, moulds, etc.
• Candle Making Forum
  Candle and soap making message board.
  

Books

• Basic Candle Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started by Eric Ebeling
• Candlemaking for Fun & Profit by Michelle Espino
• The Candlemaker's Companion : A Complete Guide to Rolling, Pouring, Dipping, and Decorating Your Own Candles by Betty Oppenheimer
• Essentially Candles: The Elegant Art of Candle Making & Embellishing by Robert S. McDaniel

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