Candles are everywhere. And we're not talking about candles in birthdays, churches or anything of that sort. You'll see scented candles in bathrooms and living rooms, in offices and in homes. Candles are easy gift ideas, especially this Christmas season, when candles sometimes feel like rhumcake or fruitcake -- nobody wants them, but everybody gets one. That's a bit unfair to candles, I suppose, because it's better to receive a candle, rather than a fruitcake, as a
Christmas gift.
Anyway, candle-making as a business chooses no season. The market for candles, scented or unscented, is present all year round. You'll see candle stalls in malls and you wonder how a seemingly simple business could support the rent, salaries and other business costs. Let's throw around ideas on how to start a candlemaking business.
Research. Learning how any business works is crucial to success. In candle-making, you need to know the materials, the processes, the proportions and temperatures, and the tricks of creating candles. There are books entirely on candlemaking. There are many internet sites on how to make candles (see
here,
here,
here,
here and
here). Check the
TRC schedule if it has trainings on candle-making.
Buy your equipment and materials. After familiarizing with the process, buy the needed equipment and materials: wax, wick, coloring, scents, molds or moulds (where you pour the wax mixture), burner, thermometer and mixing vessel. There are a number of specialty stores in Divisoria where you could buy these materials.
Experiment. It's important to see how wax behaves when processed and the effects of various mixtures of scents and colors. The goal is to achieve a product that would be a hit to customers.
Marketing. The great thing about candles is that you could easily ask your family and friends to buy one. It's not expensive and it would look great at home. Easy to sell. Expand from there. You could even try multiply to expand your reach.
Pricing and profits. This is the fun part. The markup could be 40% of the costs. That's AT LEAST 40%, which means that if the initial expense is P5,000, the return is P2,000. Roll that over and you get a nice business going.
Candle-making could very well start as a hobby. The important thing is to enjoy making candles.
