How to Start a Candle Business

Who a candle business suits and what the work involves

Candle making suits people who enjoy patient, repeatable craft and who are happy to sell. You can start at a kitchen table with modest equipment, which is why many people begin on the side while keeping a job.

The making is only part of the week. A typical one includes measuring and melting wax, blending fragrance, pouring, waiting for candles to set and cure, trimming wicks, labeling and packing. Then come the less visible jobs: test burns, photographs, listings, market days, shipping heavy and breakable parcels, and reordering supplies before you run out.

Two things surprise new makers. First, testing takes time. Each change of wax, wick, jar or fragrance amount can change how the candle burns, so each combination has to be tested again. Second, candles are everywhere, from supermarkets to luxury shops. You need a reason for someone to choose yours, which is your unique selling proposition.

How to start a candle business in 10 steps

1. Find out who buys candles and why. Talk to 10 people who bought one recently. Was it a gift or for themselves? Where did they buy it, what did they pay and what made them pick it? Visit local gift shops and markets and note the price range and what is missing.
2. Make and test a small batch. Choose one wax, one jar and two or three scents. Follow your suppliers' guidance on wick size and fragrance amounts. Burn each candle fully and record how evenly it melts, whether it smokes, how hot the jar gets and how strong the scent is.
3. Sell that batch before you scale. Book a table at one market or take pre-orders from people outside your family. Watch which scents people pick up, which they buy and what they ask. Twenty sales to strangers tell you more than a hundred compliments. See how to validate a startup idea.
4. Choose a niche and a tight range. Examples: scents tied to a region, refillable jars, candles for a specific gift occasion, or custom labels for weddings and corporate gifts. Launch with a handful of scents and one or two sizes.
5. Cost every candle and set prices. Use the worksheet below. Decide your retail price and a wholesale price that still leaves a margin, because shops will expect to buy well below retail so they can add their own markup.
6. Plan your costs. Price the categories listed below and buy in quantities that match proven demand.
7. Check safety, labeling, insurance and registration. See the checklist below. Do this before you sell beyond your test batch.
8. Set up your sales channels. Start with one or two: markets, an online marketplace, your own store or local shops. Markets give fast feedback. Online needs good photos and safe packaging.
9. Get first customers and bring them back. Collect emails at your stall, put a reorder card in every box, offer refills or a new seasonal scent, and approach three local shops with samples and a simple price sheet. More ideas are in how to find your first 10 customers.
10. Formalize when it repeats. When you sell out batches and get reorders, register the business, open a separate bank account, keep batch records and write a short plan.

What costs should a candle business plan for?

Supplier prices vary by country and order size, so get current quotes. Plan for these categories:

• Materials: wax, wicks, fragrance oils, dyes, jars or tins, and lids.
• Equipment: melting pot, thermometer, scale, pouring jugs and a heat source.
• Testing: the candles you burn instead of sell. This is a real cost for every new combination.
• Labels and packaging: product labels, warning labels, boxes and protective shipping material.
• Selling costs: market stall fees, marketplace and payment fees, website and photography.
• Shipping: candles are heavy and fragile, so postage and breakage add up.
• Insurance: product liability cover.
• Registration, compliance and accounting: business setup, any required labeling or safety documentation, and tax filing.
• Space and storage: somewhere cool and clean for curing and stock, once the kitchen is too small.

Add them up with the startup cost calculator.

How do you price a handmade candle?

Cost one candle line by line. The figures are an example, not supplier prices.

The markup calculator turns cost into price, and the break-even calculator shows how many candles you must sell to cover a market fee or a month of fixed costs. Say a stall costs $60 and you sell at the example retail price of $28. After the $7 cost you keep $21 per candle, so you need to sell three to cover the stall.

What safety, labeling and legal things should you check?

Requirements differ by country and state, and they are stricter in some places than others. Confirm each point with the body named:

• Warning and product labels. Find out from your national consumer product safety regulator what a candle label must show, such as fire safety warnings, weight and maker details.
• Fragrance and chemical labeling. In some regions, scented products need hazard information based on the fragrance used. Ask your fragrance supplier for the safety data sheet and the maximum recommended amount for candles, and ask the regulator or a compliance adviser what must appear on your label.
• Containers. Confirm with the jar supplier that the container is suitable for candles and heat.
• Insurance. Ask a broker about product liability cover. Markets and shops often ask for proof before they accept you.
• Making at home. Check with your local council or city office, and your landlord and home insurer, whether you may run a small manufacturing business from home.
• Business registration and sales tax. Ask an accountant how to register, whether to begin as a sole proprietorship and what tax to collect on sales.
• Claims. Avoid health or therapy claims about scents unless you have checked what your advertising regulator allows.
• Names and scents. Do not name candles after trademarked perfumes or brands. Search your trademark office's database before you print labels.

Common mistakes new candle makers make

• Selling untested candles. A wick that is too large can overheat a jar. Test every wax, wick, jar and scent combination.
• Changing suppliers without retesting. A new wax or jar is a new product.
• Launching with too many scents. Each one ties up cash in fragrance and labels. Start small and keep the sellers.
• Forgetting the jar in the price. Containers and packaging can cost more than the wax and fragrance, so cost them line by line.
• Leaving out your own time. If the price only covers materials, you have a hobby that pays for itself, not a business.
• Under-packing parcels. One broken jar wipes out the profit from several sales.
• Buying bulk before demand is proven. Fragrance oils and trends both go stale.
• No batch records. Write down what went into each batch so you can repeat a success or trace a problem.

What to do this week

1. Ask 10 recent candle buyers where they bought, what they paid and why.
2. Buy materials for one small batch in two or three scents.
3. Pour, cure and burn-test, and write down what you see.
4. Cost one candle using the table above.
5. Book one market table or open pre-orders for the batch.
6. Sketch the business on a lean canvas so the customer, the price and the channels are on one page.

When your test batch has sold, Fonda can help you turn the results into a business plan with sources. Example plans are at /tools/business-plan.