Profitable candles

[LesleyA]

Sorry not really AIBU but have googled candle businesses and read how some people made/make a killing by making/selling candles. There are SO many candles out there to buy. Did anyone try this...was it lucrative or a complete flop. Would love to hear !!!

I guess it's like any business - if you want it to work you need :

A good product
Good marketing
A good manufacturing chain that guarantees a reliable product
Good delivery
Good branding and packaging
Enough cash to invest and support the business until it turns a profit
Good luck
The right kind of imagination/business brain that allows you to scale the business and hold your nerve through a few risks

As you say, candles is a saturated market, so you'd need a usp and some good marketing/publicity to get it into magazine shoots /gift guides/lifestyle sites/social media (can you tell I work in PR?).

You could probably set up an etsy shop and flog a few dozen from time to time, but to make it a business, you'd need to think a bit bigger. But then, lots of small businesses fold, and that's not because anyone did anything "wrong" it's just in the nature of small businesses. If there was one guaranteed way to be successful, we'd know about it by now.

I read the title as profiterole candles (which I would buy)

My sister in law did. They were really lovely. But she makes more money in her day job, it was a weekend hobby that she doesn’t have time for now.

I think perhaps a few years ago it was more lucrative but the market is much more saturated now. My cousin makes them and has had a business doing them for about 10 years now, she has a decent loyal customer base and works with a few corporate clients (they give branded candles to staff and their clients etc) but it took her a while to build that - and finding new business is hard because there’s so much competition.

@pepsicolagirl

I read the title as profiterole candles (which I would buy)

So did I! Disappointed!

The candle market is very saturated at the moment, i think it would be quite hard to go into it now and make it profitable.

Have you made candles before ? Maybe start it as a hobby and see how it goes.

It's a business model with low barriers to entry so it's easy to be overrun with competitors, which will push margins down generally.

The only way people make money on this sort of thing is getting in early, or coming in with some sort of design or process aspect that is either patent able or hard/costly for a competitor to replicate.

Candles made from paraffin wax are known to be carcinogenic. Also, candles made from beeswax will be eschewed by most vegans.

As veganism will be paramount in many people's thoughts this January, I'd rethink how you make your candles.

They have to have an even(ish) burn. If I buy a candle and halfway down the wick there's half the candle still stuck up the sides I don't buy them again.

Sorry side note but an even burn happens when you light the candle long enough to fully melt the top layer every time you use it, if you blow a candle out before it's reached that even burn then it will tunnel down and leave wax up the sides.

@NekoShiro

Sorry side note but an even burn happens when you light the candle long enough to fully melt the top layer every time you use it, if you blow a candle out before it's reached that even burn then it will tunnel down and leave wax up the sides.

Our candles always burn for 2-3hours each evening. Only certain brands burn evenly in that time. Lots don't.