Small business advice

[EsmeraldaCandleCo]

Hi everyone, I'm just looking for some advice. I am a mother of 5 young children and late last year I decided to open an online store and start selling my candles. I’ve been making my own candles for a while so selling them seemed like the right next step. Im just a bit stuck on next steps to getting my candles out there to everyone. I have all the social media pages to try and bring awareness, so if anyone has any other ideas I’d really appreciate it?! Thank you!

Online is great and all, but shelf space is a huge help.

Have you a local enterprise centre or business advisory group in the local chamber of commerce? Local trade fairs for buyers?

Reach out to local shops and ask what their procurement process is; what would you need to do to to get stocked. Local authenticity, handmade, really valuable.

Youd get a lower margin and you’d have to look at whether you could scale up production quantities. Buyers want certainty if they’re going to give shelf space that they’ll sell, so maybe do a scout of lifestyle/gift stores/boutiques to see what they’re stocking, and just ask who’s the best person to speak to.

I know a company who really liked a very small jam producer, who they met at a local trade fair. The ‘jam lady’ has now scaled up to a local enterprise industrial kitchen where she produces jam on a licence basis for the company, while also selling under her own label.

Not sure if this fits in with your home set-up right now, but it’s worth exploring these options to see (if not immediately) where you’d get into the marketplace on a bigger scale.

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it. I have thought about looking to try and get into local shops, but I find that quite a few have already got local candle brands in. Also, honestly I feel quite anxious to approach shops. I’ve been a stay at home mum for a long time but I know I need to suck it up and do it! I will do a wider search and definitely look into your suggestions, thank you so much!

It’s a really saturated market, I have just stopped making after 10 years, you have to sell yourself and find something unique about your candles which is different to evokes out there, good luck

Why would someone buy your candles?
Not being snarky, I used to be a Business Advisor and its something I asked everyone I worked with

I have a shop that stocks artisan, British made products. I run a waiting list, most do, so it is worth looking into rent-a-shelf options and getting onto waiting lists. Most will stipulate you need CLP certification and your own product liability insurance.

The purpose of a business is to create a customer.

Who are you trying to sell to? And why would they buy your candles?

Why are you no longer a business admin?

I have never been a Business Admin
If you mean Business Advisor I decided to do something I absolutely loved instead but I still give some pro bono advice, especially to women who are trying to start businesses.

What's a 'business admin' when it's at home anyway?

Dunno, never been one

Make sure you have product liability and public liability insurance. Have you thought about stands at craft markets etc.

You will need to find a way through any anxiety - you only sell by being out there!

When trying to sell to businesses no one will actually be rude to you - real life is not the apprentice!

(I run an art gallery and gift shop, btw)

However, most smaller shops will not want to stock that many conflicting lines, as they will want their existing suppliers to continue to work with them