Have you ever thought of starting a candle making business? If yes here is a must-read article for you. We discuss all about why start a candle business from home and also a complete guide for homemade candle manufacturing.

Today, as it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a regular good paying job, its important to think of profitable business ideas. Let us understand how candle making could be an easy to start and profitable business idea for anyone.

In the candle business guide, we discuss about why take up candle making business, candle manufacturing process in brief and a step by step guide for launching your home-based candle making business.

Must See: Top 11 Best Self Employment Ideas in India with Low Investment

Why Start a Candle Making Business at Home?

Candle making is a wonderful business to start with for a first-time entrepreneur. There are numerous advantages in venturing into this business. Let us understand them first, before getting into the details of home-based candle making business.

Firstly, it’s an affordable, business model. There is no huge capital expenditure as this business can be started with just wax and wicks as raw materials.

Secondly, candle manufacturing is plain and simple. That said, you can also put in a little creativity into it and come up with specially designed candles. So, candle making business could be a place where your creativity and entrepreneurship spirit meet.

Lastly, candles are in demand throughout the year. Candles are used for religious purposes as well as for interior decoration in restaurants, parties etc.

Start small scale with a few product lines and in accordance to the customer preferences diversify your business into different types of candles.

Also See: How to Start a Profitable Pearl Farming Business?

Steps for Starting a Home-Based Candle Making Business

In the last paragraph we have seen the advantages of a home-based candle making business. Now let us understand how to make candles at home.

Before getting into making of candles, we should have a clear idea about our product and our target group – the people to whom which we are intending to sell the product.

Candles are of different types. There are:

• Normal candles
• Scented candles
• Decorative candles
• Colored candles
• Custom shaped candles etc.

You can have more than one product line as per your capacity. But it’s always better to start with a single product line.

During candle manufacturing, you would be dealing with flammable materials. So, it’s important to take necessary precautions. Ensure there is an efficient fire extinguishing system in place.

So how do we decide, on the type of candle to produce and sell. This has to be decided after understanding who are our expected customers.

For example, if you are selling to churches and for religious purposes regular candles are preferred, for decorative purposes colored or scented candles or candles of custom shapes are preferred.

Candle Manufacturing Process

Candle manufacturing is a pretty simple process. Firstly, let us understand what are the raw materials required for a candle manufacturing process. The main raw materials required are the wick and paraffin wax. Soy candle wax also can be used as an alternative.

Depending on the type of candle you are making, you will also need materials like fragrance oils, coloring agents, decorative items etc. For making scented candles you would require special aroma oils.

Secondly, after procuring the raw materials how do we make candles. Candle manufacturing is usually done with the help of specially designed candle making machines. There are number of machines available in the market for candle manufacturing.

Let us understand here, the three most commonly used types of candle making machines. They are:

(1) Manual Candle making machines

(2) Semi-Automatic Candle making machines and

(3) Fully automatic candle making machines

Research more about the various candle making equipment available in the market and choose something that would suit your budget and requirements.

Must See: 8 Money-Spinning Best Home Business Ideas for Pet Lovers

Selecting the right process is very critical in achieving success in candle making business. These three processes are different in their cost of installation, production capacity and quality of candles produced. Depending upon your budget and the expectations of your target group, you can decide on which type of candle making machine is to be used.

As I already stated, candle making is a simple process once you have installed the candle making machine.

• Keep the thread at the right place as indicated by the machine manual.
• Next step is to start pouring paraffin wax into the mold around the thread.
• Then wait for the wax to get coagulated.
• In some time, candles will be ready for packaging.
• If you were planning to making colored or scented candles, you will have to mix respective colors or fragrances along with the paraffin wax, before the wax getting coagulated.

Quality is very important factor to be kept in mind while manufacturing candles. If the candles are not the safe burning ones, it would lead to customer complaints which in turn will affect your candle brand badly.

Always keep in mind, long term success is possible only through satisfying and retaining customers.

Also See: Cashews Cultivation: How to Start Cashew Farming

How to Sell Your Candles

Manufacturing is completed, now its time to sell the candles you have made.

Like every business, candle making business also progresses through the following phases – Planning, Manufacturing, Marketing and Branding, Sales and Distribution, Customer Feedback.

We are done with the first two steps. Without sales, there is no profit. That makes the marketing and selling part, the most crucial stages of our candle making business.

Since candle making business is an easy business to venture into, you do have a lot of competitors in the market. With a well strategized marketing and branding, you can differentiate your product among the other competitors.

You May Like: 7 Steps to Starting a Home-Based Coaching Business

We discussed before about selecting the product line and target group. Our marketing and branding strategies should be in line with the product line and target group chosen.

Candles should have interesting brand name, some unique feature and an attractive packaging. Our customers should be able to identify our candles from the whole other bulk being sold in the market.

Once the marketing strategies are in place, the next big thing is sales and distribution.

How do we take our candles to our customers? Like any other product, candles too have mainly two distribution strategy – Selling through retailers/Wholesalers and Online selling. You can sell them in local stores, trade fairs or online.  With the right pricing strategy in place, you can reach out to a large number of customers through these different distribution channels.

And finally, we have customer feedback. Understanding whether our customers are liking our product is very essential in ensuring long time success of our candle making business. This can be done by distributing feedback forms in retail stores where customers can provide their feedbacks.

It’s much easier and convenient in the online channel. Gather all customer feedbacks, understand them and strategize accordingly. This way, we could always provide exactly what customer wants.

So far, we discussed elaborately about how to manufacture candles as well as how do we set up a home-based candle making business from scratch. Next section we talk a little about why we need to think beyond the traditional types of candles and the old modes of selling.

Every business has to be in adherence to the rules of the land. So even if you are venturing into a small-scale home-based candle making business, make sure you have completed all the associated legal requirements.

The Rising Demand for Candles

Presently, there are immense candle business opportunities. Unlike the traditional demand of candles for religious purposes, today candles are in demand in a large number of places. Understanding the new customer requirements is important to run a successful candle business.

There is a rising demand for scented and decorative candles. Such candles are majorly used for interiors decorations for parties and events. The candles used for such occasions fall under premium category candles. By making use of premium quality paraffin wax and attractive packaging, you can sell high quality premium candles to this customer segment.

You May Like: 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting an Online Business

Today it’s critical for every business to have a strong online presence. Same goes for your candle business. If you are planning to set it up on a small scale, the best option would be to go for online selling.

Register yourself as a seller with any prominent eCommerce website and start selling. To do even better, start websites or pages in social networking websites for your brand. This would increase visibility of your brand to a large extent.

Summing it Up

So far, we have covered most aspects regarding a candle making business plan. You would not know how it works for you unless you start. So, take tips from this article and start your home-based candle making business at the earliest.

Start making your own candles. All the best!!!