Start a Home Based Candle Business

Start a home based candle business and become part of a successful and profitable industry. Get creative and make your own candles to sell. Making and selling homemade candles can be a fun and rewarding way of making money from home.
Use these guidelines to find out of if this is the right home business idea for you.

What start up equipment is needed?

There are a wide variety of candles you can make at home. You will need to do some research and decide which type of candles you want to make and sell. Experiment and see what type of candle you prefer to make. The type of candles you make will determine the tools you need. Some common candle making requirements are wax, wicks, stearin (an acid that improves the quality of the candle), candle molds, candle jars or containers, a thermometer, dye and fragrance additives, wick screws, mold seal, wick holders or rods, measuring equipment and a double boiler. These are all available from a large variety of suppliers and can be purchased either at a local supplier or online.

What start up costs are involved for a home based candle business?

Your initial candle making supplies - wax, wicks, dyes and fragrances, candle molds, thermometer and double boiler can be bought for a couple of hundred dollars if you start off small. Find out if your state and city require you to have a small business license to make and sell candles from home. Contact your city hall and ask to speak with a small business compliance officer or the person designated to handle queries from local businesses.

What skills and abilities are needed?

Learning how to make candles is really a matter of just doing it and practising to see what works best for you. You can attend candle-making classes at craft workshops but the best experience is to simply make candles and keep trying different methods and designs. This is a home business where practice really does make perfect! It does help to have the following skills:

• Creativity. To make your own candles you need a certain amount of creativity and to be able to come up with good, original ideas. If you are creative a home based candle business offers unlimited opportunities to use your imagination and artistic skills.


• Patience. Candle making requires patience and attention to detail to ensure safety and a good quality end product.
• Selling skills. If you are marketing and selling your candles you need to have some selling skills. You have to feel confident about your product and convince potential buyers that your candles are the best. You should be a good communciator with strong persuasive skills. Find out How to Sell Your Homemade Candles
• Organisational skills. Effective time management and scheduling are needed to plan your work so that you meet order deadlines.

Advantages of a home based candle business

• Easy to make and fun. Candle making at home is a relatively simple operation. Melting the wax, adding colors and fragrances, creating imaginative molds and designs is a fun way to earn income at home.


• Low start up costs. To start off on a small scale a home based candle business will only require a few hundred dollars to buy candle making supplies and equipment. It is advisable to locate a supplier close to home to save on shipping costs.
• High product demand. According to the National Candle Association retail sales of candles in the U.S. is worth about $2 billion a year and 70 percent of households use candles. This means there is a huge and well established customer base to target. Additionally candles are a consumable product and so there is a constant demand for more candles.
• Good profit potential. The reality is that you are unlikely to become rich making and selling candles from home but you can definitely earn a decent income if you work hard and are determined to do well.
• Easily accomplished at home. Candle making can easily be done in the home, in the kitchen over the stove!

Disadvantages of a homebased candle business

• Competition. With a home based candle making business you will be competing with many cheaper, mass-produced candles in the market. However with determination, hard work and creativity you can succeed.
• Working area. Making candles can be untidy work. You need to be able to melt the wax and so a kitchen is the obvious place to make candles at home unless you are able to set up a special work area with the right facilities. A basement with a small stove or cooker could be ideal. View how to convert your basement into a home business area. Some people may find it inconvenient to use their kitchen to make candles. In addition a cooler place is needed to set and store candles.

You can contact your local Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov/aboutsba/dis_offices/index.html to find out the rules and regulations you must follow to start a candle home business including business registration and obtaining a business license in your area.

Nearly everybody loves candles. It is not difficult to make candles and you can sell several different types of candle. Starting a home based candle business is a creative, artistic and fun way of making money from home.

Tips for starting your own candle making business at home

How to make your own candles

How to price your candles

Marketing and selling candles

A candle home business - retail sales

Start your own candle home business and become part of a successful and profitable industry