Become A Candle Manufacturer - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Become A Candle Manufacturer

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Candle manufacturing is one of the best small business ideas you can start from home. Making candles comes with a low startup cost and does not require much equipment. If you plan to start a candle manufacturing business, hone your craft and get comfortable with the candle-making process.

Becoming a candle manufacturer requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell candle, or selling candle online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

starting costs
$36.3K
gross margin
50%
avg product price
$15
time to build
180 days
work from home?
Yes

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Specific Industry Expenses

$295

$3,000

Business Formation Fees

$5,600

$20,400

Equipment & Supply Expenses

$63

$200

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$11,650

Inventory Expenses

$350

$14,750

Software Expenses

$162

$3,094

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$4,786

Total Startup Costs

$8,169

$72,447

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

EROMA

eroma.com.au

142,748

Vellabox

vellabox.com

207,022

Prosperity Candle

prosperitycandle.com

289,185

Rustic Escentuals

rusticescentuals.com

290,757

Harlem Candle Company

harlemcandlecompany.com

335,766

NEOM Organics

neomorganics.com

360,799

Luxury Candle Supplies

luxurycandlesupplies.com.au

366,424

Yankee Candle

yankeecandle.co.uk

407,961

LoveSpoon Candles, Inc.

lovespooncandles.com

459,726

NorthWood Distributing

northwoodcandlesupply.com

461,528

Keap

keapbk.com

491,515

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a candle manufacturer. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

High margins

The gross margins for your candle manufacturer are typically around 50%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily.

Easy to encourage "impulse buy"

In the candle manufacturer, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer.

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A candle manufacturer can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

High employee turnover

In the candle manufacturer, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment.

Taxes

As a candle manufacturer, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

High overhead expenses

With becoming a candle manufacturer, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Affiliate Program

    Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.

    Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.

    The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

    Learn more about affiliate program ➜

  • 2

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜

  • 3

    Social Media Advertising

    Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

    According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.

    Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.

    Learn more about social media advertising ➜