Your Guide to Starting a Successful Candle Making Business (While Being Creative and Having Fun)

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own candle making business? Maybe you’re a pro at pouring candles at your kitchen table and you’re ready to turn your hobby into a new career. Or, you might be itching to leave your traditional 9-5 behind in favor of something that offers more room for creativity and flexibility.

But while you can picture your candles burning in homes across the country, you might also feel a little overwhelmed. You could be questioning whether starting or buying a candle making business can be profitable, wondering what specific type of candles you should pour, and trying to figure out how you’ll sell the finished product.

Regardless of whether you’re a crafting newbie or a seasoned candle professional, launching a valuable business can be a great way to reach your entrepreneurial dreams. 

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about starting and growing a candle business, including:

• Five reasons why you should consider starting your own candle company
• What you need to get your candle business up and running
• How to put together your candle business marketing strategy 
• Finding your niche in the candle making market

5 reasons you should consider starting your own candle business

You might be thinking about starting your own small business because you’re ready to find a better work life balance. Or, candle making may be something you have been dreaming about for years. 

Some other reasons that could capture your “why” when it comes to starting a candle business may also include: 

• The high demand for candles in today’s market
• Candle making can help you attain financial independence as an entrepreneur 
• There is little upfront cost to get your candle business off the ground
• Endless opportunities to define your niche in the candle market 
• Candles sell well for shoppers browsing in person and online 

1. The candle market is growing

If you’re looking to invest in a growing (dare we say ‘hot’?) market as a business owner, it’s worth your time to look into candle selling trends. The global candle market was valued at $12.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 5.7% from 2023 to 2030. 

Today’s candle market offers customers a large variety of sizes, scents, and shapes. With over 2,000 candle manufacturing companies across the United States, here are specific candles for almost every occasion. For instance, the Homesick candle company specializes in hand-poured candles with scents that send you back to your home state. Every one of the fifty states has its own scent profile, from Arizona deserts to the floral fields of Indiana. 

Although the average candle customer is an individual purchasing a candle to make their living rooms feel comfortable and cozy, there’s a growing demand for candles from the hospitality industry as well. Hotels, restaurants, spas, and fitness studios are all investing and purchasing candles to create a welcoming environment for customers and guests. 

2. Candles can take you one step closer to financial independence 

If one of your entrepreneurial dreams is becoming financially independent, owning your own candle making business could be a great next step. Unlike a traditional job where you’re restricted by salary ranges, the sky’s the limit on profit and growth when you own your own business. 

When you own a candle making business that you’re excited about, you get to spend your time working on something that you love. Getting up in the morning and spending time building a business you love can be much more motivating than heading to an office just to pay the bills. 

While making candles can be profitable, your business can also help you reach financial independence if you ever decide to sell the company. It’s impossible to see into the future—you might love making candles today, but that may not be the reality in five years. When you begin your candle making company with the end in mind (even if you never decide to sell!), you’re setting yourself up for success.  

3. You can jump into the candle making space with little upfront cost

Starting a candle making company doesn’t require a warehouse full of machinery. In fact, you can pour candles at your dining room table, so you won’t have to worry about the typical startup costs like renting office space and specialized equipment. 

Some of the equipment and supplies you’ll need to budget for include:

• Wax
• Candle fragrance
• Wicks
• Coloring agents 
• Containers
• Labels and product packaging
• Pouring pitchers
• Thermometers
• Wick bars and sticks
• Scales

In the beginning, you can pick up all of these supplies from a local craft store. Being able to purchase small amounts of wax and fragrances can be helpful in the beginning stages where you’re honing your craft and product offerings. 

After you’ve defined your signature scents and products, you can purchase candle making supplies in bulk from a wholesale supplier. Finding the right supplier and purchasing at wholesale price points can help keep your costs low as you test quality and find your space in the candle maker market. 

4. There are endless niches available for you as a candle maker

Defining how your candle is going to stand out can be an exciting and creative process. There are countless ways that you can make the candle making space your own. Some of those ways include: 

• Creative scents
• Artistic packaging 
• Community partnership and engagement 
• Original candle names
• Unique and memorable candle containers
• Themed releases

When you’re trying to decide exactly what type of candle you want to create, you might be tempted to jump into a niche that matches your personal interests, passions, and hobbies. If you have fond memories of growing up next to a bakery, you might be thinking about nostalgic scents inspired by pastries. Or, if you love wandering around art galleries, you might want to launch a line of candles inspired by your favorite masterpieces. 

But remember that you don’t have to start pouring candles directly inspired by what you love. If you’re ready to invest the time and energy required to start a candle company, you could discover that there’s a business plan that’s totally out of your comfort zone. 

Many entrepreneurs start a successful business in a niche that doesn’t seem particularly interesting at first glance, but serves a true customer need. But you don’t know about those customer needs until you put the time into researching candle demand.

5. Candles sell well online and in-person

Some customers prefer to browse candles in person so they can spend time browsing for the perfect scent. After all, you can’t smell exactly what “smoked cedar” or “perfect persimmon” smell like through a phone screen. 

However, there are also customers who prefer to purchase a candle online so they can conveniently ship it as a gift or support small businesses from the comfort of their couch.

Candles are a product that you can sell handmade candles both at local craft shows as well as on a business website. This flexibility offers a great opportunity for you when you’re getting ready to launch a candle business. 

Licenses, permits, and candle industry standards for your candle making  business

When you own a candle business, it’s important to be aware of your legal responsibilities. There are licenses and permits to be aware of when you’re starting any business. But there are also specific industry standards for the candle makers to explore when you’re in the beginning stages of starting your candle business.

When you own a candle making business, the requirements can generally be broken down into two categories: 

• General business licenses and permits
• Candle making industry standards and requirements 

What general business licenses do you need for your candle making business? 

There aren’t any specific licenses or permits required for candle making businesses. However, you’ll need: 

• General business license
• A seller’s permit

Many states do not require business owners to hold a general business license at a state level. However, you may need to apply for a license to do business in your city or county. 

Meanwhile, seller’s permits are required in every state that has sales tax—currently, only businesses in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon are exempted. A seller’s permit allows you to collect the taxes owed to your state’s Department of Revenue for a candle sale both in person and online.

Candle making industry standards 

When the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission received increased reports of candle fires in the 1990s, they reached out to the National Candle Association and asked them to develop standards for improving candle safety. 

Today, the national industry standards for candle production are published through American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International. Even though these standards are only applicable to candles sold within the United States, international candle organizations and authorities refer to them regularly. 

There are six ASTM candle standards which include standards on candle labels, containers, and fire safety. 

• ASTM F-1972-99, Standard Guide for Terminology Relating to Candles and Associated Accessory Items
• ASTM F-2058-00, Standard Specification for Cautionary Labeling for Candles Burned in a Home
• ASTM F-2179-02, Standard Specification for Annealed Soda-Lime-Silicate Glass Containers that are Produced for Use as Candle Containers
• ASTM F-2326-04, Standard Test Method for Collection and Analysis of Visible Emissions from Candles as They Burn
• ASTM F-2179-04, Standard Specification for Fire Safety for Candles

The full standards are available for purchase from ASTM. 

Making your product stand out in a sea of candles 

Imagine walking down the candle aisle at Target or Yankee Candle. Customers have hundreds of scents to choose from. There are small candles for hostess gifts, holiday themed scents for each season of the year, and even scents inspired by their favorite sports teams. 

With over 10,000 different candle scents available to consumers in the United States alone, finding your niche in the candle making industry is a necessity. 

Factors that could help your candle stand out among competition include: 

• The raw material you use to make your candles
• The scent of your candle product
• What type of wick you use to make your candles
• The intended purpose of your candle

What wax will you use in your candle?

There is not one perfect wax or blend for candle making. Any high-quality wax that burns safely and cleanly can be a great candle base. The four main types of waxes you can choose during the candle making process:

• Paraffin wax
• Soy wax
• Palm wax
• Beeswax

Paraffin wax candles are the most popular types of candles on the market today. It is an inexpensive option that can create a candle with high levels of color and scent. The one disadvantage to this wax is that paraffin is a byproduct of the oil purification process. This means there are more eco-friendly wax options.

When you’re deciding what type of wax or wax blend you’ll use to create your candle, consider your ideal customer. Do they make environmentally friendly purchases? They may be more likely to reach for soy candles than ones made of paraffin wax. Or they might be looking for a candle that creates ambiance without a scent. This means they could have a preference for beeswax candles which generally are unscented and have air purifying properties. 

What will your candle smell like?

While there are endless scents that you can use when making your candle, there are four main scent categories:

• Fresh scents
• Floral scents
• Woody scents 
• Exotic scents 

Narrowing down your candle product scent from countless options can seem intimidating. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider your ideal customer. Is your target audience more likely to reach for a candle inspired by nature or their favorite food? How do they want to feel when they light a candle in their apartment? 

Thankfully you don’t have to narrow down to just one candle scent, either. Many candles feature blends of different scents and themes. For example, maybe you live in New York City and your candle scents are inspired by New York landmarks. You could even focus on creating candles that eliminate certain scents such as pet odors or smoke. 

It’s also important to consider if your ideal customer would like a scented candle at all. Maybe your candle company caters to a restaurant who would rather have unscented candles that create romantic ambiance without distracting customers from the scents wafting in from the kitchen!

Types of wicks

Although it might seem like a small detail in comparison to candle wax and scent, candle wicks are a vital component of the candle making process. A wick functions like a fuel pump, carrying the wax into the flame so that your candle keeps burning.

Most candle wicks can be divided into the following categories:

• Flat wicks
• Square wicks
• Cored wicks
• Wooden wicks
• Specialty wicks

Flat wicks consist of three bundles of fiber and are most commonly used in taper or pillar candles. Square wicks are sturdier than flat wicks and are typically used in beeswax candles. Cored wicks are braided or knitted wicks that are made of cotton, paper, zinc, or tin.

There is a growing demand for wooden wick candles, which can create a gentle crackling sound while they burn. Finally, speciality wicks are designed for specific candles like oil lamps and outdoor candles.

What is your candle used for? 

One final aspect of your candle making business to consider when defining your niche is the intended purpose of your candle.

A majority of customers purchase candles for ambiance or aromatherapy. According to the National Candle Association, 9 out of 10 candle users use their candles to make a room feel “comfortable and cozy”. Additional uses for candles include: 

• Decorative candles for home or works spaces 
• Novelty candles
• Outdoor candles to repel insects 
• Candles for religious or ritual purposes

If you close your eyes and imagine one of your candles burning in someone’s living room, what made them pick your product up instead of the thousands of other candles available? Is it a unique container, a shared passion for a your business’s mission, or your unique candle scents? 

Maybe you want to cater to the minority of customers who purchase candles for reasons other than creating a cozy space. Outdoor candles, candles used for religious purposes, and novelty candles present a less saturated market that might provide even more creative room for your business to grow. 

Questions to help you create an effective candle business marketing plan

Once you’ve defined your niche and poured the first round of candles, you’re ready to connect with customers and spread the word about your candle products. Whether you’re selling candles in a brick and mortar store or a majority of your business is through your business website, any marketing plan should include the following elements:

• A defined target audience
• Clear and measurable business goals
• A budget 
• Focused marketing channels
• Time set aside for analyzation and refinement

Who is your target customer?

Before you put together your first ad campaign on Facebook or launch an affiliate program, you need to know who your audience is. What is the age of your ideal customer? What about their gender, how much they make each year, where they live, and what their interests are?

Once you have a clear definition of your audience, spend time researching where they spend their money and time. It’s also important to understand your customers needs, desires, and psychology. 

You won’t be able to sell your candles to everyone. In fact, attempting to market your product to every possible customer will only leave you with frustration and wasted ad dollars. Instead, you want to connect with your target audience and offer them a product that solves a problem they’re experiencing.

What are your candle making business goals?

Starting to market your candle business without knowing what your business goals are is like going on a road trip without an end destination in mind. You’ll never know when you’ve arrived at your destination! Setting your business goals at the beginning stages of business marketing is necessary if you want to see success.

Business goals aren’t vague ideas that you have about where you’d like to see your business in five years. Instead, they’re measurable, timely, attainable, and in line with the overall goals that you have as an entrepreneur. 

When you know exactly what your business goals are for your candle making company, all of the decisions you will have to make concerning marketing become simpler. For instance, if you know that one of your biggest goals is to have your candle on a shelf in a local store, you’ll put more time and effort into reaching that goal than landing a trending candle video on TikTok or Instagram. 

How much do you want to spend on marketing?

It’s important to define (and stick to!) a marketing budget. Your plan for marketing your candle business and the approach you take to connect with customers is impacted by how much money you have at your disposal. 

Let’s say that you’re starting a small candle making business with a tight budget. Your business goal is to become a recognizable local brand, and your ideal customer could be people who live in your home-town. In this situation, you may choose to invest in marketing strategies that don’t require a major financial investment. This could include building relationships with local stores to build a marketing network and renting booths at local festivals. 

Or, you could be an established creative entrepreneur adding candles to your product offerings. You may have a larger budget, an established team, and the time to dedicate to developing more scalable and expensive marketing strategies. This increased spending can help you learn about your ideal customer and their spending behavior at a fast rate.

Which marketing channels will you focus on for your candle making business?

There are many ways you can stand out to customers who are browsing for a new candle, including: 

• Sharing your candles on social media
• Linking to your candles and products on other sites
• Paid advertisements 

Connecting with customers on social media 

Sharing about your candles on social media is a great way to connect with customers while they’re scrolling Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. 

You could also find someone who is a social media influencer who makes product recommendations that your target audience trusts. Maybe it’s a blogger who shares round ups of her favorite candles or an account on Instagram that talks about what candle scents are perfect for each season. Running a promotion with an influencer is a great way to spread the word about your candle products. 

Link to your candles across the web

Another way to market your product online is to find opportunities to link to your candle website across the internet. Not only does this increase the amount of customers who discover your product, it also can help drive that traffic back to your website where customers can buy candles.

There are a variety of ways you can link to your own candle listings, including: 

• Creating a blog post on your own website (or a guest post on someone else’s site) that links to your candles
• Publishing behind the scenes or how-to videos of your candles on YouTube with a link to purchase your product in the description
• Being a guest on different business or creative podcasts and linking to your candles in the show notes 

Running paid advertisement campaigns 

Although there are numerous free ways to promote your candle business, you can also invest your time and finances into paid advertisement campaigns. You can run paid advertisements in multiple places, including:

• Facebook ads
• Instagram ads
• Google ads
• YouTube ads
• Television and radio ads
• Affiliate marketing

Paid ad campaigns help you reach a large account of customers and potential customers in a short amount of time. If you have a clear and successful marketing strategy, you can generate leads and customers through paid advertisements. 

Online ad campaigns can help you gather extensive information about your customers. You can utilize that information to help you refine future ad campaigns. 

Just because you invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in a social media campaign doesn’t mean that your candle marketing efforts are guaranteed to be successful. Working with an advertising professional can help reduce the risks associated with marketing campaigns. 

Investing in paid advertisements can be expensive, so if you’re running on a tight startup budget, this might not be a large line item in your business budget right now. 

How can you make your marketing even better for your candle making business?

Marketing your candle business can involve a lot of trial and error. It’s crucial to gather and analyze all the information that you gain about your customers over the course of your campaigns. Tools like Google Analytics and other digital tracking systems can make the analysis process simple for any entrepreneur.

You can also tune into your business metrics during marketing campaigns to learn more about how your ads, influencer partnerships, and SEO strategies are impacting the performance of your candle company. 

After you spend time analyzing a campaign, you can go into the next step of your marketing strategy more informed about your customers and their shopping decisions. If you continue to revisit the results of your marketing efforts regularly, you can expand and refine your marketing efforts. 

Conclusion

Launching a candle making business can be an exciting process, and the experience can help you grow both entrepreneurially and creatively. 

If you have the finances to invest in a new business and you’re ready to learn new creative strategies, the possibilities for where your candle business can go are almost endless!