Soy Candle Business Information

by Kara Kelso
Prairie Soy Candles

We've received many emails asking us how to start a soy candle business. There's so many who love candles and think a soy candle business would be a perfect fit for them. It's not as easy as many think it will be, and we'd like to shed some light on the subject.

While we don't want to discourage you from starting a soy candle business, we feel some facts need to be out in the open before you start.

Fact #1 - Soy Candles are Everywhere
More specifically, handmade candles are everywhere. At craft shows, we are rarely the only ones with a soy candle business. If we are, it's a very small craft show. While it's true candles sell extremly well, they won't all be buying from you.

Selling online is near impossible, and takes a LOT of hard work to build up relationships. Since candles can be found in just about any store, there are very little who will go online to buy candles they've never tried. It's not impossible, but pretty close. Our online sales pale in comparison to our offline sales at shows.

Fact #2 - High Start Up Costs
Many believe they'll just buy a little wax and a few scents, and resell the candles for twice their cost. If it's just a hobby, that's great. Although if you are going into a soy candle business, your start up costs are going to be very high. Using the lowest cost jars in 2 styles, only 10 different scent, and soy wax our start up costs were around $800. It took over a year to recover those costs and be in profit.

So it does in fact cost several hundred dollars to start a soy candle business, and at least a year or two to make a profit. If you need immediate money or a business which will pay off in a few months, you won't find it with a soy candle business.

Fact #3 - Candles Take Time
Soy candles take time to make right. For the highest quality, you can only pour them in small quanities. Most do not realise it takes approximately an hour per pound of wax. To give you a better idea of how much a pound is, think of an 8oz candle, 12oz candle, and a few melts. That's 2 full size candles per HOUR. Can you afford to work for $5-10/hr, if that?

Also you will need to take into account how much time you will have to put into marketing your soy candle business. Like mentioned above, much work will need to be put into a soy candle business. It takes two of us to run our soy candle business - one to make the candles, one to market them.



There are other factors to take into account when deciding on a soy candle business, such as space and marketing approach. Will you be like the other candle makers, selling the same items? Do you have enough room in your home to stock candles for craft shows? Are there even available craft shows in your area? Where will you network? Can you make a good candle to sell? To most, making the choice to start a soy candle business making your own candles is just not worth it.



Other Soy Candle Business Options

Another option for a soy candle business is buying wholesale. There are many benefits to this, which we will explain below. If you are thinking of starting a soy candle business and decided making the candles yourself just isn't the way to go, read on for benefits of wholesale.

Less Time Consuming
Because you won't be making the candles, you'll have more time to market. You can plan out how and where you'll be promoting your soy candle business while someone else is doing "the hard work". More time to market means more sales! The ultimate goal in any soy candle business is to make money, right?

Very Low Start Up Costs
Instead of several hundreds of dollars (even up to several thousand), you can spend as little as $100 to get started. Some wholesale companies have minimum well under $100, or even no minimums at all. Websites and marketing materials can be very inexpensive as well.

No Supplies Needed
Not only is it less expensive to not buy supplies, but you won't have to constantly worry about if you have enough of any one supply in stock. Being low on wax, fragrance, wicks, warning labels, jars, or any other items can hold up all your orders. Buying wholesale frees you of this worry.

Faster Profits
Buying wholesale can actually mean more profits. Since you don't have to buy supplies, your only cost is the finished candles. Not having supplies will free up your supply cost.


To learn more about starting a soy candle business using wholesale or dropship companies, please download this free ebook:
Starting Your First Business - Your Guide To Buying Wholesale

Click on the link above to download. You will need Adobe Reader (standard on most computers) to read the PDF file.


Prairie Soy Candles offers both wholesale and dropshipping. You can get started with your soy candle business for less than $100 easily and immediately. For more details on buying wholesale from Prairie Soy Candles, visit our wholesale information page.


About the author of this information: Kara Kelso is an owner of Prairie Soy Candles, which is run together with her mother. Prairie Soy Candles has been in business since March 2005, and Kara has been selling candles since 2003. The information above is based on several years of experience in the soy candle business, as well as experience in other online businesses.