START A CANDLE BUSINESS How to make candles Making candles takes a lot of trial and error. Even to this day I am still experimenting with different wax blends and wicks, ect. I spent hours upon hours of researching online about how to make candles, and looking at what I needed to get started. To make it a bit simpler for you I have compiled a list of resources and materials that helped me to get started. Candle Making Resources Candlescience- They have tutorials that are great for getting started in candle making. Their site has everything you need from fragrances and wicks to candle wax. https://www.candlescience.com/ Candle Making YouTubers Timber Ridge Gifts- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClw9sZAGhpVFy_czb0HE4Qg Give your things away for FREE One of the best things I did as a new candle business was to give products away for free. I know it sounds crazy, but give your products away to family and friends. You don't have to go crazy, but try to pick people who you know will give you honest feedback. Follow up with everyone and ask for their honest opinions. One of my best friends gave me the cold hard truth and told me my candle hot throw wasn't that good. I jumped on that feedback and totally changed formula. Standley Handcrafted- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK209qaDN10QU0OEB9E099w Shop local! Now, I gave you an online resource for candle materials, but I encourage y'all to locate a candle supply in your area if possible. For the first year of business I was buying everything except for jars online. Let me tell you, wax is heavy and costs a lot to ship. I found a local supplier 10 minutes away from me, and it's been great on my budget. Also, check stores like Walmart and Dollar tree for jars. Packaging and Shipping Ebay is a great resource for shipping boxes, tissue paper, heat shrink bags, and everything you need to get those candles in the mail. Tip* Install the FREE Rakuten (formerly Ebates) plugin into your browser for cash back on sites like Ebay. Not only are you saving by using Ebay over Uline, but you get cash back. I use it every time I buy supplies online. Here's my affiliate link if you'd like to join: https://www.rakuten.com/r/TPERRY195?eeid=28187 There is a lot to think about when you are listing your first product. The most important things you want to achieve are good photos, and finding tags for your Etsy listings. I have some resources down below to get you started. Listing Candles Online Here are a couple vids on my channel How to Write Etsy Descriptions and Find Tags- https://youtu.be/a7KtxdeNxZU Listing Online SEO For the first half of my business I didn't even try to learn anything about SEO. I figured that if I have a good product then people will automatically shop with me. Wrong! SEO if everything. This year I invested in a course, but I absolutely believe that you can learn killer SEO with all the free information out there. Fuzzy and Birch- This creator has amazing free information that changed my business in October of 2018. I recommend every handmade seller to check out her Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzg50M7Q0K-pTiSat8BG48g Product Photography and Editing with iPiccy https://youtu.be/Pz4-oRSdwP8 Etsy Course As stated earlier I decided to pay for a course this year. I just wanted to include the course in the list of resources because I think it is so well put together and amazing. With that said please do not think you need to invest in a course to get sales going. I sold over 200 candles last November just by studying free content. I decided to include it because it's something I use and recommend. I'm not sponsored nor do I get commissions from recommending this course. I paid with my own cold hard cash. Subscriber Tribe By Fuzzy and Birch- https://blog.fuzzyandbirch.com/subscriber-tribe-closed/ I highly recommend using a keyword tool to help you find profitable keywords for your products. Also, I learned to research before I make. When I have an idea I see if I can rank for a keyword. Here are some tools that I have used. Marmalead- https://marmalead.com/ erank- https://erank.com/ Organize your books Taxes can get pretty scary as an entrepreneur. You are responsible for determining your beginning and ending inventory, paying sales tax, and calculating your income. The best thing you can do for yourself is start organizing all your business income from the get go. I use an excel spreadsheet that I found on Etsy and Quickbooks as a backup. Set aside some time weekly to update your books. Excel spreadsheet for handmade sellers- Paper + Spark https://paperandspark.com/ I highly suggest completing the quiz on their website to get an idea for which spreadsheet will work best for you. The seller is also very helpful if you have any questions. Business Tips Open a Business Account It's important to open a business account so you can keep personal and business transactions separate. This will help make taxes easier as well. I use Azlo bank. This is an online bank only. Pros: No monthly fees, business debit, send checks online, send invoices. Cons: No branches, no physical checkbooks. I have been banking with them for a while and you do need to have your EIN (Federal Tax ID for business) before you are approved for an account. Azlo- https://www.azlo.com/ Quickbooks for Etsy https://selfemployed.intuit.com/etsy? utm_source=etsy&utm_medium=web&utm_content=siteupdatesUS&ci d=par_etsy_US_siteupdatesUSQBSE Grab Your Free Board Now that you have down the basics, I want to give you a tool that I use daily! I use an online application called Trello to help organize my Etsy business. I created my own board that functions as my Etsy hub, and you can use this board on their free plan. The link to this board is down below, and don't worry if you have no clue what Trello is. There is a video to walk you through the setup under where is says 'Watch This'. https://trello.com/b/NOX4x5Hp/etsy-hub I hope this document was helpful! -Tiana