Candles set a mood, create subtle lighting and can smell divine. And whether they’re bought as gifts or as a staple part of a grocery shop, they’re never out of vogue. So, if you have creative tendencies, a candle business could present the perfect side hustle. The materials can be affordable when buying wholesale, and the production process is fairly simple.

So where do you start? We’ve broken it down into seven steps.

1. Put a business plan together

The first step is to put together a business plan. It should also include your target audience, strategies for reaching your candle-buying niche and more general ideas for marketing.

You’ll need to decide on the size of your candles, what type of wax and how many different scents you’ll want to produce. This will determine your workflow and prices.

You should also decide a name for your business, making sure that the name you want to use isn’t already taken (this is easy to do at the .Gov website). Choose something simple and easily recognisable. Notes it’s also possible to have a different brand name (‘trade’ name) to your registered business name.

2. Register your candle business

If like many fledgling businesses, you’ll initially be the only employee of your candle enterprise, you’ll need to start out as a sole trader. This is ideal if you want to start as a side hustle and see if you can grow from there. You can learn more about sole traders, as well as partnerships or limited companies, at our 10 Steps To Starting A Business guide. You will also need to register your candle business with HMRC (and Companies House for limited companies).

3. Prepare to make your product

People tend to love candles with eye-catching designs, in addition to appealing fragrances. Even if you’re not a graphic designer, you can work with Adobe Photoshop or Canva to create simple, elegant designs for your candles. If you’re interested in a more complex design or prefer to outsource to a professional, you can use Creative Market, Fiverr or Upwork to commission a design from a professional creator.

Source product materials

Finding product materials is the next step. You can find receptacles for your candles through a bulk item supplier such as Alibaba. Additionally, you could look into restaurant wholesalers near you if you wanted to use something such as a mason jar or a decorative glass. Finally, using recycled materials such as wine bottles or jam jars could be visually appealing.

There are many types of wax that can be used for candles: paraffin, soy, beeswax, granulated wax and more. You’ll want to do a few trial samples with your chosen wax to make sure it’s giving the scent you want. Your candle wax supplier will also likely be able to advise you on wicks, dyes and scents that work best with your candle wax.

Source packaging

Shipping is normally the largest cost for a small business. When you’re putting together a plan for shipping, you’ll want to consider speed, cost and what kind of materials will surround the candle to keep it safe in transit. Using recycled materials might attract a target audience of conscious consumers, but you’ll have to price the candles accordingly.

Design your labels

If you’ve chosen to design your logo on your own with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop or Canva, you can do the same for labels. It might be easier to create a standard label for candles with customisable sections for changing the scent, the size or the name of the candle. If you want custom designs for each scent, you might want to employ a designer from the services listed above so you can focus on the product.

The label should include your business name, the scent of the candle, the size in fluid ounces and more information that customers might want to know. You might want to include where the candle is made, what the wax is and your company’s website.

4. Build a website

Even if you plan to sell via a third-party platform such as Etsy, you should build your own website. Not only will having your own business website increase your brand’s visibility online, but it also helps make your business appear more credible and professional, while also opening up the opportunity to direct sales. To make the process easier, choose an easy-to-use website builder with e-commerce capabilities.

Here are the best platforms for building an online store:

• Shopify: thousands of templates for customer experience, ability to sell gift cards, thousands of app integrations for e-commerce
• Wix: less expensive, custom domain included, unlimited products, only ships with USPS
• Weebly: extremely intuitive website builder, great for beginners, ability to switch website themes and retain content, e-commerce integration with Square, limited customisation options.

Picking a content management system also depends on how much time you want to invest in your website, in addition to the upfront costs.

5. Choose additional channels to sell your candles

In addition to your website, you will most likely want to sell your candles across multiple channels, such as Etsy, Amazon, and even Instagram. This increases your exposure online, which will help your candle business land more sales. Additionally, building relationships with local retailers could also be a good way to sell your candles directly with minimal shipping costs.

6. Calculate your sale price

Generally, you will want to aim for a 25% to 50% profit margin on your candles. Calculating anticipated expenses early will be important in determining prices.

If you need to host your products on Etsy or Amazon and have to build more monthly expenses into your business, you might have to price your candles a little higher in the beginning, with changes depending on sales volume in the future.

Additionally, most online payment processors charge a small fee of around 20 pence, plus 2% of the transaction, so you should work that into the candle prices as well. If you’re making all of these custom candles, you should determine how much time you can spend, especially if this candle company is starting as a side business.

7. Market your candle business

Starting with free or low-cost marketing is the best way to get off the ground, especially if your business is on the side for now. You should start by searching out Facebook groups, subreddits or other social media communities of fragrance lovers. You can also offer barter exchanges to influencers for posting about your candles.

You can also join some local entrepreneur groups to network and get advice from more experienced professionals. You might be able to make connections and find new avenues for marketing your candle business.