Hey, it's Sabastian. If you are sitting there wondering how to start a candle business, first of all, welcome. You are in the exact spot my wife and I were in a few years ago, standing in our kitchen with a pot of melted wax and way more questions than answers. We started Garsnett Beacon Candle Co. at that kitchen table, and it has grown into a business with 160+ wholesale accounts and multiple brick and mortar stores. None of that happened because we were special. It happened because we kept taking the next small step. So today I want to walk you through the first five things I would do all over again if I were starting from zero. Not the fluffy stuff, the real early moves that set everything else up. 1. Get clear on why you are doing this Before you buy a single pound of wax, get honest about what you actually want. Are you looking for a fun creative hobby that pays for itself? A side income while you keep your day job? Or are you trying to build something you can eventually go full time on? There is no wrong answer here, but the answer changes how you spend your time and money. When we started, we did not have a grand plan to own storefronts. We just wanted to make something we were proud of and see if anyone would pay for it. That small, low pressure goal kept us moving forward instead of freezing up. Give yourself permission to start small. The vision can grow later, and it will. 2. Pick your supplies before you fall down the rabbit hole This is the step where most new makers get stuck. There are dozens of waxes, hundreds of fragrance oils, and endless opinions online. It is easy to spend two weeks reading and never actually pour a candle. Do not do that to yourself. Choose one wax to learn first. Choose a small handful of fragrances you personally love. Choose one vessel you can source reliably. Master that simple setup before you add variety. When you are ready to gather everything, we put together a free Candle Making Supply Checklist that lays out exactly what we use, so you are not guessing on brands and equipment. Start there and you will save yourself a lot of wasted money on stuff you never touch again. 3. Test, test, and then test some more Here is the part nobody wants to hear: your first candles probably will not be great. Ours were not. We had tunneling, weak scent throw, and wicks that drowned out halfway down. That is completely normal, and it is not a sign you should quit. It is the actual work of learning to make a quality candle. Testing is where you earn the right to sell. Burn your candles from top to bottom. Take notes on wick size, fragrance load, and cure time. Change one thing at a time so you know what actually made the difference. A candle that performs beautifully is the foundation of everything else, because a great product is what turns a first time buyer into a repeat customer. If you want to see how we approach this, I share a ton of testing walkthroughs over on our YouTube channel. 4. Know your numbers early You do not need a finance degree to run a candle business, but you do need to know what each candle costs you to make. When you know your cost of goods, you can make smart decisions instead of hopeful guesses. So many makers skip this and end up working incredibly hard for almost no profit, which is heartbreaking to watch. Sit down and add up your wax, wick, fragrance, vessel, label, packaging, and a little bit for the small stuff like stickers and warning labels. That number is your starting point for everything. To make this easier, we built free Candle Business Calculators that do the math for you. Run your numbers before you set up shop, not after. Your future self will thank you. 5. Decide how you want to sell, then start with one channel Retail markets, your own online store, wholesale to local shops, there are a lot of ways to sell candles. The mistake is trying to do all of them at once in month one. Pick one channel that fits your personality and your goals, and go all in on it first. For a lot of new makers, local markets and craft shows are a fantastic starting point because you get real feedback from real customers in real time. That feedback is pure gold. Once you have a product people love and a channel that works, you can expand. Wholesale became a huge part of our growth, and when you are ready for that chapter, our Wholesale 101 Guide breaks down how to get your candles onto other stores' shelves. Just start If I could go back and tell brand new Sabastian one thing, it would be this: you learn more from pouring one messy batch of candles than from a month of researching. Starting a candle business is not about having everything figured out. It is about taking one step, learning from it, and taking the next one. You do not have to do this alone either. We put together a free 10 Step Guide to Starting a Candle Business to give you a clear path, and we have an amazing community of makers in our free Facebook group who are all figuring this out together. Come say hi, ask your questions, and share your wins. And if you ever want to see what all of this can turn into, come check out Garsnett Beacon Candle Co. It all started at a kitchen table, just like yours. You have got this.