How to Start a Candle Business in 2025: How We Turned Our Candles into a Brand (Part 2 of 3)

Starting a candle business can be an exciting journey filled with creativity, passion, and countless learning opportunities. But many aspiring candle makers often ask, "What's the best way to sell candles?" The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Our own journey at Candle Business PRO has involved multiple sales channels, each with its unique challenges and rewards. From selling to friends and family to launching online stores, participating in markets, building wholesale partnerships, running fundraisers, and eventually opening brick-and-mortar stores—we’ve experienced the good, the messy, and the unexpectedly successful.

This is part 2 of 3 on How to Start a Candle Business in 2025. To read Part 1, click here. 

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through the exact path we took to build our candle brand, sharing insights and strategies to help you map out your own path for success. Whether you're just starting or looking to expand, this article will provide you with practical advice on how to start a candle business in 2025 and beyond.

Table of Contents

1. Starting with Friends and Family
2. Shopify vs. Etsy: Pros and Cons
3. Markets and Pop-Ups: The Power of Instant Feedback
4. Email Marketing: Your Direct Connection to Customers
5. Wholesale Strategy: Building Retail Relationships
6. Fundraisers: Growing Through Giving Back
7. Brick and Mortar: Our Six-Month Journey
8. Conclusion: No Single Path, Just Your Path

Starting with Friends and Family

Every journey begins somewhere, and for us, it started with selling candles to our friends and family. Before we even launched our brand publicly, we took our future customers along for the ride. We created social media channels specifically for the brand and shared every step of our process—from testing scents and designing labels to naming the brand. This transparency helped build anticipation and engagement with our audience, many of whom were friends, family, and former co-workers.

When we finally opened our online store, the initial sales came from this close-knit group. I still remember launching the store on a Friday afternoon and watching the sales trickle in one after another throughout the weekend. It was an incredible feeling, and it confirmed that our product resonated with people who had followed our journey.

One key lesson from this phase is the importance of promoting your business on your personal social media channels in addition to your business pages. Algorithms on platforms like Facebook and Instagram often limit organic reach for business pages unless you pay to promote posts. Even if you have 500 followers on your business page, your posts might only be seen by fewer than 100 people. By sharing your posts on your personal pages and posting consistently on your business pages, you increase the chances of staying top-of-mind for your audience.

This early support from friends and family not only gave us sales but also helped us gather valuable feedback and build confidence to move forward.

Shopify vs. Etsy: Pros and Cons for Your Candle Business

On the same day we launched to our friends and family, we simultaneously opened two online stores: a Shopify store and an Etsy shop. Each platform serves a different purpose and attracts different types of customers. Understanding the pros and cons of each is crucial in deciding how to allocate your time and resources.

Shopify: Your Official Online Storefront

Shopify is an ecommerce platform designed specifically for online stores. We chose Shopify because it allowed us to create a full website where customers could learn about our brand, browse products, and make purchases securely. Having a dedicated website is essential if you want to be taken seriously as a business in today’s digital age.

Here are some of the benefits we found with Shopify:

• Professional and customizable storefront: Shopify offers themes optimized for ecommerce, making it easier to create an attractive and user-friendly website.
• 24/7 sales potential: Your store is open all the time, allowing customers to purchase whenever they want—even while you sleep.
• SEO-friendly: Shopify allows you to optimize your product pages for search engines, helping you attract organic traffic over time.
• Brand control: Unlike marketplaces, you own your Shopify store and have full control over branding, pricing, and customer experience.

However, Shopify is just a platform; it is not a marketplace where customers actively browse for products. This means you need to bring customers to your store through marketing efforts such as SEO, social media, and paid ads. It can take weeks or months to see significant organic traffic, so patience and consistency are key.

Tip: You can get a free trial for Shopify, which I highly recommend testing to see if it fits your business needs. If you sell even one more candle per month through Shopify, it will cover the platform costs.

Etsy: A Marketplace for Handmade and Unique Goods

Etsy is a marketplace where customers specifically seek handmade, unique, or vintage products. It’s often more beginner-friendly because customers come with the intent to shop, and the platform handles a lot of the traffic for you.

Here’s what we liked about Etsy:

• Built-in audience: People come to Etsy looking for handmade candles and gifts.
• Lower upfront costs: Listing fees are only $0.20 per item, making it affordable to test product ideas.
• Trust and community: Etsy’s review system helps build customer confidence as you accumulate positive feedback.

But Etsy also has its challenges:

• High competition: Thousands of sellers offer similar products, so standing out requires unique products, excellent photos, and optimized listings.
• Price sensitivity: Customers often compare prices across listings, which can make it difficult for higher-priced or luxury candles to compete.
• Fees: Etsy takes about 15% of each sale, including listing and transaction fees.

Our approach was to use both platforms initially—Shopify for brand control and long-term growth, and Etsy to tap into a marketplace of ready buyers. Over time, we shifted our focus more toward Shopify as our SEO and email marketing efforts began to pay off.

Markets and Pop-Ups: The Power of Instant Customer Feedback

One of the fastest ways we grew our candle business was through markets and pop-up events. These face-to-face sales channels provided immediate feedback and invaluable customer interactions that online stores couldn’t match.

Here’s why markets and pop-ups were so effective:

• Instant scent testing: Customers could smell the candles right there, which is crucial for a product like candles where scent is everything.
• Real-time feedback: You can observe customers’ facial expressions and listen to their comments, learning what works and what doesn’t.
• Direct engagement: We always asked customers what types of scents they preferred (woodsy, spa-like, fruity, citrus, etc.) to quickly guide them to candles they would love.
• Email list building: Collecting email addresses was a top priority at every event. Building an email list is the most reliable way to maintain ongoing communication with your customers.

Markets also helped us build brand awareness within our local community. People who purchased candles at markets often recommended them to friends and family, or visited our website later to reorder online.

Email Marketing: Your Direct Connection to Customers

Email marketing quickly became our most powerful sales driver, especially during slower periods like post-holiday seasons. Unlike social media channels, which are controlled by algorithms that limit your organic reach, email gives you direct access to your customers’ inboxes.

Here’s why email marketing is essential for your candle business:

• Control: You’re not at the mercy of Facebook, Instagram, or Etsy algorithms.
• Repeat sales: You can reach your customers with promotions, new product launches, and brand stories to keep them engaged and buying.
• Customer loyalty: Regular emails build relationships and trust, encouraging customers to think of your brand first.

We recommend starting to collect email addresses from day one, whether through your website, markets, or fundraisers. In future guides, we’ll dive deeper into email marketing strategies, but for now, know that building an email list is a foundational step in growing a sustainable candle business.

Wholesale Strategy: Building Retail Relationships

Wholesale has been a major growth channel for us, but it requires careful planning, research, and relationship-building. We began our wholesale journey before market season started, using the downtime to study wholesale strategies and create a targeted outreach plan.

Creating Your Dream Retailer List

First, we compiled a spreadsheet of local and regional retailers we admired and wanted to work with. This “dream list” included gift shops, apothecaries, boutiques, and specialty stores that aligned with our brand values and product style.

For each store, we gathered details like:

• Store name and location
• Contact information (email, phone)
• Owner or buyer’s name, if available
• Notes on their product offerings and customer base

Research and Personalization

Before reaching out, we researched each store’s website and social media to understand their brand and customers. This helped us tailor our emails to explain why our candles would be a great fit for their clientele—not just talking about our product features but focusing on the store’s customer needs.

For example, if a store specialized in eco-friendly products, we highlighted our natural ingredients and sustainable packaging. If the store focused on local pride, we emphasized our location-themed candle lines.

Crafting the Outreach Email

Our initial email included:

• A brief introduction to our brand
• A personalized mention of something recent or unique about their store (e.g., new products they carried)
• An explanation of why our candles would appeal to their customers
• An invitation to discuss wholesale opportunities and view our catalog

We avoided generic sales pitches and ensured each email felt personal and thoughtful. This approach increased our chances of receiving responses.

Follow-Up is Crucial

Most store owners are busy and may overlook or forget emails. We always followed up one week after the initial email if we didn’t hear back. Persistence paid off, but we also knew when to stop if they weren’t interested.

Pricing and Margins for Wholesale Success

One of the biggest challenges in wholesale is pricing your candles correctly. Retailers typically expect a 50% margin, meaning they want to buy your product for half the retail price. If your candle retails for $26, the retailer will expect to pay about $13.

This means your cost of goods sold (COGS) must be low enough to allow you to sell to retailers at this price and still make a profit. We worked hard to reduce our costs by buying materials in bulk and optimizing our production process. When we started, our COGS were about $7 per candle, giving us a slim but workable margin.

If your pricing doesn’t allow for wholesale margins, you may want to focus on direct-to-consumer sales first to build volume and reduce costs before pursuing wholesale.

Fundraisers: Growing Through Giving Back

Fundraisers have been an unexpectedly successful sales channel for us. Partnering with local nonprofits and community organizations not only increased sales but also expanded our brand awareness and connected us deeply with our community.

Our first fundraiser was for a rural high school basketball team needing new jerseys. We created a special candle fundraiser where a portion of the proceeds supported the team. This initiative resonated with the community, and sales soared.

Another standout fundraiser was with a local animal shelter. We developed a pet-themed candle and donated 25% of the proceeds to the shelter. The shelter promoted the fundraiser to its followers, resulting in a surge of new customers, social media followers, and email subscribers for us.

These partnerships are mutually beneficial: nonprofits get much-needed funds, and you gain access to a passionate audience that supports the organization’s cause.

We encourage you to identify nonprofits in your area that align with your brand values and propose similar partnerships. Fundraisers can be a powerful way to build goodwill and grow your business simultaneously.

Brick and Mortar: Our Six-Month Journey to Physical Stores

Opening a brick-and-mortar store is a big step and not for the faint of heart. But for us, it was a natural progression after validating our products through online sales, markets, and wholesale.

We sold our first candle on February 26, 2022, and opened our first physical store just six months later, on August 1, 2022. Here’s what that process looked like:

Financial Considerations

We didn’t have a large cash reserve or outside investors. We needed to cover first and last month’s rent plus a deposit. Our rent was $1,700 per month, so upfront costs were around $3,400. Additional expenses included painting, furniture, shelving, product inventory, permits, and signage.

In total, it took about $12,000 to $13,000 to get the store up and running. We used a combination of savings, credit cards, and revenue from markets to fund this.

Store Setup and Design

We kept the store design simple and cost-effective. Instead of expensive retail display furniture, we purchased affordable ladder shelves from Amazon, tables, and painted the walls white to create a clean, inviting space.

Operational Challenges

Both my partner and I were still working from home at the time, so we managed the candle production during lunch breaks and evenings. Having two incomes helped us manage the financial pressures while the store built traction.

Growth and Expansion

After our first store, we opened a second brick-and-mortar location in November 2023 and a third smaller seasonal store in Sagatuck, Michigan. Each location is tailored to the local market’s needs, with some offering in-store candle pouring experiences and others focusing on seasonal traffic.

Operating physical stores requires dedication, but it offers a unique way to connect with customers, showcase your brand, and create memorable experiences that online stores can’t replicate.

Conclusion: No Single Path, Just Your Path

Our journey to building a successful candle brand has been anything but linear. We started by selling to friends and family, launched online stores on Shopify and Etsy, gained invaluable insights from markets and pop-ups, built wholesale relationships, engaged in meaningful fundraisers, and eventually opened multiple brick-and-mortar stores.

The key takeaway is that there is no single path to success in the candle business. The more you understand your options and test different sales channels, the better you can craft a strategy that fits your unique goals, resources, and market.

As you consider how to start a candle business in 2025, remember to:

• Engage your initial audience by sharing your brand story and progress
• Leverage both marketplaces and your own online store to reach different customers
• Use markets and pop-ups to gather feedback and build your email list
• Develop a thoughtful wholesale outreach plan tailored to each retailer
• Partner with nonprofits for fundraisers that grow your brand and community connections
• Consider brick-and-mortar stores once you have validated demand and financial stability
• Invest in email marketing and SEO to build long-term customer relationships and organic traffic

With dedication, persistence, and strategic planning, your candle business can thrive and grow into a beloved brand that lights up customers’ lives.

For more in-depth guidance on mindset, marketing, and growth strategies, stay tuned for the next part of our series on how to start a candle business. Meanwhile, explore our free resources, courses, and community at candlebusinesspro.com to help you go pro with your candle business.

Ready to watch this journey unfold visually? You can also view the full video on YouTube.

Stay inspired, keep creating, and let your candle business shine!