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I agree that you have an asset to work with there. In business, and as an entrepreneur, every unique asset you can leverage that will make your business and product stand out should be considered very closely. Two things that strike me right away is that it's easy to say, check, and easy to spell, check. You're off to a good start. Now think about what products or services you want to offer and how you can work the name and the products or business type together. Consider your future, too. If you are making widgets now but may want to expand into cogs later, will the business name enhance or support the expansion? Like I said, I think you've got something to work with there. Keeping it simple and strictly to the name may work, too. Definitely worth great consideration. Just some food for thought. Best of luck and happy crafting!

Here is a link to amazon for a trade show table skirt. Depending on your table size it may give you an idea of how much fabric you will need. I have no idea if it's appropriate for your use but it popped up with a quick search on Google. http://www.amazon.com/TEKTRUM-FITTED-TABLE-SKIRT-COVER/dp/B0050WV16K Maybe you can use a bed sheet to test size and fitment. Pin it together like a tailor and measure it out? Grab a spare bedroom, living room or garage and get everything set up and ready to go before your show. Snap a picture when you have it set the way you like.

Tastes and scents are such an individual thing. I love cinnamon but if my son gets just a slight whiff of it from another room it gives him a headache. It's good to go the extra mile for your customers but try not to cater to the 1%. That will run you right out of business. Sorry that scent isn't for you. Perhaps it doesn't work well with your application. Possibly exchange it for another scent or refund and politely parts ways. Handle them with respect and keep pleasing the other 99.

I haven't started selling candles yet but do work shows for my job at an unrelated industry. We typically run "show specials" or give time sensitive coupons (good for one week only) for online purchase incentives. I've been trying to put a lot of thought into the future of my business. I need to find my selling point that would be acceptable as a manufacturer and yet not compete with my retailers. Building in enough GM% to allow for show discounts and wholesale discounts as well is interesting fun. JI is right in that your product or brand may not have to directly compete with every vendor at the show. Quality and materials play a role as well.

Interesting post. Thanks for sharing. Designing my labels and logos I've been trying to work in the "made in USA" aspect. I do believe it ads value, even locally here in the US.

I heat my soy wax to 180F remove the heat and add FO. I've been testing with smaller batches of wax (16 to 24oz) and the room temperature FO will cause the wax temp drop very quickly. I don't want to hijack this thread but maybe my questions will help the OP as well. I wanted to ask Has anyone experimented with warming the FO so when added it wont plummet the wax temp so fast? Does it matter if the wax temp drops that quickly? Can I reheat to 180 and still bind the FO and wax properly or has the process pretty much finished inside the two minute stir? I've been mostly testing wicks up to this point but I feel my CT and HT have a lot of room for improvement. Maybe my FO is not binding well due to the temps dropping to 150F so fast. 150F to 130F takes much longer. Sorry for the more questions than answers. Hoping this might help others as well.

Anita Craft Candle? lol. Tough to say without the name but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Welcome back btw. I'm a newbie myself and learning lots here from all the great folks.

If you're getting serious and ramping up the sales and volume you might want to consider assigning product SKU's soon. A simple five digit SKU, description and price would be a huge boost. A starting point might be a creating a spreadsheet using Microsoft Xcel, OpenOffice Calc (free) or Google Spreadsheet (also free and mobile access). You could print the inventory sheet and make tally's like someone suggested. Maybe make a quantity sold column on the spreadsheet and keep track of what and how many you sell in the coming months. You could even make a column for each sales month. Later you will be able to quickly identify what sold well and be able to better plan for next year.

I've been burn testing a few FO's in GB 444. With a 3.125" jar and ECO wicks I've been needing at least a 14 or 16. Some are smack in the middle where 14 is a tad too small and 16 a tad too big. Argh! I'm thinking of trying some CD wicks as well.

How did you get permission from so many sports franchises to use their logos on your products?

If I understand correctly, you have acquired a completed jar candle and you want to change/modify the scent? Can you do that? Do you know the FO load that was used and how much more you can add to the wax that was used? Will it even take on more after it's been cured? I've never even considered trying something like this. It's peaked my curiosity though. Could I take a stinky Yankme, melt it and morph it into something desirable?

Looks nice n orderly to me. Thumbs up

Thank you all so much for the feedback. Real world experiences are invaluable and I appreciate you sharing your wisdom. I've been reading up today and the Article of Organization with the state doesn't seem too difficult. I do want to make sure I've got the federal and state tax id's and such all square too. A local tax lawyer or similar may be a good route for me. I'm glad to have found this community. I hope to give back as well though I'm finding I have a lot to learn yet. Thanks again and happy crafting!

Apologies if I came off wrong to cause scepticism. My wife and I recently started making soaps and candles. She's been at the soap hobby for about a year making M&P and soon CP soap. I started making soy candles a few months ago. I'm still in the testing phase dialing in all the little things to make a great candle while juggling work and two busy kids Probably pretty familiar to many here We are pretty strapped for cash and we're thinking of making up some holiday gifts for the family/relatives. I have enough supplies to test a little more and probably make enough gifts. I still have about 15lbs of wax to use up. If things go well perhaps next year we might take it one step further and sell to friends or local craft market but it's a stretch. With the future in mind my thoughts turn to keeping costs low and thought I'd start researching now. Local hobby/craft stores like Michael's are way way to expensive and don't carry the things I've chosen to use so I've had to order online. The required shipping is a huge expense. I'm just kinda throwing some questions out there to see if there are any avenues for local supplies that I am overlooking. Again, I apologize if I came off wrong or am way out of line posting such a topic and angered people. That really really was not my intent.

Have any of you used an online service to prepare and file the legal work needed to start your company? Any opinions on the subject? I've been looking into leagalzoom and mycorporation and wonder if the extra expense of using a service vs doing it myself is worth it in the long run.

Hi everyone, happy Tuesday! I'm looking for some help locating a supplier for candle making near the MN Twin Cities area. Currently I'm using Golden Brands wax and finding it locally is proving difficult. I've been looking around a 50-100 mile radius from the MN capitol (St. Paul) area and am coming up empty. The Supplier by State sticky for MN is pretty out of date. The two viable options in there are parked domains (one in Japanese) making money off of re-direct links and not very useful. If I may suggest an update "Northstar Country Candle Co. in Fairmont, MN" http://www.northstar3c.com might help someone. They are a little out of range for a commute from the MN metro area though. Part of me thinks there may be a distribution opportunity here but I don't have quite that much to invest. On the other hand I'm not the smartest bump on the log either and other distributors may have already come and gone for good reason... Any suggestions from the community? Additional resources to look at? Golden Brands distributor list at http://www.gfgb.com is a swing and a miss, too :/ Thanks!

Nice posts. I've been thinking of looking for additional things to put on my log sheets as well. Thanks for the suggestions! What I have used so far is below. Date: Wax Brand Wax Type Wax Amount Wax Maximum Temperature Liquid Dye Brand Liquid Dye Color Liquid Dye Quantity of Drops Liquid Dye Weight Liquid Dye % of Wax Weight Liquid Dye Added at Temperature Scent Brand Scent Name Scent is Phthalate Free Yes/No Scent Weight Scent % of Wax Weight Scent Added at Temperature UV Inhibitor Brand UV Inhibitor Weight UV Inhibitor % of Wax Weight UV Inhibitor Added at Temperature Additional Additive(s) Brand Additional Additive(s) Weight Additional Additive(s) % of Wax Weight Additional Additive(s) Added at Temperature Wick Brand Wick Material(s) Wick Size Number of Wicks Container Brand Container Name/Style Container Dimensions Container Total Volume Container Wax Volume Container Pour Temperature Wax Pour Temperature 24 Hour Notes Top Finish Container Finish Scent Appeal Cold Throw Day 3 Notes Top Finish Scent Appeal Cold Throw Wick Burn/Flame Size/Soot/Mushroom Melt Pool Size(s) and Elapsed Time(s) Hot Throw Day 7 Notes Top Finish Scent Appeal Cold Throw Wick Burn/Flame Size/Soot/Mushroom Melt Pool Size(s) and Elapsed Time(s) Hot Throw Candle Names It doesn't look as nice as the actual sheet I use but you can get the gist of it.