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StanfordP

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Everything posted by StanfordP

  1. Yup agreed! Do you know anything about the process for how fragrance companies in the US develop/source their fragrances? From what I understand, CandleScience, for example, would develop a formula based on various aromachemicals, then source them from a fragrance company to make the ultimate product. So even though CandleScience is making the finished good, the ingredients come from the fragrance manufacturer. Is that on track? And now that my wheels are turning; a similar scenario seems to have happened with wax...
  2. Hey ya'll -- been a while since posting. I never mentioned this on the message board, but in addition to running my candle company, I'm also a lawyer. Recently, news has come down that the big fragrance manufacturers are under investigation internationally for price collusion--that possibly explains why fragrance prices have gone up so much the past few years. I'm investigating the impact of these big manufacturers on smaller entities like: candle supply companies (ex: Aztec, CandleScience, LoneStar, etc), and then indirectly on candle companies (like all of us) and the end consumer. Does anyone know if there's a way to determine where candle supply companies get their fragrance materials from, and whether it's from an international brand (Givaudan, Firmenich, IFF, or Symrise)? Feel free to chime in or message me directly! Or if you've personally experienced price increases on fragrance oils, curious to get your thoughts. Thanks, Stanford
  3. Assume you’re referring to night blooming Jasmine, which is a completely different smell from day blooming jasmine (there are plenty of jasmine varieties, most with distinct smells). Night is softer, cooler and has more of a spring bulb essence (like smelling a narcissus or hyacinth). Whereas common jasmine (e.g., star) is sweeter and more typical floral.
  4. Palo santo oil is tough. It’s such a light woodsy scent that it’s very difficult to replicate in a candle. Best best is to blend your own. Although… the palo santo from cierra candle was quite nice. Definitely most authentic ( but again, very light).
  5. Kinda shocked State Farm would cover a candle company. Last I inquired, they wouldn’t. If you’re worried about getting sued, you should make sure you have products liability coverage… don’t see that on this quote. I’m no insurance expert, but general liability and products liability are two different animals.
  6. Yep. Advise against it. The jars were gorgeous. Performed well too. BUT, you’ll likely notice that upon reordering, the price jumps up. Plus I’m fairly certain my CC number got stolen. It’s just super risky. But in the current landscape, do what you gotta do.
  7. Gotcha. Don’t do the non-profit. HIGHLY scrutinized by every governmental agency you can think of, including the IRS. If you want to be charitable, form the LLC and make charitable donations, which if part of your mission is to support your community, you can write off as an advertising expense (though consult your CPA for specifics). You can also look into B-Corps (benefit corporation), which is a hybrid approach to for-/non-profit. Basically, for-profit for the public benefit… also depends on where you live and whether your state recognizes it as an official entity type.
  8. It's been a minute since I was doing pure coconut wax, but agree it's tough to wick. I liked the results of premier, but you'd have to cut the size in half for what you use on soy. CDs were okay, too. Didn't try much with CDN. Definitely avoid ECO.
  9. @Brotato Mind me asking why you'd start a business as a non-profit?
  10. @SageSlowdive Late to the thread, but having studied intellectual property a decent bit, I'll throw in my two cents. Any image that you find on the internet is copyrighted. The only way around this is if you obtain the owner's permission--even if you subscribe to a service, you're still obtaining a license to use that image for a limited purpose (called a "limited license"). Under certain circumstances, you can use copyrighted material without permission (google 'fair use'), but for commercial purposes, you likely will always need permission first. Best suggestion is to find what you want and use as inspiration to create something new, but even copying likeness is crossing a line.
  11. Updates on the coconut brew wax. I purchased it last year when I called C&S looking for the coconut beads. They SWORE brew was superior to the beads and better in every way. So, I bought 20 cases. Fast forward to winter, and all the candles previously poured using brew started seeping. A lot of my customers got pissed off, actually lost a large customer. We had to re-pour cases of product. Come to find out later, C&S posted their warning about cooler temps. I thought my employees were messing up formulas. Now presently, even in the middle of summer, we're STILL dealing with seepage. We've tried everything (except adding coconut oil--terrible idea). Trying to work through the last remaining cases of coconut brew and move on. Total disappointment on every level, though we've now got it tweaked enough to get by. But there are variations in performance depending on FO. Highly frustrating.
  12. @LilyJane You can also try Norman's Printery in New Jersey. I believe their minimum is 100 vessels, but that's more expensive. They do packaging for a lot of candle makers in the area.
  13. I started including candle care on the box. So when I customer opens the lid, the first thing they see is candle care. All the usual stuff, plus how to prevent tunneling AND estimated burn times if they "follow the rules." In reality, who looks at the warning sticker on the bottom? Practically no one.
  14. I recently stumbled upon the fruit wrap cushioning (no idea what it's really called). Only downside is that it's Styrofoam--I was really trying to to eco-friendly Was tired of jars breaking despite using paper cushion, despite using packing peanuts. So now, every glass container that goes out the door is wrapped in this then placed in a box, THEN packaged with peanuts, and God speed!! Broken containers were killing me with sending replacements (I don't give refunds)
  15. These specialty containers will require purchasing in bulk, unfortunately, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg. If you've got a decent budget, DreamVessels has different stuff (sourced from Alibaba), California Candle Supply had some interesting options, too. But again, supply issues are rampant.
  16. Agreed. When I switched actual label stock to a better quality paper, the results were mind-blowing. It looks like I outsourced the printing. So, don't underestimate paper quality, too! Same! And, I like how you can adjust the quality so if you need color-rich, you can get it. BUT, don't like that there isn't a black ink... wish I could get deeper blacks. 🤷‍♂️
  17. My products are on Walmart Marketplace, but I wouldn't say they're "selling"! LOL It's very complicated to get good placement. I've talked to some app developers who know the ins-and-outs, but right not just too time consuming to figure out the algorithm. It still heavily favors the big brands/brands with millions for ad spends 😕 Pass!
  18. Anyone else having issues sourcing vessels? Literally all the usual sources I'd go to are completely sold out. An acquaintance contacted Fillmore the other day, and they had no idea when they were getting restocked because the glass manufacturers are so far behind. O. Berk says it'll be til end of december on straight-sided jars. 😳 Berlin Packaging is at least 6-8 weeks out. The more I look, the more every other random source is coming up empty handed. Anyone else feel the same way? And, how're yall handling this? It's making me nervous for the holidays...
  19. Yup -- I think something is glitchy in the heating element. When we first got it, it heated perfectly and evenly across the device. Now sections of the hose don't heat, so we have to empty out the entire machine after every run, even if we're going to use it the next day. Pain in the butt. My system is a patchwork of various things. I have a large melter that holds 200# (about to buy another one), but we use that to keep wax melted. Then we have a piping system to transfer wax to the smaller melter, which is attached to the pouring system. Agreed the Coogar would've been ideal for the easy fragrance system. But, it's also very easy to calculate less-than-tank runs with the EZ-Pour. We have a stick that's marked with various fill points.
  20. I'll buy some! What's the name? I'll call bullSunshine on her, too. lol
  21. I actually ordered a pallet from Fillmore recently (sorry). But, how many cases do you need? I'd be happy to send you some.
  22. I contacted Coogar about their system. It's $20,000. Couldn't justify that expense just yet. But, the reviews are great and allllll the big boys use Coogar. My setup involves a 70# water jacketed melter that stays on all the time. It's connected to the wax pouring system from WaxMelters (I think we paid $3500?). Overall, it helps on big runs. Can make 100 candles in an hour. The downside--it takes forever to heat up. The system gets clogged easily/doesn't heat evenly upon startup. We had an issue with the thermostat heating beyond the setpoint, which then melted the internal seals and caused wax to leak out everywhere. Sent it for repairs, and they accused us of improper use. Said next time it happens they're charging us $300 repair fee (to fix a seal, gimme a break). STILL have issues with the thermostat going higher than its setpoint, so have to continually monitor it. I don't use WM tanks. It's just easier for us to use the water jacketed ones--we always have hot wax on the ready whenever we need.
  23. I just did a cost analysis of everything that goes into making a candle. I do this every year to make sure my profit margins are where they need to be. Obviously the cost of the raw material, but also shipping, labor, taxes, electricity, rent, insurance, equipment, website hosting, advertising, etc. Just looking a raw materials, COGs have increased on average 15% (this is FO, wax, vessels and wicks--and includes shipping). Now, I buy in bulk to take advantage of volume discounts. And when I see a new candle maker on the scene slinging their boxed tumblers for $12-15, I KNOW they'll be out of business in less than a year. There's no way they're making money, especially considering they're not buying in volume. The biggest variable that these newbies fail to consider is the cost of time. Time value of money is a very real concept, and from my calculations adds about $.60 to each candle coming off the line (This is based on a set volume per week being produced. If volume decreases, then this number goes up, and vice versa). On how to establish yourself in this brave new world: influencer marketing ranks up there pretty high. SEO is next. Social media engagement is important, but requires a lot of manual time input. Etsy is cheap, but it doesn't offer the tools to properly market yourself OR allow you to stand out from the literally thousands of other candle makers on their site. My strategy has been joining as many wholesale sites as possible (like Faire). It's reduced margins, I'm also not out there hustling to get my product into shops (or paying something else to), so the cost actually comes out the same. On sharing booths -- don't do it. Not worth the hassle. Bite the bullet and do it yourself, unless you're sharing a retail space with other local makers. If that's the case, make sure you're the only candle maker in the group. And if possible, make sure there aren't any jewelry makers... Jewelry always sells better than anything else. So if you partner up with jewelry, expect to take a loss.
  24. Long post alert: Remember that business plans change over time. The main takeaway from a business plan is to make you think about all the different variables that go into it. When I first started, my business plan was changing every quarter, and it stressed me out. Then I realized that ITS MY BUSINESS. I can change it however many times I want, as long as I have a reason to. Here are a few other tips: You'll want to develop a minimal viable product (MVP). This is the bare-bones version of your product. It doesn't have to be perfect; it doesn't need a fancy logo or fancy packaging. This product will demonstrate that your base formulae are where they need to be. And, you either give this product away, or sell it at cost, then follow-up with your new customers to gauge their experience. From there, you tweak. And you repeat the process until you've got it good enough to launch. Save your money and don't invest in a logo until you have a following. I see lots of start-up sink money into fancy graphics and trademarks that have ZERO customers. It's a smarter idea to take that cash and invest in either product development or marketing development (which is more so targeting and SEO). Then once you have a following, that's when you slowly and methodically upgrade your branding to match your new (and real) target market. Don't underestimate the power of news marketing, too. Contact your local papers to get news placement. It's free, and if there's an interesting story behind your brand, they'll be begging you for a story. Ultimately, sitting down and drafting all these plans is meant for you to know what kind of business you want to start. Once you start selling, that'll likely shift depending on what type of customer you actually attract. If you're using a hosted e-commerce site (like Shopify) they collect all kinds of data on your customers, and can provide you with very valuable insight. That's when you'll truly know how to market your goods. I've been in business for 3 years, and only this year did I hire a graphic designer. The good ones aren't cheap. And, you don't want to waste money on anything less than a good one.
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