bwc

#1 looks like the tree growth is stunted and makes me think of business growth being stunted.

#3 looks like the tree is outgrowing its boundaries and like the business is growing by leaps and bounds.

Couldn't see #s 2 and 4. That's the only thing I don't like about Mozilla. Can't always see the pictures everyone sends even though it is checked under tools>options.

Okay, don't laugh. I'm on dial-up since I'm in Texas on vacation. I looked at your site and it's really nice; I like the flower! Anyway, you might want a different background for your hand sanitizer. While the page was loading, all I could think of was old skin with age spots. I swear that is what it looks like! And it takes forever to load at 56 kbps.

I didn't go through the rest of the site because I'm short of time.

Best of luck!

You're off to a great start, and it helps to have such lovely products and photographs. There are, as others have said, quite a lot of typos, missing spaces after fullstops and so on, but you can easily fix those. The easiest way is to copy and paste your text into Word or whatever application you use and run a spelling and grammar check. It saves a lot of headaches to do all your edits in word and paste it back.

OMG, don't use Word for grammar, it's horrible! I only use it to check for sentences where I've put one space after a period instead of two and to look for missed commas in a series. That's about all it is good for.

That way supplies can move around the room, you can make up things, cure them and store them, then package them and have them out the door, without moving things back and forth over and over.

And for b&b, easy to clean floors, stainless wherever I could afford it, and shelves shelves shelves shelves shelves.

See, I never would have thought of stainless, but I bet that would be the way to go.

Oh, I would also add that everything put in the shop be as fireproof as you can get. When my SIL put in her daycare center, she even had the sheetrock that had the highest fireproof rating.

Robin, you're great!

LOL, yep a common mistake and I totally know better! Thanks bwc

I'm sorry, I was just adding to what you said, not criticizing you! There are lots of places on that web site where that mistake shows up.

How is it that we can always see other peoples' mistakes and not our own? When I finally go into business, I will have my friend (an English major) go over everything with a fine tooth comb!

BWC, you sound like you have built many shops! I might have to print that out in case I ever get big enough to have my own shop built.

steph

Nope, not a one. Just had a lot of time to think and dream last year when my candle plans got derailed. You find you want to be anywhere except sitting in a hospital room or nursing home.

Nature's Garden! Thanks, everyone, for coming up with that. I know I have that link somewhere in my bookmarks, but I guess I didn't put a good enough description by it to remember the layout!

I'm 6' and like 36" counter tops, just make the counter tops the height that is comfortable for you.

This is for counter tops you stand to work at. They would be a different height if you sit at them with a chair or bar stool, to work at.

That's true. I'm 5'4", so maybe we should all have custom countertop heights!

In the FAQ section:

In the first paragraph you say:

Commercially produced soap is made with a lot synthetic ingredients that strip your skin of it's natural oils.

You might put the word *of* after lot and before synthetic.

It's should be its. It's = it is. You don't want say "strip your skin of it is natural oils."

This is a common mistake, just like your for you're, their for there, would of for would have, to for two or too, etc.

HTH

When I first started researching candlemaking, I ran across a web site that showed the optimum setup (according to the lady from the website). Do you think I can find it now? And I thought all my bookmarks were categorized well.

We may be adding on a garage in the future, and if we do, I plan to add a shop to make candles and B&B products. Some of my questions would be:

* What kind of floor should I put in? - When I used to have to stand at work, we had the fatigue mats and I wonder if a rubber floor would work. Or fatigue mats over a concrete floor?

*How big should the shop be? Obviously as big as you can afford to build to allow for future growth, but what do you, general you (UGU) (not you personally) think a minimum size for a shop should be - 15 x 20, 20 x 30, 20 x 40? I can't remember the size the county said was the maximum size allowed here, I'll have to go look for the form. I'm thinking 1500 sf is all the most that is allowed, maybe 1000 sf.

*What kind of countertops would UGU put in that don't stain easily and hold up to heat?

*How would you heat and cool your shop? Obviously in Texas you would use refrigerated air, in Colorado we could probably get away with a swamp cooler in the summer with a very small pellet stove in the winter.

Here is what I'm imagining: A large U shape. At the top of the U, facing the door, place for two computer desks, one in front of the other. B&B materials on one side, candle materials on the opposite side.

Countertops lower than normal to make it easier to work on, with plenty of commercial power strips across the back of the wall (those that have a plug about every 18 inches). At the opposite end of the U from the desks, a stove and sink setup and small fridge and microwave (who wants to go to the house for snacks?).

In the middle, a deep, long island, again lower than normal countertop, to line the candle jars up to pour, clean, label, and package them. Maybe a power strip in the middle or on the sides. Middle seems safer, a 1-2" strip running down the middle of the island.

Under the countertops, one drawer under each section and then open shelving for raw supplies, to be kept in large plastic see-through tubs. Above the countertops, cabinets with doors for smaller supplies and to protect FO from light. In the middle of the candle counter, the wax melter in between cabinets where cabinets won't interfere with them. Maybe even a --__-- design to the contertop (looking at it straight on) so that the wax melters would be lower and easier to manage.

Oh, and a bathroom somewhere in there. With my bladder, I'd spend all day going from the shop to the house.

And I would want to have ONE switch that I could turn off at the end of the day and it would turn off all plugs; that way I would never have to worry about leaving anything on. I guess this could be accomplished by using breakers, right?

I don't know a lot about soapmaking and haven't done much research into it yet, but when working with lye you work outside, don't you? If so, I would pour a small concrete patio behind the shop for this purpose.

I know some of you will think this is awfully premature, but in the months I was taking care of my mother before she died, I had a lot of time to think (dream) about this. Not so much the B&B side of things, but the candle side.

Ok, I'll shut up now.

I was looking at the IBN or some site yesterday, and I ran across this site:

http://copyscape.com/

Guess you can go there and find out who has copied pages from your site? I have never used it before, so I don't know how complete it is.

HTH

Well I checked out your profile here and saw your likes so I will try:

Daisy Kaye Candles

This is a cute name. Reminds me of Dogpatch and Daisy Mae!

Great picture! And your blouse didn't stand out at all, so you were worrying about nothing. It's nice to see a face to go with the name!

Bet you will be overwhelmed with business tomorrow, better get a good night's sleep tonight.

I would think a good starting point would be:

Thanks, see above. I was panicking over nothing!

I hate menopause.

OsCommerce is free first of all. I use it on my site and I love it. I do everything myself through it, and actually just decided to do a redirect to the shopping area. You'd use that with something like BlueVoda though, or just use it standalone and Voda hosts. They also have SoHo which is drag and drop site and cart all in one.

As for taxes, you live in Colorado, your taxes will only be on people who live or ship to Colorado. Anyone else outside of the state doesn't pay tax.

Sorry if it's a bit confusing but HTH!

Oh my, I had one of those brain farts and was getting confuzzled about taxes everywhere in the US! Thanks for straightening that out!

Nice to know OsCommerce is free.

Thanks!

Donna

You only need to collect tax on orders that are being shipped to the state you are doing business in...if you live in CA and the order is being shipped to an address in CA then you charge tax. If it's going to NY there is no tax.

I'm sorry ah-soy, another brain fart. Of course you are correct!

Thanks,

Donna:)

Ugh, I hate Pay Pal. I'd rather pay for something else.

And where do you get a listing for every tax code in the US? I know, Google it.

What a beautiful shop! I imagine you had those shelves custom made? I love black furniture!

If I go with Vodahost which is "all inclusive" and "no hidden fees", do I also have to purchase a separate e-commerce suite such as OsCommerce, or does Vodahost include a free e-commerce cart?

Also, what about tax setup? Does Vodahost have tax tables for the entire US, or do you have to add those manually? I was checking out the hostmonster web hosting site, and from what I understood, you have to put in the tax percentage yourself. How the heck would I know what the tax is in whatevercounty, NY? There is also an option for the customer to put in their local county tax. Our local city/county charges less than our state does, but I don't know the percentage off the top of my head. I'd quit buying at that point if I had to fill in my own tax percentage.

I read on another candle forum that DIY is going out of business. Has anyone else heard that?

That whole trans fat thing just cracks me up! Bad for the inside - good for the outside I say!

Bethany

That's true, my mother's geriatric doctor told her to use Crisco for her dry skin instead of buying expensive products she couldn't afford on a budget.

How do these people sleep at night? I would be the customer pointing out the mistake, not asking for 50% off!

You went above and beyond the call of duty on this one and have nothing to apolozie for. Definitely put a disclaimer on your web site about errors not being your fault.

I like your label; however, don't know if this is a tropical fragrance or not, but shouldn't it be Bali Hai (or Bail Ha'i)?

I was at a craft fair a few weekends ago and went into a candle booth. I asked what they used for their candles. They said wax (with a smirk). I asked them whether it was paraffin or soy. They use paraffin. Never wanted more info than that and was somewhat put off by their attitude, like I didn't know a candle was made out of wax. When I do start making candles (my progress has been interrupted by my mother's death and financial reasons), mine will be soy or soy blend and we won't be "competitors" in that sense. So maybe someone just wants to initially know if you are selling soy or paraffin.

Mindy, not specifically answering your post, but I couldn't figure out how to do the quick reply thing.

They did invent it. Yankee is the reason we call them tarts. It's their trademark, fair and square, and has been registered and conscientiously defended for almost 15 years.

I thought the Queen of Hearts invented the tart.

Sorry for the hijack.

OK, where do I find these for a decent price. These shelves I'm carrying around are too complicated and takes too long to set up. Anything? TIA!

What size are you talking about? Lane Bryant Home has folding shelves, although they are a little pricey. They have a nice look to them, though. I think they would work well in a booth.

Ooops, meant Brylanehome.com.