Ramaroa

Would a day trip do it? Beam me up Scotty! Thanks for all your help, I'm going to have to go and have a proper good look and see if we have something similar here.

I've absolutely no idea, but it made me laugh, Someone must have spent a lot of time putting that list together.

Some you might want to avoid: http://www.keepersoflists.org/index.php?lid=6785 Don't see what the problem is myself, Monkey Farts is a bestseller

I think you have to put in quite a bit of work in your research upfront - if you're just making for yourself than you probably don't have to worry too much, but if you're hoping to sell and make a profit, you have to get a clear handle of the full cost upfront; well before you start placing orders with suppliers. A lot will depend on the quantities you are after and whether you can secure wholesale rates, get products locally and which products you are sourcing. I sat for weeks with a spreadsheet working out costs for the various bits and pieces required to make and sell each types of candle in a range of containers. They've been chopped and edited and played around with so many times as I started to see better prices for stuff and learn where is most economical places to shop. It takes quite a bit of effort, but hopefully the work upfront will pay dividends in getting the selling price right.

Wow! When Turkey Fryers Go Wrong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqemKVTf_38 Be careful out there!

Thank you! I never thought of the obvious just to Google 'Turkey Fryer' have to say I have never seen one of those before and really had no clue that you could even deep fry a turkey. So I don't think I'll be able to find one of those here. Even after looking at the pictures, I still haven't got the hang of what the Presto Pot is; it's not a slow cooker, not a deep fat fryer? So tell me what would one normally do with it, if it weren't for making candles. Shame we don't have Walmart, I would love to spend just half an hour in there to see the wonders of which you all speak.

Forgive me guys, been reading the board for a while now and find it a very informative and friendly place, and I've learned alot. I need some help with translation of some of the things you all talk of. I have the greatest difficulty in finding supplies on these shores and I'm sure I could do a lot better if I knew what to look for; we probably do have these things but know them as something else. I have some mental pictures in my head and may have completely got the wrong end of the stick: Dixie Cups? I'm thinking paper cups? Like McDs Cups? Turkey Fryer? Something big to fry a turkey? Deep fat fryer? Presto Pot? Nearest I can come up with is a Crockpot! I'm sure there are more and I will jot them down if I think of any more. Feel free to laugh at my expense!

How about trying to keep a count of total number of pages printed from one whole cartridge and then you will have a rough guide to what it costs to print one page. I'm sure it will differ widely for everyone depending on the type of printer and the cartridges used, how much colour and bold type there is.

Okay just think aloud, I used to work around Shakespeare Globe Theatre and love theatre and musicals, so will chuck some names at you. I find it best to write down everything you think of and play around with combinations - 'brainstorming' just dump everything from your head onto a piece of paper as quickly as you can, once you have to think really hard about it, you've done enough. If that makes sense? Something will come to you. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name Would smell as sweet" Anne Hathaway's Cottage The Rose Theatre Globe Theatre The Jester Medieval Bard Hero Snuff Measure for Measure Loves Labours Lost Midsummer Night's Dream Cymbeline Sonnet Twelfth Night ( I see a candlelit night there somewhere ) The Tempest Merchant of Venice Quill Pen - leads me to seals and sealing wax

Well I'm jealous too, is there a green faced jealous smiley. Living downunder, previously from UK I have to import most of my stuff. I mostly get fragrances from US and find that if I order about 3lbs in weight the cost of shipping via Airmail is quite reasonable: certainly worthwhile for me for better choice and accessibility than anything I can get locally. We're about equal distance in opposite directions of US, so cost are probably similar. It would probably pay you to play around with some shopping carts and see how much you can cram into one order before you reach the next level of shipping costs. Watch some of them really do cash in on shipping costs though and you will soon work out which ones to avoid.

Hi there, new to here myself, new to candle making and all that goes with starting to make a hobby into a business. My 'real life' day job is as an accountant, so fortunately it gives me a bit of a leg up on how to set things up from the point of finances and tax. I would say that if it takes a visit to your accountant (perhaps just once a year) to find out you haven't done so well then you need to look at keeping more control of your own finances, so that you know on a monthly basis how well or how badly things are going. You really shouldn't be getting nasty shocks like that. I don't want to teach anyone how to suck eggs, but are you keeping your own financial records of sales and expenses? Perhaps it's time to re-do your budgets and work out the real costs of your products versus what you are selling them for - it's easy to fritter away money without even realising it, so perhaps a spell of pulling in the reins and keeping track of every cent will show you where the money is going, just like you would with your own personal finances. Another idea is to set yourself a period of say 3 months, where you will spend nothing other than what you absolutely have to and you may be surprised at some of the areas where you can make savings, for now and for the long term.