big business opportunity...

[latch]

I am not sure how to handle this one, I was approached by a fundraising company who said they wanted to come and talk to me about carrying my candles for their fundraiser line... I guess thats how you would word that..

But I dont know how that would work, I have a fundraiser form together to do my own.. but how would that work for them, would they buy wholesale? but if they do that they would have to charge too much for them... am i better off doing my own fundraisers?? any suggestions would be appreciated.. thanks in advance

[Fire and Ice]

Do they have a website you can look at to get an idea of what type of fundraiser they do and how many they do?

Either way good luck!

[agoodsaid]

How ready are you for large scale production? Is this a big company?

You should definitely ask them how many fundraisers they do and how often. It could be a huge opportunity or it could be a big fat headache.

What sort of goals do you have? Do you hope to eventually hire people? Do you prefer to work alone? How much time of your waking hours do you want to spend pouring candles?

I'm a long time crafter, but opted to use 'not my own production' for my candle fundraiser business.

Here's a page that I recently added to my website:

http://www.candle-fundraiser-advisor.com/candle-maker-fundraisers.html

There're several articles to be written yet, but it'll give you one perspective on 'be careful what you wish for' scenarios.

Think about what your perfect candle business looks like ... what it is that fits in and will bring you closer to it?

It'll be interesting to see what they have to say and how the whole thing *feels* to you. Be sure and give yourself some thinking time ... don't make any agreements that first visit ;-)

hth,

Andrea

[sockmonkey]

I don't know what that company has in mind, but an organization I do volunteer work for received information from a candle company about using them for fundraising. Their plan called for no money up front--just take orders. The cost was essentially wholesale for the candles, but where they are able to make a lot of money is for custom label orders.

It wasn't a bad deal, but this is a company that sells nationally. It would be easy for them to ship 1000 candles to me when I turn an order in. Are you set up to make even 100 candles at short notice--considering not only the labor involved, but finances as well?

The company I dealt with offered a certain amount of scents to choose from. If I wanted a scent not listed as an option, that would incur additional charges which were not specified, and I did not inquire. They also had a few different label designs to choose from. As I said, customized labels required additional charges. I think in order to get customized labels they would print a minimum of 200 labels and charge you for them, even if you didn't sell that many candles; however, they were your labels and if you did more fundraising at a later date they would apply those labels, so you would not be out further costs on the next project.

They also had a deal, where for each case you sold, you got one free candle. They mainly sold candles in tins, but jars were also available and were more pricey. The good thing about selling tins as fundraisers is that you don't have to worry about kids dropping them and breaking them; plus, they aren't as heavy as jars, so everyone saves on shipping costs.

So, I think some things to consider are: how many scents you will offer them?; what labeling options you have?; what type of containers will you offer?; how much turn time will you need?

If this is a fundraising company, do you expect that they will need a large order at one time, perhaps buying 500 candles from you, which they pay wholesale for and you ship all 500 to them? Or, do you think they are needing you as a fulfillment company--they still buy 500 candles, but do not take possession of them. For example, the PTA has a fund raiser and sold 100 candles, the Humane Society's fundraiser sold 50 candles, so they order 150 candles this month; then next month no fundraisers = no candle orders?

[latch]

thank you guys so much for the info.. helped so much..

I am still small of course. still doing candles in my kitchen. we are working on a building in back of my house, which will be nice. I have a wholesale account that orders about 150 candles every 3 months or so... I pretty much get those out in 2 weeks by myself..

I am just a little afraid of getting big.. i have 7 children and they are my top priority, but then again if i can work it out in a way that i can make time for everything ha ha, maybe hire someone, it could work.. just dont want to turn down a big opportunity, but afraid to get in over my head. or do i keep it small and turn down the big things for now??

how does that work if they buy wholesale from you, what do they have to sell for to make a profit??

[sockmonkey]

That's up to them to know what they need to sell them for to make a profit. You know what you have invested in making your candles. How much profit are you willing to make by reducing the price, but selling in larger quantities? What kind of mark up do you have when you sell to people off the street? Generally, when purchasing wholesale, you pay about 1/2 of what the retail price is you see in stores.

Say you have $3 investing in making your candles. Are you selling them for $10 on the street? If so, can you afford to sell them wholesale for $5 or $6 each? It may be that the fundraising company could charge $12 for the same candle you're selling for $10. You know we've all bought crappy candy, candles, cheese, etc. that we paid way too much for just because it was for a fundraiser for our kids, or the neighbor's kids. That's the fundraising company's challenge to determine how much money they think they can charge people and get away with. Your job is to provide them with a quality candle. In order to sell to them wholesale, you can also require that they spend a certain dollar amount to make it worth your while.

You really need to find out exactly what their needs are to determine what plan will work best for you and them. What kind of history does this company have? How many years has it been in business? Is it a new start up company with people working out of their homes, or is it a large organization? Find out how much THEY can spend. If they do this kind of thing for a living, I guarantee they already have numbers in their heads for what they are wanting to pay for things.

I wouldn't feel pressured to hand them a plan on your first meeting with them. You should develop a plan after you meet with them and determine that it is something acheivable with your current operations. After listening to them, if you think it's something you are still interested in, I would tell them that you will discuss this with your "associates", (a.k.a., candletech) and get back with them with a program you think will be most profitable for them.