My first order!

[Draco]

Well, keeping a few candles at work has finally paid off, in that one of my coworkers has not only make a purchase, but also a semi-custom order.

I hope this is the beginging of good things for my little start up.

[southern.scents]

Wait...you just started making them 9 days ago is what I have gathered from your first post. Maybe I am wrong....

Have you gotten insurance?

Have you test burned your candle adequately?

Are you really confident enough in your product to through it out there on the market and possibly end up losing customers if they find out they don't like them?

Don't get offended or upset. I am just pointing out what many else who see this will. I went throught the same thing and many before you have. TEST, take your time.

[Stella1952]

Glad you are feeling confident and having some success but I gotta agree with SS, here - if you have not tested your candles thoroughly and gotten your business ducks in a row, ya might wanna slow down a little before selling. Friends, neighbors and relatives are great people to test your candles and give feedback before offering them for sale to the general public.

[SatinDucky]

I would really like to say congratulations, but I can't. Anyone who wants to become a business rather than just a hobby I wish great success to them, you included. But I just can't believe that your candles could possibly be tested thoroughly in this short of time. Until someone had made and tested for a while it's hard to understand all the things that can go wrong.This isn't meant to be mean, just a bit of wise advice. If you truly want to have a successful business, please make sure you've tested, tested and tested some more. Any candles you sell now that aren't of good quality will be LOST future customers, not to mention harming your reputation to anyone they may "spread the word to". I wont even get into the safety hazards... I think most everyone knows them by heart and if not, reading a few insurance threads will spell it out.

Good Luck

[Jane42]

Congratulations! It feels good to get positive feedback on something you create, doesn't it?!

I have to agree with the above posters, though. Make sure that what you have created is what you want to be known for - there is only one time to make a first impression!

Let your friends test for you. Nothing gets people as excited over your product as helping and feeling a part of it. They will learn to appreciate the differences between your candles and the "store bought" candles.

They, hopefully, will also let you know if it is not burning the way it should. If you search the forum, you will find a couple of examples of test sheets that you can give your testers.

We THOUGHT we had the perfect candle when we had our first small show. Luckily, we didn't sell much...because I would cringe if I met anyone now that had bought those first candles...and they probably would not buy one from me now, even though our present ones burn beautifully.

Please don't take offense - nobody wants to bring you down. We just want you to be sure you are offering something you will be proud of in the future.

Good Luck!

[Draco]

I did not figure that I would need all that to just sell a few to friends. I have tested, I can say that, and we have been doing this for more than 9 days, I did not start posting here till well after we started.

I know you guys and gals would not try to just bring me down, I guess I am just being really laid back at this point. At some point, I would love to make this a money maker, but for now, I am just happy that someone likes what me and my partner have made as a hobby.

If this one order turned into something, then I most definitely will go through the process of getting insurance and setting my self up with a vendor license.

I appreciate all your advice, I really do.