SpaceGirl Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 ack! So I just got off the phone talking with a gentleman about my candles! He is with the amenities business, essentially, and was given one of my candles by a co-worker. We discussed the possibility of me making candles for them to distribute!I think he might have been testing me out on the phone a little bit, because when I asked what sort of volume he was talking about the first thing he said was that they supply Sandals (as in the Beach Resort places). *faint* I had to tell him that wasn't the sort of product that I make - I'm about handcrafted quality. He seemed okay with that -- said they have some customers who they do custom work for in smaller quantities and that I would probably fit with that. We talked for a bit -- it helped that he was knowledgable about candles, candlemaking AND educating customers about candles. He also said they provide the fragrance and the containers, as they silk screen specifically for their customers.Anywhoo -- I'm meeting with him in person next Thursday and taking some more samples with me. My goal is to leave there with one or two fragrances and some containers to test produce for them. If they like what I can provide, then maybe we're talking contract! OMG!!! Now I'm nervous and excited at the same time! I could be up to my eyeballs testing soon. Aaacccccccckkkkk!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgirl Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Congrats Spacegirl.. Wishing you good Mojo and lots of business!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artcwolf Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 congrats, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunkie68 Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Spacegirl, that's awesome!!! (And I can see where it would be a little bit scary, too!) Go out there and knock 'em dead! :yay: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 hey that's great!! congrats and good luck! I'm doing the same type of work for an italian company, they give me their containers and fragrances too.It's a challenge, and the customers in this case are not so knowloedgeable in candles, so I have to explain from a to z.... and hope they'll understand.Let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerinarkansas Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Congratulations...hope it works out for you. Ginger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruina Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 That's fantastic! Congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticglow Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Congrats!! :highfive:What a great opportunity for you. I wish you the best and hope it all works out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callmaker Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Wonderful and remember when you hit it big I do hand lotions, LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozyaromas Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 Sounds great, you must be excited!!! Keep us posted!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGirl Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Well I had my meeting with the guy today, so here's my update..... The interview went really well -- I learned more about what they are looking for. Candles are a relatively new addition to their line of offerings and what they have learned about candles has come from their experience with their current chandlers. It sounded to me like they are not completely satisfied with some of their producers because there isn't a good partnership going on. They need someone with the candlemaking expertise to help them manage and negotiate customer expectations by explaining what is possible and what isn't. One "supplier" would rather make 400 candles and then turn around and make 400 more if the originals aren't quite what the customer wanted rather than work it out in the beginning. Another really didn't want to have to change anything that they were doing to accomodate a customer.... or explain the downside of doing things a different way. So -- essentially they want someone who isn't going to make them look bad as a middleman, I'm thinking. It's funny -- working the day job that I do involves a lot of expectation management and negotiations to find an acceptable solution, so that process is completely normal to me.He showed me their production floor, where they silk screen all sorts of bottles, fill bottles with product, embroider towels with custom designs, etc...... I was a little jealous of the stuff that they can do -- LOL! The packaging options they have made me drool!I left with their catalog and a pantome(?) color chart which is how they specify the coloring that they want. I'm going to go back next week and pick up some fragrances and containers to test with -- I'm sure he wanted to check me out before letting me walk out with their stuff and I'm okay with that.That whole coloring thing is going to be interesting -- I am not super strict about exact color matching because to me that's one of the signatures of handmade product, but for this I'm going to have to take much better notes! LOL!So all in all -- good experience and I am pretty confident that we'll be working something out -- starting small and then seeing what my capacity for production truly is -- and how well I can help them meet their customers' needs.So if y'all don't mind, I'm going to do a little super-banana dance here..... *super banana* *super banana* *super banana* *super banana* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozyaromas Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Sounds great, this might be the "It Factor" to get your name out there full blast if it isn't already. I think it might be something you can handle, although do you think it will interefere with your day job especially if they can have 400 orders at a time? You may have to reevaluate the day job, if you haven't done so already. I say go for it, when an opportunity comes up afterall sometimes opportunities like this don't come knocking twice. As far as the coloring goes, I'm sure it won't be hard to master with good notes!!I wish you the best!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybersix Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 hey that's great!!!Congrats, I know you will do well!As I told you it's pretty much the same thing I was asked for, but we'll go without color:p lol!!!Good luck, and have fun. Always have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloworm Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 What a fabulous opportunity Space Girl. Hope it all works out for you and you have a ball and make a million!!Glo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachael Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Wow congrats Spacegirl that is awesome !Will send positive energy your way to help you with colors and testing !that is just too cool ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGirl Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 Thanks for the encouragement, everyone.I'm not as worried about the volume right now -- he knows that volume is NOT a part of my operation right now and is willing to start with small orders and if demand really does exceed capacity to talk about that in the future. And even without giving up my dayjob I can do a few hundred a month (small beans to some of you, I know) before I have to make accomodations and look for more help.I sent him a follow up e-mail last night -- I figure this wasn't any different than a job interview and it's just good manners to do a follow up after those. He responded very positively so I have pretty high confidence that I'll be picking up some supplies next week to play with.Oh and one of the things that won him over was attention to testing! So for the newbies there's another reason to test, test, test! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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