help with business name

[chappyk]

Hi:

My daughter and I are starting into making candles. We live on the West Coast in Victoria B.C and I have come up with these few ideas for names :

canyon creek

Fernie Canyon

Sooke River

Kooteny River Candle

Cranbrook

Can someone help by suggesting a name or telling me if any of my above mentioned would work? Myself, I would like a name that could be used as a brand company name.

[AlwaysWondering]

Will you only be selling locally? Since I'm not from that area, none of these have meaning to me but to locals, they could be great names. If I had to pick one, I do very much like Canyon Creek.

[chappyk]

Well...I would like to eventually get bigger. I may be dreaming, but I would like to see it get as big as Yankee or Chesapeake Candle. So it has to have a good catchy name.

[EnvyCandles]

Well...I would like to eventually get bigger. I may be dreaming, but I would like to see it get as big as Yankee or Chesapeake Candle. So it has to have a good catchy name.

I think you are jumping the gun a little here. You need to take a step back! You just recently posted asking if you should start with paraffin or soy wax. Although thinking of a name is not a bad thing, it seems that you have not thought this through. You need to do research before you start thinking of being big as Yankee! Perfect example: Canyon Creek is already a candle company!

You stated you were doing this with your daughter to do something together, maybe first see if you have the time and patience (and money!!) before looking to start a business. IMO you don't seem to know what you are getting yourself into.

Candle-making as a hobby is not a bad thing! But my advice is for you to learn before you proceed. These forums are great for learning, but they do not take the place of time and testing.

Good luck.

[chappyk]

True enough. But coming up with a good name is important. One never knows how far you can go with something. I do aim big. I also realize that there is a lot of work ahead. I have had a passion for candles for years.

[ChandlerWicks]

Hi ChappyK,

I just began 3 months ago. I read & test, read & test. I don't think I'll be ready to sell for at least another 7 months the way this is going. but I love it! I was also looking for something & realized I could actually try to make a stronger scented candle then the ones I was buying. I started searching for a name & realized my maiden name meant candle maker. So that part was easy! Read & test everyday if you can, but I am also looking at websites, labels, selling avenues, etc. at the same time. Gotta have something to do while staring at the darn wicks that won't burn correctly! LOL. I use IGI 4627 wax & lots & lots of different wicks.

[coconut]

ChappyK, I flirted with lots of names for my business. The first thing I do is check to see if the web site is available. If not, I dump that name. If so, I buy it. I bought and gave up quite a few before I picked the one I think I am going to keep. HTH.

[Georgia]

While I do agree that you are jumping the gun a bit, I also think you are thinking in the wrong direction. An author doesn't come up with the title and then write the book. Once you are into making candles (and whatever else) and find your niche, the name will come to you.

[EnvyCandles]

True enough. But coming up with a good name is important. One never knows how far you can go with something. I do aim big. I also realize that there is a lot of work ahead. I have had a passion for candles for years.

While I do agree that you are jumping the gun a bit, I also think you are thinking in the wrong direction. An author doesn't come up with the title and then write the book. Once you are into making candles (and whatever else) and find your niche, the name will come to you.

Having a "good catchy name" has NOTHING to do with having excellent products- picking out a name is not going to help you with anything at this point. Like Georgia said, you are going in the wrong direction. I would suggest first finding out what kind of candles you want. I know you are still deciding what type of wax to use. That will directly influence what kind of candles you can make. But worrying about how to shrink wrap votives and things like that are so far away from where you are.

Don't get me wrong, aiming big is great, but unfortunately you will come to see that profit on candle-making is not what we all originally thought it would be! Buying a kit would be a good starting point. Wicking is the beast that causes everyone the biggest headaches... Good luck to you, have fun!

[chappyk]

You guys are right about the name thing....I am going to start with votives, tealights, wax melts and 3 inch pillars. I think thats a good. Is that too much?

[NaturallyTru]

Set small goals. 1) choose wax and wicking you would like to test with. 2) Select your first option for jar. 3) test the wax with different wicking to see which might be the ones you will end up using. 4) Test adding some fragrance to the jar/wick combo you have tested. 5) Cuss, throw things. 6) retest with another wick. 7) Another wick? Change Jar? 8) test, test, test. 9) pull out hair, quit, cry 10) start over. 11) After repeating the steps a few more times, you may have a few fragrances that you may be happy with. 12) Concentrate on those fragrances for a while. You will need to recoup money you invested. 13) Think about attempting melts. 14) start all over again. 15) now try votives and pillars - repeat but expect even more headaches.

So now that you have spend oodles of money, hours, months...you may be ready to start a business.

example: Goal #1 $500 in sales. Goal #2 $1000 in sales $5000 (be prepared to wait), $500 profit (champagne at this point...again...be prepared to wait).

Set budgets and hit the pavement: Advertising, marketing, Craft shows, wholesale ($$ + time)

2 years down the line: If You are getting close to banking 1-3 thousand a year - congrats (you lucky duck!)

5 years down the line: $5000/year? (How many set backs have you had in the past 3 years? Want to risk making faster results in year 5: Decide to take out a $100,000+ loan, hire employees, work 80 hours a week, massive marketing/advertising and pray that you will not lose your house & car.

The percentage of candle businesses that make a living are low. Know that going in. You may be one of the lucky ones; but no quarantee. It's like winning the Lottery.

Having said all that...welcome to the insane world of candlemaking. Feel free to ask questions here; but realize we have all spent precious hours researching and testing on our own and you should to. So if we get snippy occasionally it's because we want you to learn candlemaking so you can create a fantastic product. Best way to do that is make mistakes on your own...ask advice and test again.

Edited September 6, 2011 by NaturallyTru

[CandyinVA]

Set small goals. 1) choose wax and wicking you would like to test with. 2) Select your first option for jar. 3) test the wax with different wicking to see which might be the ones you will end up using. 4) Test adding some fragrance to the jar/wick combo you have tested. 5) Cuss, throw things. 6) retest with another wick. 7) Another wick? Change Jar? 8) test, test, test. 9) pull out hair, quit, cry 10) start over. 11) After repeating the steps a few more times, you may have a few fragrances that you may be happy with. 12) Concentrate on those fragrances for a while. You will need to recoup money you invested. 13) Think about attempting melts. 14) start all over again. 15) now try votives and pillars - repeat but expect even more headaches.

So now that you have spend oodles of money, hours, months...you may be ready to start a business.

example: Goal #1 $500 in sales. Goal #2 $1000 in sales $5000 (be prepared to wait), $500 profit (champagne at this point...again...be prepared to wait).

Set budgets and hit the pavement: Advertising, marketing, Craft shows, wholesale ($$ + time)

2 years down the line: If You are getting close to banking 1-3 thousand a year - congrats (you lucky duck!)

5 years down the line: $5000/year? (How many set backs have you had in the past 3 years? Want to risk making faster results in year 5: Decide to take out a $100,000+ loan, hire employees, work 80 hours a week, massive marketing/advertising and pray that you will not lose your house & car.

The percentage of candle businesses that make a living are low. Know that going in. You may be one of the lucky ones; but no quarantee. It's like winning the Lottery.

Having said all that...welcome to the insane world of candlemaking. Feel free to ask questions here; but realize we have all spent precious hours researching and testing on our own and you should to. So if we get snippy occasionally it's because we want you to learn candlemaking so you can create a fantastic product. Best way to do that is make mistakes on your own...ask advice and test again.

LOVE THIS!!!!! Couldn't have said it better myself :-)

[Faerywren]

Very well put, Trudi!

[Candybee]

Don't get discouraged Chappyk. Nothing wrong with big dreams. I do agree that you should learn how to make your product first, and make a good one, make it unique, and safe, before you start considering starting the business part.

[deb426]

I think its a good idea to wait to come up with a business name. Some of the best names are founded on special circumstances. You might find that while you are making candles, the perfect name comes to you that means something special to you and your daughter.

[robertgibbens]

Chappyyyk,

Aim high and don't let anyone tell you how to start or where to go. There is no one right way to start. The order of the steps is not as important as the steps themselves. If you want to figure out packaging and the name before you figure out how to make a good candle then do it! Just make sure you learn how to make a good candle before you open a shop.

[Ring of Fire]

Chappyyyk,

Aim high and don't let anyone tell you how to start or where to go. There is no one right way to start. The order of the steps is not as important as the steps themselves. If you want to figure out packaging and the name before you figure out how to make a good candle then do it! Just make sure you learn how to make a good candle before you open a shop.

I agree. I think it's great to set your sights high. What you do with that is up to you. I bet the lady who created Scentsy is happy she didn't let anyone discourage her.

[coconut]

NaturallyTru really hit it on the head. With that said, I like coming up with a name early on for two reasons: it gives you something to dream on, and you can reserve the website. Nothing more agravating than finding out you can't get the web site of the name you just registered and paid for. Now I'm not saying you will sell a lot of candles online, that is not too likely, but it gives your regular customers a place to refer to, and you can list the craft shows you plan to visit. All way in the future, but nothing wrong with planning. A business is still a plan, even if it is in your head and not on paper. You can find a lot of posts about business names on this site. Use Google and search for craftserver & business name.

[NaturallyTru]

Maybe this can give you name ideas:

My first business White Gables Scents was named after my parents 100 year old house that was known as...yep White Gables in it's heyday.

My current business, NaturallyTru, is a play on my name Trudi.

[Scented]

You guys are right about the name thing....I am going to start with votives, tealights, wax melts and 3 inch pillars. I think thats a good. Is that too much?

Here are my thoughts ... while you're just starting out, you have plenty of time to test and get your products in line when you get ready to go into business. There's absolutely nothing wrong with locking up a name, but the name is a personal thing. Make a list of names that you and your daughter come up with and then type those names a browser under .coms and .nets and see what comes up. It's hard to find names that aren't taken. What started happening to me when I was searching goDaddy's database was that a name would be free, but I wasn't sure that was what I wanted. I would go back and check again and sho nuff that name was gone. I have my suspicions on what was going down, but that isn't the point here. When you and your daughter arrive at a name that you feel "fits" you and if you see it's free, lock it down (buy it so that it doesn't suddenly become unavailable.) If you come up with a list of names that you like you can seek out feedback here. That shouldn't be a big deal, but do not be the kind of people who got into candlemaking to make a buck or a million without knowing how your products perform please. IMO you shouldn't have customers in three months nor someone who has just started in say four or five months and still researching your product while trying to sell them. In the long run, it really only will hurt you and will bruise the reputation of others who have already gone through the loops. By that, someone will have bought a product from say joe blow new and it didn't perform well. Suddenly all candles and makers on the market are the same way. When people speak about negativity on the board in regards to shooting at the feet and dreams new people have it's because it's important to us that handmade products maintain a good reputation. We already battle how WalMart candles perform (well some of us do) and people think all candles perform like that. In truth, not all candles do. I don't mean to be lecturing here and hope I'm not. If you want to be in business, you need more than a hope and a dream or a like or love of what you make. You need a business plan that outlines how you are going to reach your goal and the mini steps it will take to get there along with what you want to accomplish and what obstacles you think you might face and then how to overcome those. You really need the last part of that if going "big." Plan for both failure and success I guess is another way to look at it.

Keep your enthusiasm as you tackle each phase that it takes to get from point A to Z and any side roads you may take to get there.

And that brings me to your question, "I am going to start with votives, tealights, wax melts and 3 inch pillars ... Is that too much?"

It's only too much if you can't give each area proper attention and you'll have to define just what proper attention is to you. To me, it would be knowing your product forwards and backwards without having to come here to get all of your answers. I hope that makes sense. Adding -- by no means is it wrong to come here and ask. There are always things you run into. At some point though, you are or will be the only person who can answer your own questions about your product. You need to know it inside and out for your customer's sake and yours should anything come up under legal.

Keep in mind there will always be people who want to slow you down or think you shouldn't be doing this until you do that type of thing. March at your own pace. Absorb like a sponge and maintain your convictions. At the same time, don't cut corners getting from A to Z. Am I talking in circles yet?

And between all that, go find out what your future market area is doing. Maybe even sample the competition to know how to excel against them,.

Edited September 8, 2011 by Scented

[ChandlerWicks]

I'm hitting the like button Scented!!!!!!