I tried a new wax the other day, and it looks like this stuff is going to be much better than the other wax I've been experimenting with. It holds dye better, and it has a much smoother and glossier appearance when it solidifies. I just lit the next two test candles, and this wax seems to throw fragrance a lot better than the other wax I was experimenting with. Only thing left to check for is whether it will resolidify properly after the wick is extinguished, which it should. To top it all off, this wax is even less expensive than the other wax, too, so I'll most likely be switching.
I'm almost done figuring out proper combinations of wax, fragrance, dye, and wicks -- I'll probably have to "tweak" things a bit to make sure I've got everything right for the new wax, but that shouldn't take long. I've also found the right suppliers to sell me everything I need at the best prices, so I've almost got a line of finished products ready to sell... the only major thing missing is coming up with some kind of label for the jars (and for mailing labels as well).
I've come up with some guidelines on what the prices should be. The small business/candlemaking books and web sites that I've looked at say that you're supposed to add up the cost of all the materials that go into a candle, and then multiply that by a certain amount. The prices I've come up with are competitive with Yankee Candle, which is important. I haven't compared prices with any other home-made candles yet... I'm afraid I'll find out that their prices are too low for me to compete, and I don't want to depress myself this evening. I'll do it tomorrow.
The fun part will be plunking down the money up front to get a good enough stock of supplies on hand to have a wide enough variety of products to sell. That's going to be at least a few hundred dollars or so, but then, as the old saying goes, "It takes money to make money."
Posted by Zathras at August 18, 2004 08:06 PM