How Much Can You Make Selling Candles?
Candle making is a hobby that many people turn into a business.
It starts as a side hustle to learn the fundamentals before evolving into a full-time small business. The National Candle Association estimates the candle industry is worth several billion dollars and popularity is on the rise among amateurs.
Is candle making profitable work?
Small businesses can only live as long as they make money, so how much money can you make selling candles, really?
The insanely simple math
“You need to spend money to make money”
The equation for profit is simple arithmetic. Simply subtract the cost of making the candle from the price paid for the candle.
The amount you make in a year is merely an extension of that concept: price paid to you for all the candles sold in a year minus the cost of making the candles sold in a year.
Wow!
Unfortunately, “simple” does not mean “easy”.
What does “cost of making a candle” refer to? There are a lot of factors that complicate the cost of it because they aren’t generally obvious.
Cost of making a candle
Cost of Materials – Materials used to literally make the candle. Includes wax, fragrance oil, color, labels, jars, etc.
Research & Development – Supplies used up in a lab never turn a profit. Just make sure your candles are safe and awesome.
Shipping – Includes not just freight, but also materials and time associated with preparing the candles for shipment.
Insurance – One of many soft costs associated with running a small business. Read more about insurance for candle making.
Other – Your business needs electricity, rent, software, and other utilities. Write off everything you can during taxes because overhead cuts into profit.
Setting an appropriate candle price
The amount a customer pays for your candle is arguably more complicated than the cost of producing the candle.
Candle sales tell the story of human psychology in the market of attention. Having the right message in front of the right person at the right time is an art as much as it is a science.
On top of that, you need to establish the promise of your product.
Candle prices are successful when the right promise is made to the right person.
Selling is a lot like dating because you won’t expect to sell to everyone, only the right people or personalities. The vast selection of personalities on earth explains the wide range of candle prices on the market, from $1.99 janky candles to $299 luxury candles.
Your candle price should derive from a flavor of your customer profiles, your market, and your expected profit margins.
Read more about finding the ideal price for your candles here.
The equation, explained
While you shouldn’t run out and expect to turn millions in your first year selling candles, there is a very high ceiling for how much you can make.
Learning the craft does you no good if you have no customers, but for the sake of making this point let’s assume customer acquisition is free and easy.
If your average candle costs $5.00 to make (while accounting for all the random items mentioned earlier) and you sell it for an average of $20.00, your net profit per candle is $15.00.
If you sold 150 candles in a year, you’d make:
150 candles * $15.00 = $2,250
Another way to think about it is if you want to make $100,000 in a year, you would need to sell:
$100,000 ÷ $15.00 = 6,667 candles
Which is about 556 candles per month. Is that reasonable? It depends on your business plan and market strategy.
Conclusion
There isn’t a hard and fast guideline for how much money you can make selling candles because the customer base and strategy for your business is unique.
Your ability to build a fantastic candle while keeping costs low is key to optimizing your growth.
Running a small business is just as complicated, if not more complicated, than figuring out how to create candles. Planning, executing, pouring, and advertising all play a role in your success.
Never stop learning about your customer’s or your craft, and don’t settle for luck when hard work is available to you in unlimited supply.
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