Candle Business Makes $300,000 In 18 Months!

Do you love crafts and making things with your hands? Have you ever thought about turning that into a business? Today we’re talking with the founder of Blk Sunflower, a handcrafted candle business that’s blossomed in its first 2 years.

This video is sponsored by Shopify, the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform. Find out more here: https://www.shopify.com/upflip

Jazmin Richards started making candles as a stress-reliever from her day job, and so she could burn clean candles that wouldn’t bother her son’s asthma. She took her hand-made candles to a local holiday market in late 2019. When COVID shut her son’s school in early 2020, she took the leap on her candle making business and Blk Sunflower was born.

Jazmin didn’t have extra money laying around for starting a candle business. Other than the candle making supplies, she only spent about $100 on Instagram ads when she first took Blk Sunflower full-time. We’ll find out how she stretched her investment to get the best returns, and where to focus your initial budget to see the most growth.

Today, Blk Sunflower pours at least 200 candles every week, and has been featured in magazines like People, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. We’ll hear how she’s gotten such big-time press without spending tons on advertising, what marketing strategies have driven her early growth, and other candle business tips to help you hit the ground running.

Whether you want to know how to start a candle business or want to turn another hand-craft hobby into your full-time gig, Blk Sunflower’s model is an excellent one to follow! You can see their candles or hear more of Jazmin’s story at https://www.blksunflower.com/.

Looking for more advice on starting or growing a business? You’ll find tons on the UpFlip blog: https://www.upflip.com/blog

Check out our podcast https://upflip.com/podcast, where you get to unravel how great businesses are built.

And here are some past interviews we’ve done with creative eCommerce business owners:

Ecommerce Business Makes $1M/Year (After Rejection on Shark Tank) ►
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIUqZapezj8

How Afshan Makes $60K/Month From Her Shoes Business ►
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Iz4tTVrZE

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
0:52 Starting From Scratch
1:43 Doubling Revenue
2:53 How To Cut Costs
4:59 The Necessary Equipment
6:34 Keeping Profit Margins High
7:39 The Importance of a Website
9:25 Creating a Masterpiece
11:25 The Secret To Sales
12:26 Why Income Fluctuates
14:08 The Key to Social Media
15:00 How To Capture Customers
16:05 The Product Process
18:02 How To Stay Organized
19:45 Creating an Eye-Catching Product
22:07 What Makes a Product Popular
23:28 How To Get Featured
24:36 Getting a Publicist
26:14 Quality Over Quantity
27:51 Designing A Brand
29:44 How To Cope With Struggles
30:31 Expanding The Business
31:49 Keeping Customers Coming Back
34:34 An Entrepreneur's Day
36:44 Advice To All

#candlebusiness #candlemakingbusiness #candlemaking