Artisan Candle Maker (Part 2)

Part 2: The evolution from £225k to £1.3M while maintaining artisan quality and sustainable values 

In Part 1, we explored how Emily transformed a career crisis triggered by redundancy into a strategic opportunity, building a sustainable candle business around refillable containers and limited monthly collections. Today, we discover how she scaled from early kitchen table success to a fast growth sustainable business while staying true to her original vision. 

Emily stood in her newly leased South London studio space in June 2022, watching her team carefully arrange seasonal flowers for the photography shoot of her latest collection. Sunlight streamed through large windows onto workbenches where artisan vessels waited to be filled, each one handcrafted by her growing network of potters across the UK. 

It was hard to believe that just over a year earlier, she had been sitting at her kitchen table with a redundancy letter, wondering if her lockdown candle hobby could ever become something substantial. Now, as she watched her photographer capture the essence of her autumn fragrance collection, she realised she wasn't just running a successful business - she was building something that could genuinely transform how people thought about beautiful, sustainable products. 

The journey from kitchen table to having her own studio space had happened through careful strategic planning that honoured both her artisan values and her ambition to create something significant. 

The Strategic Reset That Changed Everything 

By June 2022, Emily had proven her concept beyond doubt. She was comfortably projecting £225,000 annual turnover with her current model of monthly seasonal launches, steady subscription base, and strategic seasonal gifting campaigns. But Emily was ready to think bigger. 

We began with a Strategic Reset to explore what the next three years could look like. Rather than simply continuing what was working, we examined how Emily could expand systematically while maintaining the artisan quality and sustainability principles that created brand differentiation. 

The projections we developed together were ambitious yet grounded in results: 65% growth year-on-year, aiming to exceed £370,000 in Year 2, £610,000 in Year 3, and £1 million by Year 4. Emily had the confidence now to think at this scale - her cash flow forecasting skills and the proven market demand gave her the foundation to plan with genuine optimism rather than hopeful guessing. 

What we hadn't anticipated was just how ready the market was for Emily's approach. Her actual growth rate turned out to be 80% year-on-year, consistently exceeding our projections. 

Designing Growth That Honored Her Values 

The expansion strategy we developed together addressed six key areas that would enable sustainable scaling without compromising the authenticity that made Emily's brand so special. 

• Brand Awareness Through Strategic Investment: Emily began investing in paid advertising and PR to tell her sustainability story authentically, reaching like-minded customers who shared her values. 

• Customer Retention: She engaged a specialist agency to develop sophisticated email marketing campaigns that created genuine relationships with her customers, sharing the stories behind each fragrance and educating them about sustainable living. 

• Local Partnerships That Mattered: Rather than relying on ecommerce alone, Emily built a carefully selected network of lifestyle stores and florists that aligned with her brand values and served customers who would appreciate artisan quality. 

• Product Range Expansion: Emily added reed diffusers, diffuser oils, and electronic diffusers to serve different customer preferences and use occasions. 

• Gift Sets: Emily created beautifully curated gift sets that elevated the gift-giving experience while showcasing the range of her offering. 

• Workshop Experiences: Emily began offering in-person workshops that reconnected her with the joy she'd experienced when first creating and validating her products. This created a small additional revenue stream and deepened customer relationships. 

Solving the Challenge of Scaling 

Emily's success created wonderful challenges that required creative solutions. The most pressing was scaling production of her artisan containers without losing the handcrafted quality that made her candles so special. 

Emily's solution was elegant and strategic: instead of finding one large pottery supplier, she built a network of artisan potters across the UK. This approach enabled her to commission limited edition vessels customised to reflect each seasonal fragrance while supporting multiple small craft businesses that shared her values. 

This network became one of Emily's greatest competitive advantages. Each potter brought their own artistic perspective while working within Emily's aesthetic guidelines, creating vessels that were consistently beautiful but never repetitive. Customers began collecting the different potters' work, adding an element of discovery and anticipation to each monthly launch. 

As demand grew rapidly, Emily found herself spending increasingly long days managing the time-intensive process of creating each candle. This was satisfying but ultimately unsustainable if she wanted to focus on design, product development, and strategic leadership. 

Emily made the crucial decision to hire a Production Executive to oversee this side of the business. This wasn't just about reducing her workload - it was about recognising that her highest value lay in creative and strategic work rather than in managing daily production. 

Building a Team That Amplified Her Vision 

As Emily's business grew more sophisticated, so did her understanding of what she needed to focus on personally versus what could be handled by skilled team members who shared her vision. 

• Scaling Operations: Emily brought in an Operations Executive to oversee end-to-end order logistics, ensuring that the customer experience remained seamless even as volume increased dramatically. 

• Production Leadership: The Production Executive she hired didn't just manage manufacturing but developed relationships with suppliers and refined processes that maintained artisan quality at increased scale. 

• Brand Development: Emily hired a part-time Head of Brand and Marketing who could develop and implement strategies to enhance the company's brand identity, increase awareness, and foster positive brand perception. This role managed overall brand image and campaigns while ensuring consistency across all marketing channels. 

• Sales Growth: A part-time Sales Executive focused specifically on building Emily's network of local stockists, handling the relationship management and logistics that enabled retail partnerships without consuming Emily's time. 

This team structure gave Emily something she'd not had before: the space to focus on what she did best - design and product strategy development - while evolving into the CEO role her growing business required. 

The Moment Emily Realised What She'd Built 

The transformation in Emily's daily experience was significant. Instead of spending her days managing production schedules and fulfilling orders, she found herself designing new fragrances, developing product concepts, and thinking strategically about new market opportunities. 

But perhaps the most significant realisation came when Emily began planning for the next phase of growth. Her business had outgrown not just her kitchen table but her current studio space. She needed proper storage facilities, expanded workshop space for production, and a dedicated studio for photography shoots and the workshops that had become increasingly popular. 

The scale of investment required - £250,000 for facilities and equipment - led Emily to explore equity crowdfunding. This wasn't just about simply about raising money; it was about inviting customers and supporters to become part of her mission to create more sustainable, beautiful products. 

The crowdfunding campaign, planned for Autumn 2025, represented something Emily could never have imagined when she first started her business: the opportunity to raise substantial capital based on proven success and a clear vision for continued growth. 

Strategic Focus for Continued Evolution 

When we completed Emily's most recent Strategic Reset at in the summer of 2025, her confidence and strategic thinking had evolved dramatically. No longer worried about replacing her PR salary, Emily now approached expansion with a sophisticated analysis of the market and clear priorities. 

1. Stockist Expansion: Rather than random growth, Emily is systematically expanding her retail partnerships, focusing on stores that align with her values and serve customers who appreciate artisan quality. 

2. Strategic Industry Partnerships: Emily is developing relationships within the floral and wedding industries, recognising that these partnerships could introduce her products to customers who particularly value beauty, sustainability, and special occasions. 

3. Corporate Gifting Service: Understanding that businesses increasingly seek gifts that reflect their values, Emily is launching a corporate gifting service that helps companies express their commitment to sustainability through meaningful gifts. 

These initiatives represent Emily's evolution from product creator to positioning her brand as a potential market leader - someone whose success enables her to influence industry practices while building a business that genuinely matters. 

What Emily's Journey Tells Us About Sustainable Scaling 

Emily's evolution from £225,000 to over £1.3 million in annual turnover illustrates several key principles about building businesses that can grow significantly while maintaining their authentic character: 

• Strategic patience creates compound growth: Rather than pursuing rapid expansion that might compromise quality, Emily's methodical approach to building systems and capabilities enabled sustainable scaling that consistently exceeded projections. 

• Team development amplifies vision: Learning to delegate effectively didn't diminish Emily's influence over her business - it multiplied her impact by enabling others to execute her vision while she focused on creative and strategic leadership. 

• Values-driven partnerships create strength: Emily's network of artisan potters and carefully selected retail partners are creating a business ecosystem that reinforces rather than compromises her sustainability mission. 

• Investment follows proof: By the time Emily needed substantial capital, she had established the track record and systems that made equity crowdfunding a strategic choice rather than a desperate necessity. 

Most importantly, Emily discovered that scaling a values-driven business didn't require abandoning her commitment to sustainability and artisan quality. Instead, growth has enabled her to amplify these values, creating employment for artisan potters, offering customers genuinely sustainable alternatives, and proving that businesses built around a meaningful purpose and seemingly small niche can in fact achieve remarkable financial success. 

The Ripple Effect of Thoughtful Leadership 

Today, Emily isn't just running a successful candle business - she's creating a model for how product companies can grow while staying true to their environmental and social commitments. 

Her network of artisan potters are building sustainable livelihoods around their craft. Her retail partners are offering customers genuinely sustainable alternatives to mass-produced goods. Her workshops are teaching people to appreciate the beauty and mindfulness that come from working with natural materials. 

From being made redundant to £1.3 million turnover, Emily's story shows what’s possible when authentic innovation meets strategic thinking - and when entrepreneurs have the support they need to build something truly significant around their deepest values. 

Inspired by Emily's transformation from kitchen table to industry leadership? Discover how strategic foundations and thoughtful scaling can help you build sustainable success around your authentic expertise. Explore working together to create something significant in your own entrepreneurial journey.