Case Study: Artisan Candle Maker
From redundancy to starting an artisan candle-making business during a pandemic, Emma’s business has grown so quickly, she’s moving from her kitchen to a small industrial unit.
Background
Emma started her business 12 months after she was made redundant from her role at a PR firm in London. Aged 27 and unemployed, this felt like a make-or-break moment, but she embraced it as a chance to do something she felt passionately about.
Emma originally started making artisan candles out of boredom during lockdown. Understanding which fragrances worked took some trial and error. But when friends and family asked her to make candles for them, she began to wonder if perhaps other people would buy them? Emma was recommended to me, and we started to work together on her business plan, brand strategy and digital and PR strategy.
Candle making businesses have profit margins of 70% and are relatively easy to start as a home business. When Emma first got in touch, I wondered how scalable an artisan candle making business could be? Market research revealed that homemade candles have become an essential home decor item. So much so that amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for scented candles was estimated at US$354 million and is projected to reach US$574.4 Million by 2027.
A Strategic Approach
During our monthly coaching sessions, I followed a similar strategic planning process to the one I used as a Chief Executive. The aim was to answer the following four seemingly simple questions in order to come up with a strategic roadmap and action plan:
Where was Emma’s startup now?
What was her envisioned future?
Which actions would best support her in bridging the gap?
How would she measure progress towards that envisioned future?
Emma’s Start-up Strategy
Emma and I started our work together with a Strategy Day to analyse her business idea, define her strategy and understand the information she needed to put a business plan together. Once she’d written her business plan, we met on a monthly basis for strategic business coaching.
Business plan written, we delved into brand strategy. We looked at four ways she could stand out in the saturated candle market – sustainability, fragrance, brand story and visual identity. As Emma’s candles were made by hand in small batches, using only natural and biodegradable materials, we made sustainability and fragrance key differentiating factors.
Emma then started work on building an online store. When it comes to building an online store, I always advise my clients that Shopify is the simplest way to start. For a small $29 monthly fee, Emma got a beautiful storefront, SSL certifications, high-speed web servers, cart abandonment recovery, and all the beginner-friendly marketing and sales tools she could possibly need to grow and scale her business.
With her brand strategy nailed and her website in development, it was time to figure out how to market and sell her candles. We put together a marketing plan based on those channels – owned, earned and paid - which were most likely to reach her target customers. Because Emma had a background in PR, we implemented a strategy to get magazine coverage and backlinks and drive people to her website.
Gifting is something that really helped Emma’s business. She leaned into seasonal gifting moments such as Christmas and Valentine's Day and ran paid advertising campaigns to target these shoppers.
The Results
With consistent sales, Emma has started to explore how she can expand her product line using her signature scents in products like diffusers, bath and body and perfumes. This is an easy transition for artisan candle makers like Emma because the fragrances are already developed.
Emma's business has outgrown the kitchen and she is currently looking for a studio in South London so she can take her business to the next level. This will allow her to take on staff to assist with the making of the candles, freeing Emma’s time to focus on product development and marketing.
Work With Me
Have you enjoyed this case study? Has it helped you to see what’s possible for your business?
If you’d like my advice and guidance to help you on your start up journey, here’s how you can book a call to discuss working with me. I’d love to help you launch a successful and profitable business just like Emma.
What Emma says…
“Denyse and I have been working together for 18 months and the results have been incredible. She is passionate about supporting female founders, very knowledgeable and empathetic. Without Denyse’s help, I would be worrying and wasting money. I definitely wouldn’t be looking for my first premises. Investing in her services was the best decision I could have made for my fledgling business.”
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