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Professional Candle Making Supplies Since 1972
January 06, 2014
Jump Starting
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Jump Starting Hoping 2014 is off to a great start for everyone. The New Year is a great time to really examine where your business/hobby craft might be and where you would like to take it. The results of 2013 should be fresh in your mind and is a great time to really map out your plans for the New Year.
Each of these distribution channels dictates a generally accepted margin level. A general guide to follow is: The closer you are to selling the consumer, the higher the margin you should attempt to achieve. There are several reasons this logic prevails. The first reason is that you are taking most of the supply chain cost out of the equation, which allows you to make that money. The second reason is that you will have to handle more single transactions, which drives up your cost and time involved. Instead of selling 25, 50 or 100 candles at a time and sending 1 Invoice you may have to handle each of the transactions individually. While initially it may not seem like it but every additional step in the process is a "cost". In most instances, in order to make it work with a single transaction you need a minimum of a 40 percent margin with a maximum, depending on competition, up to possibly 60 percent. Again, this is ideal but subject to many other factors. One that comes to mind is if you use candles to get people to your store or booth, and they purchase candle holders or accessories, maybe that percentage can be smaller. The next selling venue to consider would be wholesale. In this selling mode, you produce the candles and sell to another entity that will market the product to the consumer. This allows you to focus on producing a good product and building your brand image and product development. The retailer/website then will sell your product.
The last selling venue is what we call a hybrid. There are several selling categories I would include in this one, since by definition they may not be a retailer or a distributor. The first one is fundraising, which is a very successful venue for candles. This would be where you produce the candles and have an organization selling your product to help raise funds for their purpose. Unlike wholesale, after the consumer purchases and likes your product, you can start to sell direct to the consumers that purchased candles as part of the fundraiser. Maybe even offer the organization a small commission on repeat orders. Most times a 40-60 percent margin gives room for both the candle manufacturer and the group to make money at their event. If you recall, earlier in this article we used the term preliminary cost because from time to time you may have to move off that pricing. If a large enough order comes in, you might want to give further discounts. Without doubt, one of the most important things to consider when developing your cost is what the competition is doing. The important distinction in this process is to determine what truly constitutes a competitor. In most instances, the candles being sold in grocery stores are not always a competitor because the candle could be of a different quality. The brand name candle company may not be a competitor, because they have the ability to charge more for the name. You need to determine your target market and review the pricing of the candles being sold to those markets. Once you have your pricing established be sure to review often, raw material pricing changes, your operating cost may increase/decrease or your competition might be doing something which is taking away sales. There have been recent articles that almost anything is open for negotiating be prepared to know what the very minimum you will want to sell your candle. The key to any business is truly identifying all of your cost both fixed and variable. For many this can be difficult especially when it is a home based business.
CHANDLER'S CORNER When I read add 5%-8% fragrance what does that mean, and is 5-6% fragrance enough for my candle? The reference to the percentage is that amount the fragrance represents in the total formula. If you are mixing in 100lbs and you want a 5% fragrance load you will add 5lbs of fragrance to the wax. For many people in order to make things easier will round up and use 1 ounce of fragrance per pound and it is close to the 5%. The question of 5-6% enough is much more difficult question to answer in that in most cases only half of the information is available. While many fragrances suppliers have tried to simplify things and identify that it is the right amount the reality is there are different strengths of fragrances. Some manufacturers may purchase for lack of a better term "more concentrated" fragrances where they may only need to add 2-4% to achieve good scent throw. Cheaper fragrances on the market may actually need 6-7%. In addition the fragrance itself may dictate if that percentage is the right load, a Cinnamon is generally very strong and you may be able to use a little less, whereas a lemon may need more to achieve the same scent throw. Fragrances are definitely a case by case issue and should not be shopped on price alone.. Fast Facts Did you know that color selection can tell us a lot about personalities?
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January 2014
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There are many important questions that should be asked this time of year so that you can make the necessary changes. One of the first that should always be examined is "Did I
charge the right price for my Candles?" While this might seem like a straight forward question with an easy answer but unfortunately it is not that easy. One the most import questions
is what is your distribution channel.
Trade shows, trade publications and mailers to the potential customers is a great way to introduce your product. Starting with your local stores is always a great way to get started.
You can deliver the product, thus saving shipping cost for the retailer, even manage the inventory and consider some joint advertising. The expected margin selling in this area will
truly depend on how you wish to run your business. If you have low overhead and wish to try and get new customers quickly with price, maybe you only have a 33 percent. This is very
low and you must really have a control on your cost to do this margin level. However, it is important not to sell them too low because of the many unknowns, i.e. production errors,
sudden price increases and lost accounts.
