As you continue to make homemade candles, trying different styles, techniques and types of wax you may find that even with the most concerted effort you can't give all of your candles away.
Before you become the person that people shy away from like a gardener at the prime of tomato or zucchini season it's time to figure out another, and perhaps, more lucrative way to find new homes for your candles.
One of the best reasons that homemade candles do well as a home-based business is that they are unique, hand-crafted items.
No one else can make a candle exactly the way you do.
Your choice of wax, colors, fragrances, and type of candle will be unique to you - not to mention all the combinations that can be made based on your choices.
It's true that candle companies make a lot of options when it comes to candles but there will always be a portion of the population that would prefer to by one of a kind, handmade items so let's take advantage of this and put our homemade candles where we can all benefit! You could even carry over the definition of uniqueness and become known for making a very specific type of candle.
Perhaps you enjoy soy wax, or making aromatherapy candles, or perhaps beeswax candles for the holidays is your thing.
By creating a niche in the market you can make a name for yourself and sell your candles to this exclusive market.
After you figure out what kind of candles you want to make - whether it will be a broad swath through the types of candles or a more specific choice - you'll need to decide where you want to sell your candles.
Most likely you'll want to try to sell your candles close to home first.
There are several benefits to this.
First of all, you can gauge the reaction of the public to your candles and get immediate feedback.
Secondly, you don't have to worry about shipping or trips to the post office yet.
Look for craft shows, art shows, local fairs and other places where you can set up a table and display your creations.
But once you begin to sell your candles beyond your home turf you will be talking about trips to the post office.
Making the choice how to sell your candles online is up to you.
Many people start out on eBay because they are somewhat familiar with it already.
Seller fees might be annoying but otherwise there is no other overhead.
And lots of people are already shopping on eBay so it's good place to start.
Another great place to start is Etsy.
Etsy is an online community for handmade goods.
Fees are similar to eBay but the community is different.
Where eBay sells anything and everything, Etsy sells only handmade items which makes it a perfect place for you to set up store to sell your homemade candles.
And when you get the hang of selling your candles and learn which of your candles are really selling you may want to set up your own website and sell directly from there.
It's not difficult these days to create your own site and set up a PayPal interface to make purchasing easier.
Each of these options offers benefits and may be useful you at different times in your road to entrepreneurship.
Selling on eBay allows you to reach a large number of people but it doesn't really target the people you're looking to see to.
And even though you'll get to pick a seller name you won't really be building a connection with the people to whom you're selling.
Etsy allows you to build more of a relationship with your buyers because you are creating your own store within the Etsy environment.
And the ultimate way to make sure you have control of the way to connect with your buyers is by building your own website to sell your candles from.
You'll be able to pick your own domain name so that you can put your favorite name forward to the world.
Moving from candle making as a hobby into the world of entrepreneurship is an exciting opportunity and deciding the best way for you to sell your candles is an important first step.
Remember, too, that your decisions aren't mutually exclusive.
As your business increases you can always move to a new outlet for the public face of your candle sales.