It’s really reassuring to see that it takes even bigger businesses like yours a long time to break even/be profitable. Years into the business, still chugging along, all in the same boat. Thank you for your transparency!
So proud of you. Keep up being the best guide in the world. You’re living proof that your life can turn around with just a bit of effort and learning. I hope this year is even better god bless you and your family.
Thank you, you help us year after year. This type of transparency doesn’t exist and just know it’s extremely encouraging. This is what hard work truly looks like, not the fluff that most try to sell.
I'm so glad!! I know everyone will view this video differently, some people will feel discouraged and others will feel encouraged! I think I want to make a follow up video though to discuss more about retail vs wholesale and how much it can affect your overall profit!
You are kinda selling me to try out Faire! Especially since I’m a mom myself of two toddlers. Congratulations and much success to you! You have definitely been an inspiration from the start of my journey. And the Notion planner has been wonderful btw 😊
Definitely give it a try! I think wholesale can be really great when you only have a small window of time to work on the business because you get an order in and know exactly what you need to make, and you pack it all into one order. We love it! And oh that’s so great to hear that you’re enjoying the planner! 🥰
So awesome!!! Congratulations on an amazing year !!!! Thank you so much for sharing and thank you for being ( I know I’ve said it before) an amazing inspiration 🥰
This is why the misconception of "you own your own business. You must have a lot of money" is a... misconception lol. Thanks for sharing and it makes me feel a lot better about myself.
Thanks again Erica for being so transparent. You are an inspiration. Is it possible to use both personal website and Shopify at the same time? and is it advisable?
Hi Erica. First, thank you for sharing. I'm a newbie and your videos have been extremely helpful! I have a question about the $5300 shipping, delivery and freight (this shocked me!). Since you mention Faire shipping is not included, does that mean it was the cost to ship for your $26K retail sales? Please clarify - I haven't yet gotten into shipping processes yet and it scares me 🤪
RUclips, local customers (found through local markets and FB group), word of mouth (friends telling friends/family), Instagram, customers purchasing from us after finding us at a retail shop (via wholesale). I'm also working on making pinterest a large lead source as well!
I wonder if you can make a video on this or answer it here…as a one person operation, how many candles do you make per week and how many hours do you spend doing it? Thank you!
Hi! Just to clarify, I actually work this business with my husband and he does 100% of the production & fulfillment. It's hard to know how many hours he works on the business but it's what he does full time! Maybe one week I should have him clock in and out to check that haha
RUclips, local customers (found through local markets and FB group), word of mouth (friends telling friends/family), Instagram, customers purchasing from us after finding us at a retail shop (via wholesale). I'm also working on making pinterest a large lead source as well! (and want to try out pinterest ads once I figure things out!)
Great video - huge congrats on profit your doing an amazing job - though does your husband have/draw an income from the business, how do you all live on 17K usd per year, or am I missing something? as your cost of living isn't on this so not sure what you live off of?
So the 17k is just what I pay myself through the business as the “employee” I write separate checks to our account too in order to survive lol. The candle business is his full time job right now, Although he does occasionally pick up side work!
Im so dumb, I can't grasp why would we want to do wholesale if we are not really turning a profit. I never done wholesale or looked into it. Could someone explain the more
Hi, there. You're making a profit from wholesale. If it costs you $2 to make a product, then you can wholesale it for $4 or however much you want to charge.
Sorry! Wasn’t meant to be depressing. If it helps at all, you profit way more if the bulk of your business income comes from retail (direct to consumer) however because the bulk of our candle business income comes from wholesale, we have more expenses and less profit. So for instance if 100% of our income came from direct to consumer, we would have made around 128k (in just the candle business), which would have been around a 74k profit after business expenses. Hope that helps it be less depressing.
Hi Erica, I rarely leave comments but want to be better in 2025. Thank you for all your helpful and detailed videos. One of my goals this year is to sell my first candle (I've been testing for a couple years now and need to stop trying to achieve a perfect product lol) and finally start my business. What I've been wondering is how you manage work life balance as a business owner. I would be starting it by myself and was curious how other business owners handle this. How are you planning ahead, if you are going away and are unable to fulfill orders for a period of time? Is there a video on this topic already? I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks again for all your hard work. Jackie
You really have given me the confidence need to begin my business! You could easily keep all this information to yourself but you share. It’s greatly appreciated. I hope 2025 you see Triple income more than you ever earned before. Hoping you continue prosperity!😊
It’s really reassuring to see that it takes even bigger businesses like yours a long time to break even/be profitable. Years into the business, still chugging along, all in the same boat. Thank you for your transparency!
So proud of you. Keep up being the best guide in the world. You’re living proof that your life can turn around with just a bit of effort and learning. I hope this year is even better god bless you and your family.
Thank you so much! ❤️
I second that emotion ❤ So proud of the work you put in🤗
Thank you! 😇
Thank you, you help us year after year. This type of transparency doesn’t exist and just know it’s extremely encouraging. This is what hard work truly looks like, not the fluff that most try to sell.
I'm so glad!! I know everyone will view this video differently, some people will feel discouraged and others will feel encouraged! I think I want to make a follow up video though to discuss more about retail vs wholesale and how much it can affect your overall profit!
@ please do, I can use the insight and I know other can too. Thank you.
You are kinda selling me to try out Faire! Especially since I’m a mom myself of two toddlers. Congratulations and much success to you! You have definitely been an inspiration from the start of my journey. And the Notion planner has been wonderful btw 😊
Definitely give it a try! I think wholesale can be really great when you only have a small window of time to work on the business because you get an order in and know exactly what you need to make, and you pack it all into one order. We love it!
And oh that’s so great to hear that you’re enjoying the planner! 🥰
Congratulations, God continue blessings you..
Super impressed by all the work you do and have done being a new mom! Like hands down. You’re amazing!
Couldn’t have done it without my husband!! He is the life force of the business! ❤️
Congratulations 🎉🎊🎉
Thank you! ❤️
So awesome!!! Congratulations on an amazing year !!!! Thank you so much for sharing and thank you for being ( I know I’ve said it before) an amazing inspiration 🥰
Thank you Leah! 🥰
@ you’re very welcome 😊
I always enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work!
So glad you enjoy them! Thank you! ❤️
Congratulations! Its nice to see your success throughout the years. Definitely going to look into Faire too!
Thank you so much!
Well done, what a great year :D
Yes it was! 🥰
Congratulations !
Y’all did great on faire
Thank you! ❤️
Congratulations to both you and your husband for a great 2024!!!🎉
Thank you so much! 🥰❤️
Great breakdown
Thank you for watching!
Hello love love your videos but I have a doubt where I can get the wick centering tool can you share the link please ❤❤❤?
Etsy.com/shop/carpelink 😌
This is why the misconception of "you own your own business. You must have a lot of money" is a... misconception lol. Thanks for sharing and it makes me feel a lot better about myself.
🎉 congratulations!!! And question: Do you offer private labeling on your wholesale store?
Thank you! And we don’t offer private label but we do offer white label!
Congratulations
Thank you❤️
Thanks again Erica for being so transparent. You are an inspiration. Is it possible to use both personal website and Shopify at the same time? and is it advisable?
Hi! What do you mean by personal website?
Thank you for this Erika. Can you let us know a bit more about selling wholesale on Faire?
I have a whole Faire playlist if you wanna check it out!
ruclips.net/p/PLROm0uE7OzT12_eHX8VwsNFUPwdwsHZdW&si=OI1xBobjgmke5WeS
@ Thank you so much.
Hi Erica. First, thank you for sharing. I'm a newbie and your videos have been extremely helpful! I have a question about the $5300 shipping, delivery and freight (this shocked me!). Since you mention Faire shipping is not included, does that mean it was the cost to ship for your $26K retail sales? Please clarify - I haven't yet gotten into shipping processes yet and it scares me 🤪
hi everyone, I need help what to do when your account been suspended from Facebook any tip all my post is gone..
How do you market your candles to get sales so that Shopify to grow?
RUclips, local customers (found through local markets and FB group), word of mouth (friends telling friends/family), Instagram, customers purchasing from us after finding us at a retail shop (via wholesale).
I'm also working on making pinterest a large lead source as well!
I wonder if you can make a video on this or answer it here…as a one person operation, how many candles do you make per week and how many hours do you spend doing it? Thank you!
Hi! Just to clarify, I actually work this business with my husband and he does 100% of the production & fulfillment. It's hard to know how many hours he works on the business but it's what he does full time! Maybe one week I should have him clock in and out to check that haha
So you don’t run Facebook/Instagram ads at all? How do you direct traffic to your Shopify website?
RUclips, local customers (found through local markets and FB group), word of mouth (friends telling friends/family), Instagram, customers purchasing from us after finding us at a retail shop (via wholesale).
I'm also working on making pinterest a large lead source as well! (and want to try out pinterest ads once I figure things out!)
Great video - huge congrats on profit your doing an amazing job - though does your husband have/draw an income from the business, how do you all live on 17K usd per year, or am I missing something? as your cost of living isn't on this so not sure what you live off of?
So the 17k is just what I pay myself through the business as the “employee” I write separate checks to our account too in order to survive lol. The candle business is his full time job right now, Although he does occasionally pick up side work!
Can I ask how much outside of the $17k you're pulling out as draws and how you figure how much you can pull out and still sustain the business?
What is a kajabi? Erika
she explained it in the video
@texaslonestar2927 😊
Im so dumb, I can't grasp why would we want to do wholesale if we are not really turning a profit. I never done wholesale or looked into it. Could someone explain the more
Hi, there. You're making a profit from wholesale. If it costs you $2 to make a product, then you can wholesale it for $4 or however much you want to charge.
This is exactly right! You are definitely turning a profit with wholesale, it’s just a smaller profit than DTC
You had a baby!!! I’ve been gone too long
Yes I did!! Welcome back! 😄❤️
I had him in August 2023!
Why did you choose to be an S corporation? Vs LLC? I just don’t know a thing about it.
From what I learned, a single member S-corp is stronger than a single member LLC, there's also great tax benefits!
@ thanks so much for info! You’re awesome!
As someone looking to start a candle company this is very depressing.
Sorry! Wasn’t meant to be depressing.
If it helps at all, you profit way more if the bulk of your business income comes from retail (direct to consumer) however because the bulk of our candle business income comes from wholesale, we have more expenses and less profit.
So for instance if 100% of our income came from direct to consumer, we would have made around 128k (in just the candle business), which would have been around a 74k profit after business expenses.
Hope that helps it be less depressing.
Hi Erica, I rarely leave comments but want to be better in 2025. Thank you for all your helpful and detailed videos. One of my goals this year is to sell my first candle (I've been testing for a couple years now and need to stop trying to achieve a perfect product lol) and finally start my business. What I've been wondering is how you manage work life balance as a business owner. I would be starting it by myself and was curious how other business owners handle this. How are you planning ahead, if you are going away and are unable to fulfill orders for a period of time? Is there a video on this topic already? I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks again for all your hard work. Jackie
You really have given me the confidence need to begin my business! You could easily keep all this information to yourself but you share. It’s greatly appreciated. I hope 2025 you see Triple income more than you ever earned before. Hoping you continue prosperity!😊
Congratulations!
Thank you!