Industry Overview
It is no surprise that the candle making industry is experiencing massive growth and we have COVID to thank for that. With millions of people having had to stay at home and many companies adopting this new way of life as policy, it's simple math. More people at home = more candles being burnt! The exciting part is, you are a part of this.
Just to put you in the picture. In 2020 the industry was worth a whopping US$6.149 Billion and it is projected to reach a staggering US$8.493 Billion by 2026. That is major growth and what better time to be getting into making candles than now?
Like most industries that have this revenue generation, there is a lot of competition as more and more people would like a slice of that pie, but there is plenty to go around, so do not be put off by competition. Competition is very good for us and it creates opportunities we did not know existed. It may be tougher to find the niches but they are still definitely out there. Carving out your niche is super important.
What are the current user preferences?
According to the National Candle Association
- Candle users say they most frequently burn candles in the living room (42%), followed by the kitchen (18%) and the bedroom (13%).
- Approximately one in five women say they use candles to decorate the yard, patio or other exterior areas, as well as the interior of their home.
- Both men and women consider candles to be an always-acceptable and highly appreciated gift for a wide variety of occasions.
- Candle purchasers say they view candles as an appropriate gift for the holidays (76%), as a housewarming gift (74%), a hostess/dinner party gift (66%), a thank you (61%) and as adult birthday gifts (58%).
As you can see, there are endless possibilities to carve out a niche for your candle making company. Considering you only need 1000 "true fans" to have a successful business, you can become quite creative, whittling out all the noise and focusing your attention on a much smaller pool of people whom you can target.
Examples of a "niche"
Here is a quick example of a niche within a niche. So our niche is candles, but that is way too broad, we need to slim it down otherwise we are going to be trying to sell to the entire world. To do that, let's look at home decor and down further to outdoor and patio decor. That's still pretty broad, so let's take it further and say, rustic cottage outdoor & patio decor. If you consider that this (thumb-suck) idea of a niche could make up 2% of the $6b we spoke about earlier, that's $123m revenue stream. You really have to be clever about how you choose the market you want to engage and you can quickly find small spaces to setup your candle making business, and thrive!