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How To Make Wax Melts To Sell: A definitive guide
One of the easiest avenues to kickstart your small home fragrance business is wax melts! They’re super simple to make and require less products and knowledge than candle making. Wax melts are a great place to start in terms of a product line but knowing how to make wax melts to sell to a consumer can be the difficult part. This blog will take you through the steps to setting up and selling wax melts as a business.
First of all if you don’t already know how, we suggest learning how to make wax melts from our blog, here you’ll find a list of tools and ingredients as well as a helpful step by step video, or you can visit the wax melt making section of our website where you can purchase a selection of products to get you started.
Which are the best routes into starting a wax melt business?
Once you have an understanding of how to make melts and what products and stock you’ll need regularly to keep up with demand, it’s time to start thinking about how to start your business. There are many ways to start up your venture and it depends heavily on what route you want to take and where you have visions of your business going in the future.
Social media is one of the best ways to get the ball rolling. Social media is not only for promoting your store and products! Both Instagram and Facebook have the option to add a ‘shop section’ where you can list all your products and people can purchase them directly through the platform.
Traditionally setting up an e-commerce website is the standard way of running an online store. However, if you want to keep it simple and don’t want to deal with the hassle of building your own website then there are other options available.
Ebay and Etsy are perfect alternatives to a website, all you have to do is set up an account and create your shop and you’re ready to go. Plus, as already established shopping platforms they have a constant influx of customers, so you won’t have to worry about advertising.
What are the legal requirements when starting a wax melt business in the uk?
Just like any other business, there are legal requirements for selling wax melts. From insurance to tax, there are a few areas that you need to make sure you’re covered for.
A vital part of any business whether you’re big or small is insurance. Without it, you simply aren’t covered if something was to go wrong. There are a whole host of different types of insurance policies that you can opt for, it's just a case of finding the one that suits you and your businesses requirements. There’s everything from cyber cover to legal expenses, building cover to theft of takings, you’ll just need to weigh up what areas you’ll need to have covered. It’s worth shopping around for insurance to make sure you’re getting the best deal, there are a whole host of tools online that you can use to compare policies, you just need to get stuck in! You can read more about insurance in our blog here.
It’s important to remember that you’ll still have to hold up your side of the insurance policy you opt for to ensure that you’re covered. Failing to provide your products with assets such as warning labels and CLP’s can void your insurance leaving you without cover if something was to go wrong, so it's best to make sure you’re doing your best to be compliant with your insurance provider. If you’re new to candle making and want to know more about what safety and warning labels you need to include when selling your items you can read more about it in our blog; CLPs: Getting your label right first time.
Once you’ve set up your business you will also need to register with HMRC as a sole trader by the end of the new tax year, this means you’re self-employed. To set up as a sole trader, you need to tell HMRC that you pay tax through Self Assessment. You’ll need to file a tax return every year.
Please note, once your turnover exceeds £85,000 in revenue, you must register for VAT. This means you no longer have to pay VAT on any purchases such as stock, equipment and any other business-related goods. But it does mean you must start charging VAT on the products you sell to the customer. You then pay the difference between the VAT not paid on supplies to the VAT received from sales to HMRC.
What are the best products to begin selling?
This is really down to personal preference and will change depending on your sales and what your customers begin to prefer. At first it can be hard to predict what your customers will buy until you actually start selling so it's best to do some market research. Join some candle making groups, have a look at what your potential competitors are selling or seek the advice of other wax melt makers!
There are two main areas where choice is wide when it comes to selling wax melts - these being the fragrance and the pot. There are a whole host of fragrances that you can choose from as well as a variety of clamshells, deli pots and moulds. In the beginning, it’s best to keep your product line small and manageable don’t buy too many scents or moulds! As you start selling you’ll be able to see patterns and trends amongst what you sell and it will help you make more informed choices about what you stock, your pricing structure and what new avenues to try!
We suggest creating a budget for your first two months in business, so you have a basic idea of what to expect and don’t have any unexpected expenses. You’ll need to estimate the cost of supplies, equipment, and overhead. You should also budget in a wage for your time and effort as a business owner as well; after all, this is for you.
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