My Business Venture

A few years ago I use to make candles……what started as a hobby turned into quite a business venture!

I always loved candles and would buy them all of the time. I was an avid "Ebayer" always buying and trying different things. Yet each time my package arrived, I was always so disappointed in my purchase. Either they didn't burn right and the worst was they had no scent! This is when I decided…."I'm going to make my own candles!" I spent hours, days, months………researching on how to do this. Well I purchased a few products and gave it a whirl. Well needless to say, they didn't turn out quite right. Back to the drawing board I went researching…….purchasing more products. I started making just votives…..figured I needed to keep it small till I got the hang of this.

Each batch they started to improve so I starting selling to friends and family. Then I started selling on Ebay. After alittle while I developed a customer base. I then ventured onto jar candles. People would ask me what I carried and what scents. Well I did not have any "promotional" material, after all this was only a hobby. So I developed a website called "Mystifying Scents". I am no computer wizard by far but I would read any help page I came across. I was so proud of my website in the end! I even had a shopping cart! It didn't take long and people started placing orders…….Oooooo how exciting it was.

Well things progressed so quickly for me, before I knew it, I had over 50 different fragrances and my product line expanded greatly. I tried to keep as much as I could in stock but my house is only so big!

Well I was given an opportunity to open a little store right next door to my house. I'm talking walking distance here! And because I was a "new" and the owner was a friend, he gave me quite a break on the rent. I went and got all of the permits required and posted them on the wall.

Here I was …..an "official" business owner! I advertised in the local paper and opened up! People came, purchased, came again and purchased, and before I knew it, I had a customer base here also!

I only had the store open for a couple hours in the evening and on the weekend. When I wasn't open I would constantly be making stock for the shelves. All of this while still working a full time job during the day!

Well I did this for 1 1/2 yrs and decided it was to much for me, I had no spare time. Work during the day, come home and make stuff or open the store, sleep and back up to start over again. Every night and weekend devoted to making stock for the store and filling online orders. I even did a few local fundraisers!

So I had my official "closing" sale and sold off all of my supplies on the internet (love this internet!)

It was busy but I loved it and still sometimes miss it today. I am so glad that I was given the opportunity….I would have always wondered what it would have been like.

God has now blessed me with a new hobby, my son. Maybe when he gets older I'll venture back into it, who knows………

That is the end of my novel as a business owner!