In June of 2021, we celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary in Provincetown where we had spent our honeymoon. While there, we were inspired by all the small businesses and artisans that we visited. On the drive home back to Bristol Connecticut, we discussed starting our own business. We decided to focus on “hand crafted goods for your home” and to begin with making candles. We would later follow up with cutting boards, charcuterie boards, and more.
The following days were filled with discussion and brainstorming. After some research, we found The Armatage Candle Company, owned by Kevin Fischer. He creates a lot of content around candle making and more. We watched a lot of his YouTube videos and also signed up for his video course on candle making.
We learned a LOT and ordered our first kit to play with. The kit was pretty basic and simple, but even then we noticed how different candles were in levels of quality, strength of scent, etc.
Testing
A few of the beginning items we learned from Kevin’s course was to 1) Test, Test, Test and 2) Do the 80 candle challenge. We did both.
We started with testing by making 64 individual candles. The break down was with 4 different types of soy wax along with 16 different types of wick. A total of 64 candles. So, we got to making, labeling, documenting and curing.
After they had all cured for 2 weeks, we then had to burn test each candle. This meant placing each of the candles 8 inches apart, lighting and burning them recording a performance score at each hour until they either went out on their own or reached the bottom of the container. Every surface in our living room was covered with candles.
This was a VERY long and tedious process. Many hours were spent scoring and keeping an eye on a LOT of burning candles. I think we completed the burn testing in 2 weeks.
But, after analyzing the data and some more discussion, we decided on a type of wax and wick. We had a good combination that passed the testing.
Scents
During the testing we were also discussing scents. What scents did we want to use? What names did we want to use for the scents? We bought about 40 or 50 scents in 4 oz bottles. We then made candles of each of those.
After these had cured, we setup another scoring process and tested each one for cold throw and hot throw. After a couple of weeks, we used the scoring to narrow it down to our favorites. We then came up with names for each of the scents.
The 80 Candle Challenge
Once we had completed all the testing and picked our favorite scents, we made 80 (actually a little more) different candles in the 5 scents that we had picked out. We then sent 2 candles to 40 (ish) different people all over the U.S. along with an introduction letter and a survey link. This way we could get feedback on the scents, the candles, the packaging, labels, etc.
In The Meantime
It’s important to note that while all the candle work was going on, we were also setting up the business with the state of Connecticut, meeting with our accountant, finding a bank, setting up the website and email configuration, buying supplies, learning about packaging and shipping, testing the store setup and more. It was a VERY busy time.
And, We’re Open
After all that work, we opened on September 13, 2021. We had so much wonderful support from friends and family that day and it continues now. We really want to thank everyone for all the love, support, purchasing, sharing and more. It’s meant the world to us!
Thanks, Mike & Michael (the2mikes)
