Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ahmad Muhammad. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ahmad, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Our business has always put people that have asthma in the forefront by primarily showcasing products that are non-toxic and asthma safe to our customers. These days respiratory health is an important topic.
Our customers tell us all the time that they suffer from allergies, bronchitis and other illnesses that limit how much exposure they can handle outside, and they don’t want to bring triggering products inside their home. That’s where we come in to give people the chance to enjoy fragrances and experiences that were once seen as unobtainable because of breathing issues.
Many people who have used our products have said that this is the first time they were able to enjoy a wax melt or candle in years because it doesn’t result in them having to use an asthma pump afterwards, and as someone who suffers from these same issues, it’s been amazing seeing what we can do to help others in their aromatherapy journey.
Ahmad, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hello everyone! I am Ahmad Muhammad and I am the owner and curator of Solar Candle Company.
Our primary mission is to create unique scents that are asthma safe and nontoxic for people with respiratory issues and what makes our brand special is that all of our scents are video game inspired. We have fragrances based popular games across all different platforms and eras for our customers to enjoy in our extensive catalog of Candles, Wax Melts, Room Sprays, Mini Diffusers and much more.
What I’m most proud of is my newest venture of streaming video game content online.
Since I’ve started my business, I made it a personal choice to put in at least 40 hours in a video game before I make it into any sort of aromatherapy. It helps keep my brand honest and lets our customers know that we’re not in it for a quick cash grab, we honestly care deeply about what we choose to display on our website.
For a while I’ve always resorted to telling my followers online and subscribers about what video games I’ve been playing and what I’m actually considering adapting into a new fragrance. Going that route has led to great engagement but it didn’t give me any real depth to connect with my audience further than the initial push. With streaming to my subscribers and followers, the content I’m drawing inspiration from can be shown in real time and engaged with immediately, so I can tell my audience about how I’m feeling and show my ideas as soon as they pop up.
The main thing I want my potential customers, followers and fans to know about us is that we’re always here to deliver great products at affordable prices. Solar Candle Company isn’t just a aromatherapy and video games, we try to develop a community for gamers of all kinds to feel empowered by their choices when interacting with our content.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
We handmake all of our products in house, which is something I’m very proud of! When I first started the planning aspects of Solar Candle Company, I didn’t know the first thing about making my own candles. There were countless hours spent watching YouTube and seeing masters at their craft doing what I wanted to achieve before it all started to click for me.
When it comes to our candle jars and wax melt containers, we do use an outside supplier to get those items and in the process we have developed strong connections with those vendors to get great prices and pass those savings along to our customers. It definitely took a while to find the right ones but as of right now, we’re perfectly stable and looking to actually reduce prices on some of our items because of the deals we’re able to make.
A big lesson I’ve learned about manufacturing a product is to always know your cost per item. It takes 5 individual items in order to make one candle on my site, and each of those have their own variations in price. It’s so important to keep track of how much each ingredient is worth on a small scale and add up the price so I can know how to price my store items to run a successful business.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My most successful social media website is TikTok and one of my biggest points to do well on that platform is to simply have fun. It might be unpopular to say but your audience will know if you’re desperate for sales or engagement, it’s something I’ve learned the hard way so be less pushy and more of a guide to something new and awesome! Some of my best moments on social media is when I’ve just shown off a long day’s hard work or just talked about something interesting that happened during a brainstorming session.
The main reason I say you need to have fun is because running a business can be a stressful endeavor, but everyone likes a quirky hobby and that’s what most people are on the internet to see in my opinion.
I wholeheartedly believe that if you’re just starting, your first couple of posts should be explaining what you do and why you do it and allowing the people that want to know more about you into your space. After you do that, start making videos about your expertise and show people that you are skilled at what you do. It’s definitely a long process, but it’s very enriching and worth it! 
Contact Info:
- Website: SolarCandleCo.Com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solarcandleco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolarCandleCo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SolarCandleCo
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@solarcandlecompany