We recently connected with Elise Sanchez and have shared our conversation below.
Elise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
The real game game changer for me to scale up was selling wholesale. I knew I had a quality product and after getting my business incorporated and insured I was ready to start selling in larger quantities.
There was one day that really stands out. I took my candles around to four local businesses and by the end of the day I had secured three out of the four as new (large) wholesale accounts. It was the validation I needed and confirmed that mine was a standout product,
My best piece of advice would be to do one thing each day that is action toward your big business goals. Each day you invest a little more into the business, whether it be your time, or educating yourself in your industry or researching new ideas. All of the accumulated positive and consistancy changes will turn into something great.
Elise, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started making candles in my tiny apartment in 2012. Before I met my husband and before kids. I purchased a 10lb bag of wax on craigslist, and a few items from Hobby Lobby and got started. I made candles for fun after work as a way to decompress from a stressful job.
Through the years I started learning more about the art of candle making. It became a creative outlet for me and I found it so interesting. I usually burned them myself or gave them away to friends. It was just a hobby for many years.
Later down the road after a wedding, the biggest shock of all happened – TWINS were on the way.
They came seven weeks early weighing 3lbs each. The two month NICU journey was a very hard time in our life. The experience put life into perspective. I dreamed of owning my own candle business and becoming a NICU Mom gave me even more of a superpower confidence. I knew that it was time to pursue my passion. If not now, when?
I took courses, read all the books, listened to all the podcasts, tested and tested my candles until it was perfect. Now my specialty candles are featured in shops all over the Unites States and I am proud to have just launched my new website and blog. I also am launching an online course for candle makers in 2023.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Starting my business lean was one of the best things I did. I decided not to raise funding and start my business with $500 of my own money. I was diligent with my spending and for the first year invested a large portion of my income right back into the business. I wrote a blog post called “The 5 Free Tools I Used to Start My Business” (you can find this on my blog (wesleyandwade.com/blogs/sheddinglight) and stand by those tools for new entrepreneurs looking to start.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I sell on my website directly and also on Faire.com. Faire has been a great way for me to introduce my brand to new wholesale accounts all over the country.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wesleyandwade.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/wesleyandwade
- Facebook: facebook.com/wesleyandwade
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/wesleyandwade
- Other: pinterest.com/wesleyandwade
Image Credits
Kassie Layne Photography @kassielayne