We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ken Adams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ken below.
Ken, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
I retired in 2020 following a 30 year career as a medical device engineer so I understand what it is like to have a regular job. Being a business owner is relatively new to me but I can tell you I am a lot happier working for myself than for someone else. When I was in the corporate world, I kept seeing teams getting larger and larger but yet I didn’t notice an improvement in output. It seemed like everyone wanted to manage and nobody was doing the work. As a small business owner, you have to put in the work or you will fail. I am in control of the ship. I set and measure the goals, I order supplies, I even take out the trash.
Ken, 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?
Oh Wow Candles is based in sunny Southwest Florida and we’re family-owned and operated. Oh Wow Candles started as a fun idea to supply my wife, Kim, with an endless amount of candles that would replace the over-priced, big-box retailer ones she was buying.
With my background in engineering and inventing, I got to work. I created a state-of-the-art recipe that swept Kim off her feet and had her requesting new scents. Eventually, every visitor that walked into our home would state: “OH WOW! Where did you get that candle?!”
As more and more people started asking about the candles, I realized that I could turn my hobby into a business where I could get the family involved, make a difference in the community and leave a legacy for my children. I began recruiting. My daughter Rachael had just completed her MBA at FGCU and came on board as the Director of Sales and Marketing. My wife Kim, having a background in nursing and a reputation for good taste, came on board to help with Community Outreach and scent selection.
At Oh Wow Candles our products are made with our customers in mind. We know the importance of keeping your family safe and that’s why our mission is to bring good, healthy, natural smells to your home without the worry of toxins and carcinogens. Our products are environmentally friendly and made with 100% natural soy wax produced from American-grown soybeans. Our proprietary blend of soy waxes and phthalate-free, high-quality fragrance oils are used to create our Oh Wow products that burn cleaner and just as long (if not longer) than our competitors.
Our candles come in a variety of unique fragrances packaged with a minimal jar design that fits any style and every budget. We’ve created a broad range of “Oh Wow” products so every customer can find something they will personally enjoy. Whether you’re stocking up on the holiday aromas, looking for seasonal fragrances, or shopping for gifts, we’re confident you will love our products.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As I planned to retire from corporate life in July of 2020, our plan for the business was to begin attending local farmers markets at the start of 2020 to build brand awareness in the community. Our website was in the early stages of development and all of our business paperwork was in place. Then the stories of Covid starting hitting the news and before we knew it, our plans for attending markets were shut down. In addition, many of our suppliers were also shut down making it extremely challenging to get the materials we needed. Our pivot came in the way of spending time on our ecommerce / website platform. We used the time while locked down to fully understand how the ecommerce would work, develop shipping strategies and refine our website for fast and easy checkout. We even learned about new promotional channels, discounts, tracking inventory and marketing methods.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
After acquiring our EIN number from the government and filing our paperwork with the state of Florida and Collier county, it was time to open a business savings and checking account. We have personal accounts with Bank of America so it was very easy to open the new business accounts and apply for a business credit card. To fund the business checking account we transferred $300 from our own checking account and we were ready to start our journey. With each sale, we would re-invest our proceeds into more supplies and or tools needed to become more efficient and productive. A portion of our business plan is to look at long term growth with volume vs short term growth at higher margins. We understand, this is a marathon and not a race.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ohwowcandles.com
- Instagram: @ohwowcandles
- Facebook: facebook.com/ohwowcandles