We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rian Bluhm a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rian, thanks for joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

One of the most supremely irritating problems that I came across was the prolific amount of sink holes that beeswax creates while making container beeswax candles. When researching about candle making it wasn’t something that was immediately warned about, especially since most candle making guides are utilizing soy which doesn’t create as many sinkholes as beeswax, It was something that had to be specifically searched, so some of my first candles had hidden sinkholes in the middle which wasn’t found until burned. Because of the difference in temperatures on the container and wick versus the heat of the wax, I now create holes through the candle by stabbing it with a skewer to control where the sink holes appear. This allows me to use a heat gun to fill in any sink holes that may happen and eliminating the issue.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Since high school, I’ve wanted to have my own business where I could make things with my own hands and sell them. I went through a few different crafts to try and figure out what really held my attention, which led me to candles! I knew I wanted to make as healthy and eco friendly candles as I could accomplish, and beeswax was such a great find as a renewable resource for better candles. It also helps that I absolutely love bees, and buying beeswax can help provide necessary funds for apiaries to continue their work! I found a vendor who makes clean fragrances using essential oils without the toxins that can be found in the more readily available candles on the market. With the containers that can be reused/recycled, the beeswax that is a much healthier wax, and the clean scents we’ve been able to create a lasting alternative to the generally available candles.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Currently I sell on both my own site and Etsy. I started out with Etsy while researching other platforms due to Etsy’s pricing. However, Etsy comes with an already established large customer base and a marketing engine making it easier to gain a following. I also sell on a Shopify platform. There were numerous advantages of having my own site; like branding, coupon codes, email templates, Along with other applications like connecting to social media apps ; selling, marketing, web design apps. Everything you need to kick your business to the next level.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source has been the indoor/outdoor markets. Colorado has several promotional companies working with local artisans and businesses to host and promote weekend craft markets all over the Denver metro area. By being setup in these markets the clients get a chance to smell and see the quality of the candles before purchasing, The key to the market success is knowing who your clients are and picking the markets those clients will attend. For instance, mid 20-30 year old is our biggest market segment which tend to live downtown urban areas, so we have a lot of success in the mid Denver downtown markets verses the suburban markets.

Contact Info:

• Website: HoneyandAsh.store
• Instagram: HoneyandAshshop
• Facebook: HoneyandAsh
• Twitter: HoneyandAshshop
• Other: Etsy: honeyandashonline

Image Credits
Rian Bluhm- Photographer