We were lucky to catch up with Toni Porter recently and have shared our conversation below.

Toni, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Hi, thank you for having me! My name is Toni Porter, I’m a mom, serial entrepreneur & DJ. I became an official business owner after being laid off from my job. I was also in college at the same time, in need of extra money.

The economy wasn’t the greatest and lots of layoffs were occurring across MI. I’ve always burned candles to relax but was having difficulty finding a good brand that actually smelled good. My god mom started making them as a hobby and I loved them. So, I started selling them at the local hospital that I worked for. When I got laid off, I asked my godmother if she wanted to go into business together.

I was pursuing a business management degree from Wayne State University, at that time. However, she was also already an entrepreneur and wasn’t ready to start another business on a full-time basis. So I asked her if she would teach me, and the rest has been history ever since. Toni’s Collection started in 2012, but I officially had to take the leap of faith on my own in 2013 after being laid off.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Toni’s Collection specializes in luxurious home fragrance products! Handcrafted, eco-friendly, and triple scented! Over 30 exclusive fragrance options to choose from at Toni’s Collection!

Our candles are made with our proprietary blend of soy wax. We carry 4oz fragrance mists that are perfect for use as a travel-size air freshener or fabric/linen mist! Our wax tarts are perfect if you prefer flameless products. Just break off a couple of cubes and put them in your warmer. And our oil extracts are perfect for diffusers & humidifiers.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I wish there was a such thing as an easy path or smooth road on this entrepreneurship journey, but it’s not. One of the biggest challenges I faced, has just been having working capital or finding lenders. As an entrepreneur, funding is limited to small business. You have to seek nontraditional options or exhaust investing your own funds. As a smaller business, the price breaks aren’t available unless you are buying in larger quantities wholesale, which is intimidating when you are first starting out if funding is limited.

Another huge challenge has also been marketing/advertising. You either need to have a nice budget, or learn how to do it on your own. I always say that you can have a great product, but if no one knows about it, it won’t sell.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have pivoted and adapted my business by offering curbside pickup on customers orders, to avoid shipping delays. I offer masks & sanitizer to customers shopping in store. I also had to get creative with offering candle subscription kits and virtual candle making sessions with home kits, to keep customers happy and increase revenue.

The global pandemic impacted us due to the lack of product availability, consumers buying behaviors changing, issues on supply chain. Consumers disposable income reduced drastically during lockdown, as candles aren’t necessarily deemed essential products. Pricing also soared as suppliers were not able to keep inventory in stock.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TonisCollection.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toniscollection/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TonisCollection
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toni-porter-a3695b56/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonisCollection