Candle business realizing sweet smell of success

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

November 25, 2024

GALESVILLE – When Becky Kamrowski came up with the idea of making candles during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she wasn’t sure it would become a successful business – she wasn’t sure it would become a business at all.

Fast forward to 2024, and not only is Simply B Candle a successful business, Kamrowski said she moved it out of her home and into a brick-and-mortar location – a space she also uses to help other small businesses get off the ground.

Started business after having first child

The early months of the pandemic, for her, Kamrowski said, were spent at home tending to her newborn son.

As her little guy started getting a little older, Kamrowski said she began thinking about starting a small business that she could do from home – something she could do in between caring for him, usually when he was sleeping or when her husband was home.

Inspired by her and her husband’s love of candles, and hearing about others who made candles in their home, Kamrowski said she decided to give it a try.

Not having the slightest idea how to do it, she said she started researching as much as she could about the subject, including watching YouTube videos and joining candle-making Facebook groups – gathering knowledge anywhere she could find.  

After about six months of solid research, Kamrowski said she made her first small batch of candles – which she took a few into La Crosse County’s Aging & Disability Resource Center, where she works full-time as a dementia care specialist.

She said her co-workers really liked them and Simply B Candle took off from there.

Kamrowski said she is a simple person with everything in her life, and wanted that for a business name also.

“The B in the name stands for Becky,” she said. “I wanted to keep everything about the business simple – I wanted the label simple, the vessels and containers simple and the brand simple. I also wanted the name to be easy to remember, yet be something that would stand out and be different. It all just kind of flowed from there.”

Candles sell themselves

Kamrowski said she started going to street markets and arts and crafts shows to sell her candles.

“People loved the scents of my candles, and they were selling really well at markets,” she said. “Plus, I really enjoyed making the connection and having interaction with other artists and customers. And it was wonderful to not just have a creative outlet, but an emotional one, as well, because my job can sometimes be somewhat heavy emotionally.” 

Kamrowski said she hasn’t done a lot of advertising, but because the candles are essentially selling themselves at shows and through word-of-mouth, she hasn’t needed to.

Besides – like many small start-ups – she said she didn’t have a huge budget for advertising or anything else.

Kamrowski said, instead, she has opted to promote Simply B’s through social media and develop a website (simplybcandle.com). 

Admittedly, she said she doesn’t know that much about marketing a business and hasn’t developed her own “recipe for it” yet – but said she’s figuring it out along the way.

For now, Kamrowski said she relies on her gut and whatever comes to her brain. 

“I just try to be authentic and real with people,” she said. “And whatever resonates with me about a scent or product, that’s what I’ll share with my customers.”

Developing appealing scents, healthy products

Kamrowski said Simply B has eight to 15 different scents on hand at any given time.  

When she buys her fragrance oils, she said she tries to always have a scent that smells clean, one that is bakery-scented, a masculine scent, a feminine scent and then scents for each season.

“I really try to have a little something for everybody,” she said. “I hear from people a lot that some candle makers only have one vibe or another.”

Kamrowski said she also tries to avoid some of the mistakes she believes some candlemakers make.

“Sometimes I’d buy candles from other people and they would give my husband a headache, or we just couldn’t stand the scent,” she said. “So I’ll look at the ingredients (in those candles), and I’ve learned through researching ingredients and scents that there are cleaner, healthier ways of making candles and creating scents. For example, soy is a cleaner and better option than other types of waxes out there.”

Kamrowski said she is also very selective when looking for companies from whom to purchase fragrance oils for her candles.

“I want things that are better quality and better overall for people – that means phosphate-free and paraffin-free,” she said. “There are companies that pride themselves on having those qualities in their products. A lot of these things I didn’t know prior to my initial research and really looking into things. And I’m always learning something new.”

As with anything, Kamrowski said there can be challenges and frustrations.

“There are days when I get a fragrance oil that I really like but I just can’t quite get the wick to wick (correctly) in there,” she said. “I also have to make sure that I get the full melt pool and make sure it doesn’t burn too hot or too low. Since I change out my scents seasonally, sometimes adding new ones even within a season, that can bring about challenges. So, I’m constantly rechecking and redoing the formula.”

If she gets too frustrated with a particular scent, Kamrowski said she’ll go on to something else and come back to it later.  

“It just requires a lot of patience,” she said. “It’s definitely a process that you can’t rush,” she said.

When making candles, Kamrowski said it’s important to be aware of the components being added.

“I test burn everything I make before I sell it,” she said. “So, I make sure the wick looks right and the flame looks right and the melt pool is within a good amount of time.”

Different wicks burn differently

Most candles, Kamrowski said, have cotton wicks, while some have wood wicks – each of which burns differently. 

“People like (wood wicks) because they crackle when you burn them, and it gives a nice ambience,” she said. “But they can burn differently.”

Kamrowski said she buys wood wicks in packs of hundreds, sometimes thousands, at a time. 

“Because I’m not manufacturing them, there’s always that chance with a wood wick that the cut could be a little off, the booster might be a little off that I don’t notice when I’m making the candle,” she said. “So, there could be an issue with the quality where it just doesn’t burn perfectly when it’s in that candle.”

Because she’s making small batches, Kamrowski said it’s rare that that happens, “but wood wicks can be finicky.”

“I always enclose a candle care card with my candles that has information on there explaining how to burn a candle with a wood wick,” she said. “It also tells people how to reach out to me if they’re having trouble.”

Kamrowski said if a customer has a problem with any candle, she definitely wants them to contact her.

“Sometimes it’s just simple education about trimming the wood wick to a certain height, making sure it’s flat and even, or maybe you need to pull a little wax away from the wick,” she said. “Wood wicks take a little TLC where with cotton wicks, you can pretty much light them, and they’re not going to give you any trouble.”

Rebranding an important step

In the beginning, Kamrowski said she sold the candles in mason jars.

Today, her candles are sold in candle jars – all with a singular color that she personally selected.

“I settled on the white iridescent because it fits just about anybody’s home,” she said. “There are some people who want their candles to match the aesthetics of their living room or their kitchen. And then others couldn’t care less. But it is simple, yet elegant. And it fits everything.”

Last year, Kamrowski said she hired a graphic designer who designed the Simply B Candle logo, a decision that has been a game-changer for her business. 

“I really wanted a very nice clean, simple, modern-looking logo – something that would match the aesthetics of what the candle looks like,” she said. “She also helped me come up with a template for my labels.”

The designer additionally developed a primary and secondary logo for the candle labels, a social media logo and a candle label that Kamrowski said she can tweak as she sees fit, based on the scent of each particular candle. 

A new home for Simply B Candle 

Another sign that the business – which became an LLC in 2021 – is doing well is that earlier this year, Kamrowski said, she moved out of her home and into a brick-and-mortar space.  

In doing so, she said she has a retail space where customers can buy from, and space so she can purchase supplies in larger quantities.

The space she rents – 19921 W. Gale Ave. – is a former healthcare clinic, with three rooms total.

The former reception area, she said, is her retail space, while one of the other rooms serves as her candle-making studio.

Kamrowski said she opens the remaining room to small businesses or entrepreneurs to use as a pop-up store when she’s open.  

“Any other small business that doesn’t have a storefront, if I’m open on a Saturday or whenever, and they want to come and bring their business in, I’m more than happy to host them,” she said.

Kamrowski said she charges a $15 to $25 usage fee that she uses to boost the event on social media.

“I’m not looking to make money off anybody, because I know how it is when you’re just starting out,” she said. “You don’t have extra money to pay rent or a huge vendor fee to be in the markets.” 

During the holiday season – which Kamrowski said is always a busy time of year – Simply B Candle is open from 4-6 p.m. Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays for the remainder of December.

Any updates to those hours, she said, are posted on the store’s social media platforms and on the front door.