Why I Chose A Gourmet Candle Business

Universal acceptance of your product, one where the majority of people want it, makes life easier and increase your chances of success.

For me, candles and mineral makeup fit the bill there too! Plus with our products being greener, cleaner, natural and more eco-friendly I feel I am in the right place with respect to the move to Going Green. More and more people are making conscious choices to Go Green. It is in keeping with my philosophy that we should Save Our Earth and my lifestyle which makes the business fit for me even more.

I've been with companies in the past who had great products but ones that didn't appeal to some. I wanted a product that appealed to everyone. The more sales you make the more successful you are!

Candles to me are a feel good product. Personally, I have always been a candle-holic and there are always candles burning in my home. The majority of people use home fragrance products in their homes, to create a mood, during holidays and celebrations and the like. Even with the move to flameless home fragrancing, I am a distributor of a product line that addresses that movement.

The statistics on the candle industry are very interesting and something I would love to share more about with you if you are interested.

Candles are used by over 80% of American households and those demographics don't change even based on gender or economic status. I have a large team of distributors who I call "Our Candle Men" and they are equally successful in this business. To me, that's a great thing!

In the past I've been with cosmetic companies (excludes men), home decor companies (excludes for various reasons including income, whether they own or rent and how much discretionary money one could spend on home decor) etc.

I chose candles because it's a universal product to women. Most men I know also purchase them. It doesn't matter if you rent or own. It doesn't seem to matter what economic bracket someone comes from. Candles are one of life's little pleasures and a feel-good product that appeals to everyone. The home fragrance industry is big business!

Consumable products are the way to go in my opinion. That is why I chose to involve myself with products that someone will use or deplete meaning that they will need to purchase more when they run out. It's the simple principle of supply and demand. Consumable products include the Gourmet Candles and Mineral Makeup I sell in my business but can include products such as cosmetics, nutritional products, etc.

In businesses I was in during my quest for "the one", I was with companies that had fantastic products. But some of them were not consumable products, meaning they had a long shelf life so there wasn't a reorder base and you constantly had to go find new customers. Companies in that category are ones that offer something a person might buy once or twice but not on a repeated basis. I would call those "hard goods" and those purchases you make that last for a very long time.

Consumable products - in my case candles and mineral makeup - allow me to continually market my existing customer base by way of new product, occassions and holidays, new scents etc. Repeat business means retail profits!

I am proud to be a distributor with a company that is on the cutting edge and always developing new product. It gives me an opportunity to expand my market share with my existing customer base in addition to finding new customers who will fall in love with our products.

Quotas equal stress and headache in my book. I've been with companies like that in year's past before I went searching for my present company. One thing I knew: I was never going to shelve inventory or a large autoshipment of product I'd never use or didn't have sold to get my commission check due me - again!

What's a closet full of product you haven't sold yet? I call it dead inventory and it's a financial investment.

In the Direct Sales industry especially, they say you can do the business part time. But it's hard to be a part timer with the same quota as a full time quota in a business. Life deals you all kinds of things! You might have great sales one month but something could happen the next where you don't do that volume. If you have a team under most of these comp plans - what do you do? You order products anticipating the future needs of your customers and shelve them. That way you get your check....but is that fiscally sound?

Don't get me wrong on my next statements. I am not against home parties. I have done them myself. But I wanted it to be Optional for me and not Required which it had been for me in years and companies past. I wanted Freedom and Flexibility and not having a quota meant not having to push to book that next party or show.

Quota-driven pressure keeps many tied to the home party gig. Stop meeting your quota and you may wind up missing commission checks. So you can't really take off for a month or two from doing home parties can you?

Like I said, don't get me wrong...I like home parties. There are many Direct Sales Consultants out there building very lucrative businesses with home parties. But I remember in 2000 and 2001 trying to balance single motherhood, a full time job and a full time quota in my direct sales business (being part time of course). I felt guilty leaving my son of evenings as I was already working out of the home 9+ hours a day. When the business stops being fun which it did, I did what should be done and I "retired" from that company.

I love my present company because home parties are an option but in no way a necessity! Whew!

All I have to do to get everything due me under the comp plan is make my Candle Of The Month purchase! How easy is that? The Direct Sales background side of me absolutely loves this! No more quotas mean I can relax, enjoy the freedom and flexibility and have fun with my business. Fun was the missing link for me in quota based companies.

Another consideration is the profit percentages and costs of doing business as a distributor or part of any company.

Products from Direct Sales companies usually have a commission percentage you derive from selling it. I've looked at hundreds of companys' offerings. Some of these percentages are low, even as low as 20% though the industry average seems to be 35%.

Think about a typical retail business - a brick and mortar store. Have you ever heard of the concept of "keystoning your product"? That's the rule most brick and mortar retailers use...they want to double their money or better to cover their overhead.

Products from a Network Marketing company are different. These are usually more distributor consumed and usually the retail possibilities with most of these products are minimal. Or if they do offer a retail-able product the profit margin is small.

What I like about the company I am with is that it is a melding of both industries - Direct Sales and Network Marketing. I will cover that more here in a bit. For now, let's just say it's Direct Sales with Network Marketing model. Some have referred to our company as a hybrid because it's a gentle melding together of those two successful industries.

I chose my company because of the double-your-money and better retail profits I can earn at suggested retail. I also have the flexibility of setting my own prices which I absolutely love! That means I can run specials and offer discounts for repeat customer loyalty without taking my profits down to zero or bare minimum.

What are the other costs of doing business...even if it is home based? There are costs and you have to do some checking around to find them sometimes.

Are there sign up or renewal fees? Does your company provide a website or do you do so at your own expense? Can you order your marketing materials (say business cards) where you want or do you have to order from the company vendor? How about product catalogs? How often those change becomes important as this can be a big expense!

The company I am with includes the website in my monthly purchase so I get product to resell and the company website. There are no "hidden" costs which I really like.

When exploring a company these are all considerations to be checked out. What looks like a great opportunity on the surface sometimes isn't when you crunch the numbers. Even though I'm happy with my company, I look at other companies all the time as a point of comparison. Those hidden factors could be the Make It or Break It point for you down the road so I would suggest taking your time and asking questions if you aren't sure.

Direct Sales and Network Marketing are both huge and respectable industries with millions globally earning incomes this way.

If you can find a company that appeals to both industries and works beautifully you can capitalize on the power of both those concepts and duplication!

The company I am with offers that. Our program, compensation plan, residual profits and all items covered above make it a winner for someone in Direct Sales or a Network Marketer. It fills one or the other, or both needs, depending on the individual and where they want to take their business to.

With a background in both industries, it thrilled me to find a combination of the two! I am very passionate about this fact and feel it sets the company I am with apart from most others!

Before you decide on a company, have a clear definition of what the company defines itself as and how you will be mainly conducting business. After you determine that, again make sure it's a "fit" for what you want to achieve.

This component is especially true when evaluating a Network Marketing opportunity but an equally important consideration to a Direct Sales company where you can grow a team.

The compensation plan for residual income is a major point to evaluate in any opportunity - especially if you are looking towards residual income to change your life.

Naturally you want to go with a company that is established, in good standing, with a track record of timely payments to it's distributors.

But take a long look at the compensation plan for sponsoring and building a team. Do the math! What would it take to realize the kind of income you would like to see? Is it attainable to you, especially if you are new to the industry or haven't quite honed the skills to be a big recruiter? What about working part time?

Do you see yourself being successful with the marketing plan?

I've never considered myself a huge recruiter but I am a good mentor, coach and team leader. I believe in the concept of TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves More - and have built fairly good sized organizations in several companies in my background.

With Direct Sales companies I've found most plans for sponsoring and building a team of distributors don't go deep or in order to it takes a rather large organization to realize significant residual income. Since most Direct Sales companies are predominantly retail-driven, you can luck out on recruiting but I've found usually it takes more than what the average person, especially the part timer, is capable of.

With Network Marketing, many compensation plans are loaded with those direct bonuses for personally sponsoring and building a team. Think of these as larger up-front payouts. Can you succeed with this plan when you are new to the industry? Can you interest enough people in the business to cash in on those bonuses? What happens when you stop sponsoring? Take time off? This may sound like a lot of questions but do yourself a favor and answer them honestly and from the heart. It may be the difference between failure and success for you.

With many Network Marketing compenstation plans, when those bonuses go away the actual residual portion of the check isn't usually something that excites most - again unless they have a large organization under them. Again the criteria is usually more than what the average person, especially the part timer, is capable of.

The company I am with has a very straightforward compensation plan. Most in direct sales will find it exciting! While at first glance some network marketers may not, once they realize the full impact of a comp plan like we have they get excited because it's not bonus based. Meaning as they grow an organization they will have the freedom to take time out without worrying about their check decreasing! Isn't that why most people get into network marketing to begin with - freedom?

What excited me most about our Marketing and Comp Plan is WHO it is available to! The average person can do this and succeed with our marketing plan. As you advance, there are lots of other great things built in there, like a Monthly Bonus Pool and even a Car Bonus on the Leadership Levels. But what I like is it's conceivable for a part-timer to get paid on a 6 level deep team of distributors in an achieable fashion.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you when looking at business is be clear on the marketing and compensation plans. Make sure you understand it. If you plan on team building someday, you will need to in order to share it with others anyway. But be point blank honest with yourself and put yourself in the picture. If you see yourself successful with it, then Go For It and I wish you every blessing in your new business venture!

...as my way of giving back to the community and supporting some great charities. If any of the picks I've featured here might help you in your business quest, please consider making a purchase and shopping for a cause!