In the beginning of my candle journey not much caught me by surprise. Building a business comes very naturally to me. If I didn’t have the answer I would do lots of research or ask an expert. I grew and learned as much knowledge as I could in a day, a week and a month. As I learned, I adapted, I grew my business to cater to my clientele.
With that said, the part of my business that caught me most by surprise happened when I started traveling to shows and events selling my products and speaking face to face with my customers. That's when it hit me.
MEN LOVE CANDLES TOO…. and in fact, they had very strong opinions on scents. Had this been a factor I had overlooked in my business planning. Was I subconsciously catering only to women? Am I missing a major market…… the answer was YES!!!
To my surprise I found at each show or event I attended, I was selling my products with more of a man clientele than I planned for. Every man that bought a candle, reed diffuser or room spray surprised me. I took the time to have a conversation with them and pick their brain about their purchases.
The conclusion I came to was that men love a fresh scent just as much as the rest of us. They love to keep their homes and vehicles smelling good. And just like women, they know what they like.
Then came the second surprise ….. Another one. Women, wives and partners actually considered what the men in their lives thought about the scents they were choosing. This led me down a path….. Am I selfish? I never considered what my husband thought about the scents I was burning in our home. I bought what I liked!
Fast forward to 3 years later and Waxman (Mr. Scented Market) plays a huge role in defining the scents that we offer. He has very strong opinions on what scents we are burning in our own home and represents all men when considering scent choices that we create.
Being a candle lady has taught me so many great things, but one of the most important things was that MEN LIKE SMELLS TOO!
