Anticipation is building and preparations are in full swing as we approach Christmas. Traditionally decorations were put up on Christmas Eve (and only after the house was cleaned in some countries across Europe) but, for better or worse, we generally start much earlier these days. It’s fun to watch homes light up with strings of twinkling fairy lights and peep through open curtains to catch a glimpse of finely festooned Christmas trees. Maybe the scene on which our eyes fall will be full of rustic charm, with mantles and shelves bedecked with evergreens, tall pillar candles glowing gently within a nest of fir cones and red berries, and comfortable cushions and rugs thrown over an overstuffed sofa. Or, perhaps the room has a Nordic style, with clean lines, and a calming palette of whites and greys, accentuated with occasional red highlights, elegant and calming, inviting us to linger in its soothing tranquillity. Or, possibly the room is home to a family of excited children, with a riot of brightly coloured and much loved quirky ornaments dotted gaily around every conceivable surface, candy canes strung from bookshelves and well-worn, cheerful stockings hanging over the fireplace. However, our homes are decorated they are a reflection of ourselves and the traditions of our family.
Hand-crafted decorations are, in our minds, an essential part of any Christmas decor. Their durability, having been made well and with carefully sourced raw materials, compares favourably with mass-produced counterparts, as do their environmental credentials. During a season where shoppers are increasingly aware of the amount of landfill produced by the consumerism related to Christmas, locally made, high-quality decorations with sustainably produced or fairly traded raw materials are a big win. Make sure you emphasise these on your product description.
The Christmas season is also associated with a multitude of fragrances; the deep scent of spruce as the tree is lugged into the house, the alluring fragrance of mince pies and mulled wine, the homely smell of cakes and bakes in the oven.
Now, if you have been meticulously building up a range of wax melts over the past few months and looking into how to start at wax melt business, Christmas can be an excellent time to launch out. There is a good range of solid articles on how to start a wax melt business online, so we won’t replicate that here. However, if this is the first article you’ve landed on…welcome to our crafting community…we’d suggest that in addition to the basics of discerning your niche, working out a good business plan, checking out the applicable safety regulations and establishing good suppliers, you also take time and advice over creating your brand; your business, your name, your logo and your story which runs alongside it. Your products will be wonderful, and you need to convince the general public of this! There will be a price edge on handcrafted rather than mass produced products and you need to persuade customers as to why it is worth spending a little extra; the melts will be better quality, they will be promoting a small business and this in turn puts money into the local economy. Your products will tread lightly on the resources of our beautiful earth and they will be better quality and last longer. Another suggestion as you are considering how to start a wax melt business is how you will make best use of social media. Promoting your products is a key to good sales, so be savvy and if social media is not your strong point, get some advice; a clued up teenager or young adult can be very informative!
You will also be weighing up where you sell your melts. Online, with a good website, is certainly an excellent and well-tested option. However, do also consider attending a few markets and fairs, of which there are a plethora leading up to Christmas. Customers are in a festive mood, and looking to purchase gifts for family and friends. There is a joyous atmosphere of merriment and celebration and footfall is usually good. Our final tip to those looking at how to start a wax melt business is to ensure you have the correct craft insurance cover in place. Craft insurance can sound confusing, but we are here to make sure you have the best craft cover for your unique business requirements. As a small family business ourselves, we speak to each of our customers in person, so pick up the phone or drop us an email and either Sam or Naomi will be there to talk with you.
Here at Craft Insurance, we love all the fun and anticipation of Christmas, festooning our homes and business with some gorgeous hand-crafted decorations which are enjoyed year after year and each have a story to tell. However, we also know that Christmas can be a painful time for many who have experienced loss; those for whom the year has been especially tough with no apparent let up as we approach the next one. Christmas can be an especially poignant time filled with memories alongside the pressure to smile and be happy like everyone else.
The funny thing with Christmas is that it can be a time to acknowledge sadness or stress, and having done that, simply celebrate the good things in life for a few short days. A good analogy might be that, in the middle of a storm, Christmas can be like opening the curtains to see that the wind has calmed, the sky has a rosy glow on the horizon and the rain has abated. The storm will continue again until it has worn itself out, but for a brief interlude, there is calm. This Christmas will be like that for some of us; a brief and much needed interlude of respite where we choose to be together and take a breather.
