Custom Made Concrete Candles - Hue Candle Company

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in candle-making but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Anthony Werner, co-founder of Hue Candle Company, located in Chicago, IL, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are an artisanal candle company that hand makes candles from concrete. We hand mix our cement with water, pigment, and colors to create beautiful stone and marbled vessels.

Our customers are those who enjoy hand-crafted products with a natural, earthy feel. We appeal to those with the most simplistic tastes and those with colorful personalities. Our inspiration for our candles comes from our many travels to old-world Mexico, the homeland of one of the founders of Hue Candle Co. We attempt to mimic our vessels to the old stone homes, buildings, cathedrals, and bleeding colors found throughout the beautiful towns of Mexico.

Tell us about yourself

My sister-in-law makes candles in Mexico, and we were always intrigued by her work and the process of candle making. It eventually became a family affair when she showed us how to make candles from scratch. We then took that knowledge, added months of research on how to concoct concrete vessels, and started our brand. It was imperative that we brought a taste of Mexican culture and architecture to Chicago, hence our vision for concrete candles.

We’re motivated by family and love, to be honest. We contact my sister-in-law and mother-in-law on almost a daily basis regarding candles. We bounce ideas off one another, share trials and errors, and inspire one another to keep going with our business, even when making products from scratch becomes tiresome and time-consuming. Sharing the experience keeps the inspiration and vision going strong.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Our biggest accomplishment as business owners was learning to compromise as a partner turned business partner endeavor. We both have very different visions and esthetics. Learning to combine our visions and work synergistically in a new facet of life helped us grow as individuals, life partners, and business owners.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Time management. On top of running a small business, we both work full-time jobs. Allocating time to the business while setting aside enough time to allow our personal lives to flourish has been a challenge. We work on it every day, and effective communication is the key to dealing with the stressors of being a business partner with your life partner.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Find something you absolutely love to do and find a way to make money doing it, whether it be a hobby, craft, or interest.
2. Set realistic expectations regarding how much time you can allocate to running the business, especially if you already have a full-time gig and a significant other. Social media, marketing, advertising, word of mouth, markets, websites, online shops, time creating the products, etc., are all very time-consuming tasks. It’s wonderful to be driven, but you have to have your time, so you don’t burn out.
3. Do your research. We prevented so many mistakes by joining forums, watching videos, and engaging with others in your particular craft before launching. There are so many online platforms to elevate your chances of being a successful small business.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.huecandlecompany.com/
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3PMCEft
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huecandleco/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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