2023 sucked hard. I had 2 major health issues (including breast cancer, but I’m good now), a serious car accident, my mom passed unexpectedly, and we lost our dog to cancer. That doesn’t even count the economy. I’m resetting and trying to get 2024 set up for success.
I love you ebooks and your candle testing sheet. I still use all. I find myself going back to your ebooks when I struggle with something. Hope 2024 is better for you.
Hi from Bothell! Cheers to you and your honest videos! And best wishes to you and your health in 2024! We were up 45% in 2023 from 2022. Our roadblock is how expensive WA state is! We are expanding but have to move out of state to do it. This year is going to be crazy with moving a home and a business, but soooo very excited to keep living my dream and seeing my business thrive!
2023 was rough. I'm still trying to build myself from a hobby to a business (I don't do candles but have been thinking about it - I do bath&body stuff primarily). Last year was so discouraging in the fact that I got laid off, again, and struggling to find a job within my means of physical limits as well as having time to build my small business. I don't know how people do it. I decided to do as many events as I could, and the income I made was roughly double of what I spent in booth fees. I'm chalking it up to 2023 tested my strength and faith in myself in the fact that I am determined not to give up on my small business. There were several positive things that came from it, so I can't say that it was the worst year ever. I just need to find the strength to get back up this year and dust myself off :)
I’m just beginning and trying to find the right wax has been super frustrating. After you video, I need to stop complaining. I feel like it’s nice to know successful people still go through bumps in the road. So thank you and I appreciate your content. 😊
I always watch your videos because I love your honesty! Yes, 2023 was not good for many of us. People shifted their way of thinking or doing things... many were depressed and just buying a lot of food but not candles or soap
Very true! We lost quite a few farmers markets in our area. Many just had traffic drop off a cliff . Approaching 2024 really watching inventory . Making less and watching costs.
Thank you for sharing. I'm new to this, and it helps me with my mindset regarding change and the flow of business and entrepreneurship. You have room for NEW. Exciting!
It was definitely an unexpected year for a lot of people, us included. Like you, I started to see the writing on the wall early, so I pivoted business in anticipation going into the year and (somewhat counter-intuitively) focused on volume over margins, mainly with our white label/private label business and wholesale accounts. The crazy thing was that the majority of the year, while lean, was steady, and the holidays completely popped off. I expected business to fall off a cliff following Christmas, but it kept on trending upward and has even resulted in a pretty massive private label contract in a different part of the country. 2024 is already breaking records, and looking to be a big one for us!
That's awesome, nice score then! I am making big shifts this year and refocusing on things that are more important to me and the overall business. I expanded past my capabilities and felt it.
We had terrible weather in the Northeast on top of the economy. I had candles at events with the samples with an inch if melted wax....out of the sun and under the tent.
I would say, aside from the changes you made, the change from 22 to 23 was a correction for almost every "hobby" or "recreational" category. Large companies and small had to correct once people had fewer restrictions. But yeah, man, '23 was difficult on a personal level as well as sidelining me from opening. Hope 2024 treats you better. On a side note, you have helped many people, even if it is just giving general business tips or using videos as a distraction, so thank you from myself and hopefully others.
Cost among other things. It was a bad location for a boutique but we knew that going into it. We got into the place mainly for the warehouse side and did the boutique since we had room for it.
2023 was terrible. I'm rethinking my product line. Candle sales were horrible. My big seller was my body butters - sold out of those. I'll be focusing more in that direction this year.
I started my shop (not candles) in 2015. Closed the last day of 23. My sales were also down 50% in 23. I just decided it was not worth it for me anymore. 😢
