I only made £20k as a beautician so started side hustle from home – now the business rakes in £13m

A SAVVY mum of two who turned her back on a modest wage in the beauty industry has now transformed her simple side hustle into a £13 million business.

Cheryl Maclean, 49 was sick of having to restart her beauty business every time her husband Duncan, 50, got posted to a new army base and was keen to start a project that she could do from anywhere.

Already a huge fan of home fragrances, the mum-of-two decided to have a go at making her own candles and the Candle Shack was soon born.

The couple honed their craft by simply watching YouTube tutorials and then set about making the products on their kitchen table.

In the beginning, they kept their new venture as a side hustle, but their big break came when a Dutch company put in an order for 3000 candles – and the business really took off.

Now, 14 later, the business has turned over a staggering £13million, and employs 80 staff.

Cheryl, who used to earn around £20,000 from her beauty business, tells Fabulous: “Candle Shack has unlocked many financial barriers that would have been unimaginable to me just a decade ago.

“It went beyond our wildest dreams, we didn’t think we would end up with the business that we have today.”

The idea for Candle Shack first came about when Duncan was tasked with coming up with a business idea for a university project on how to start a business after a recession.

The couple, who have two daughters Lauren 22, and Ellie 18, invited friends around for a BBQ and “plied them with alcohol and food” before the group decided that candle making would be the perfect business venture.

Duncan, who moved around with the army, explains: “It started as a university project and side hustle that Cheryl and me could take with us everywhere we went, so that we didn’t have to start a business from scratch.”

For two years, Cheryl and Duncan worked on Candle Shack as a side hustle, selling the products at local markets.

In the first few years, all of the couple’s money was reinvested back into the business, and they paid themselves £1,000 a month each.

“There were maybe four hard years, when money was very tight,” Cheryl says.

“The hard work really paid off around eight years after starting the business.”

The turning point came when they were approached by a businesswoman from The Netherlands, who ran a marketing agency, and who had been given one of their candles as a gift.

She loved the product, as it was made of plant wax, and asked the couple if they could make her 3000 candles, with the label of her business on the front.

They also went onto sell some leftover fragrance and discovered another gap in the market which was selling supplies to budding candle makers.

It meant that another profitable branch of their business was born.

Cheryl, who is the CCO of Candle Shack and Duncan, who is the company’s CEO and head of innovation, then decided to quit their jobs and focus on their business full time.

“Duncan had had enough of the army, and our girls were young,” says Cheryl.

“The business was getting bigger, and we had a decision to make.”

The couple relocated to Kinross, Scotland, to be closer to both of their families.

There was lots of frustrated creative people sat in their houses wanting to have a side hustle as a creative outlet, or maybe a second income and I think we helped to fuel that market

Duncan

Duncan used a redundancy payment he was given from the army to pay for a year’s rent on a flat, giving the couple 12 months to see whether their business would really take off.

“We knew that if we had had rent to pay, and we had had one or two bad months, then we would have bottled it,” Duncan says.

However, once they started the ecommerce branch of the business – selling online – their cash flow greatly increased.

Candle Shack now primarily sells candle making supplies to business owners, as well as providing support and advice to those hoping to start their own candle making business.

Business is booming

Cheryl says that when they first started the business there was no help out their for budding candle makers, so they found a real gap in the market.

“We want to help people, to educate people to make safe products, to make products that smell amazing, and to also offer the best quality that people can afford as well”, she explains.

Duncan thinks their business boom is thanks to customers wanting handcrafted products instead of mass produced ones which explains why the market for homemade candles has greatly increased.

He also adds: “There was lots of frustrated creative people sat in their houses wanting to have a side hustle as a creative outlet, or maybe a second income and I think we helped to fuel that market as well.

“Whether it’s a mum who’s had children and hasn’t gone back to work yet, or people who have had a high pressure job in the city who just want to move to move a slower pace of life and have a more work life balance.”

Cheryl adds: “We absolutely love what we do and have done since day one.”

The couple plan to help more aspiring candle makers start their own businesses so that “in Europe, every town, every village, has a little candle shop, and we help them on that journey.”

Sharing advice for those thinking of starting their own side hustle, Cheryl says make sure your brand is as personalised as possible and “tells your story.”

“Don’t be afraid to inject your own personality and use yourself or your town as as the story that’s good enough,” she explains.

“Just be proud of who you are and what the business is about.”

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