makerssystem Should You Follow Trends or Create Signature Scents? There is a moment in every candle business where the maker has to choose a direction. A scent goes viral. A competitor sells out a seasonal line in a weekend. You have to decide whether you chase what is hot or build something people come back for.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB Your Email List Is More Valuable Than Your Social Media Following Your follower count looks like an asset, but you do not own it. Organic reach has collapsed to low single digits, accounts vanish overnight, and email still returns up to $42 per dollar. Here is why your email list is the only audience you actually own, and how to start building it this quarter.
Grant List Grants Open Right Now: August 2026 Funding for Every Entrepreneur, with Spotlights on Manufacturing, Women Founders, Authors, and Retail Grant funding doesn't announce itself. Application windows open quietly, close quickly, and most business owners hear about them a week after the deadline. That is why we publish this roundup every month, so the money
makerssystem How to Build a Community Around Your Candle Brand Most candle founders start with the product, but the brands that last win because a group of people decided the brand was theirs. Here's the strategy for building that community on purpose, and why it beats marketing every time.
makerssystem The Secret to Selling a Lifestyle Instead of Just Wax Two candles can cost the same to make and sell for triple the difference. The gap is never the wax. It is what the customer believes they are buying. Walk into any craft market and you will find a dozen makers selling the same thing. Soy wax. Cotton wick. A
AUTHORGROWTHLAB 110+ Grants Open Right Now July 2026 Funding for Every Entrepreneur - with Spotlights on Manufacturing, Authors & Writers, Logistics, and Retail Grant funding doesn't announce itself. Application windows open quietly, close quickly, and most business owners find out about them after the deadline has passed. That's exactly why we publish this roundup every
logistics What Is a Social Enterprise? A growing number of entrepreneurs are proving that profit and purpose are not in conflict. Here is what a social enterprise is, how it works, and why it matters. When most people think about business, they think about one thing: making a profit. While profitability is essential to the success
makerssystem Why Your Candle Brand Is More Important Than Your Candle Quality gets you in the door. Brand is what makes customers come back, recommend you to others, and choose you over a shelf full of competitors. One of the biggest misconceptions in the candle industry is that having the best candle automatically leads to success. Quality is essential, but it
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contracting Pipeline Part 7 of 8 | Past Performance - Building a Track Record When You Don't Have One Yet Every new government contractor runs into the same wall: the solicitation asks for past performance on similar contracts, and you don't have any. Not in the federal space, anyway. This is the catch-22 that stops more small businesses than any other single factor. You can't
AUTHORGROWTHLAB Funding Your Business: Understanding Traditional and Non Traditional Funding Sources Funding Your Business: Understanding Traditional and Non Traditional Funding Sources
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contracting Pipeline Part 6 of 8 | How to Price a Government Contract Without Leaving Money on the Table Federal contract pricing isn't a number you pull from instinct or competitive comparison. It needs to be defensible, traceable back to real costs, structured around direct and indirect cost categories, and calibrated to the contract type you're bidding.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB Revenue Is Not Profit Social media loves a revenue screenshot. But gross revenue is a starting line, not a finish line. Before you scale anything, you need to understand what's left after overhead, payroll, insurance, and acquisition costs eat their share. That's the number that runs your business.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contract Pipeline Part 5 of 8 | Why Past Performance Is Your Most Powerful Credential How to document your existing work so it speaks the government's language, even if you've never held a federal contract. When a federal contracting officer reviews your proposal, they are making one fundamental decision: can I trust this company to deliver? Your price matters. Your technical
makerssystem SCALING A CANDLE BUSINESS WITHOUT LOSING QUALITY | PART 3 OF 8 Material Consistency: The Other Half of Process Control What it takes to standardize your inputs so your process has something reliable to work with. In Part 2, we built the case for documenting your production process. A well-written SOP gives your business a repeatable foundation. It makes training possible,
makerssystem Documenting Your Process - Part 2 of 8 Most candle businesses don't fail because the product is bad. They fail because the process lives entirely in one person's head. Part 2 breaks down how to document your production so anyone can follow it and get the same result. This is where scaling starts.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contract Pipeline Part 4 of 8 | Reading a Solicitation Without Getting Lost Government solicitations follow a predictable structure. Once you know what to look for and where to find it, you can assess any opportunity in under an hour and make a smart go/no-go decision before you invest a single minute writing a proposal. me.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Second Edition Is Here: What's New in How to Start a Courier Business The second edition of How to Start a Courier Business is here - and it's the most complete guide to launching a profitable courier company ever published. Here's everything that's new.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contract Pipeline Part 3 of 8 | How to Get on the Right Radar - SAM, NAICS Codes & Set-Asides There are three things that put you on the government's radar: your SAM registration, your NAICS codes, and your set-aside certifications. We're going to go deep on all three - what they are, why they matter, and exactly what you need to do.
makerssystem Retail, Wholesale, and Private Label: Which Path Is Right for Your Business? In 2009, I launched The Bougie Pooch and learned retail the hard way. By the time I built Fleurty Wick into one of the largest Black-owned, female-founded candle manufacturing companies in the country, I had made a deliberate choice: no storefront, no retail, no customer-facing business.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB Stop Expanding. Fix Your Core. Somewhere along the way, expansion became the marker of success. More products. More locations. More everything. But for emerging entrepreneurs, especially those operating with less runway and fewer safety nets, premature growth isn't ambition. It's a risk.
makerssystem Scaling a Candle Business Without Losing Quality (Part 1 of 8) Scaling doesn’t break candle businesses, lack of structure does. As demand grows, the real challenge isn’t producing more, it’s maintaining quality without being everywhere at once. This is where systems replace effort.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contract Pipeline - Part 2 of 8 | How to Find Out Who’s Already Getting Paid Most contractors start by chasing bids. The real strategy starts by finding who already won. This guide shows you how to use SAM.gov’s Contract Awards data to identify vendors, agencies, and patterns so you can begin building your own pipeline.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB The Federal Contract Pipeline - Part 1 of 8 | The Government Already Budgeted for Your Business The federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on contracts every year. The money is already allocated. The opportunities already exist. Most entrepreneurs never find them, not because the work isn't there, but because they're starting in the wrong place.
makerssystem 5 Beginner Mistakes That Waste Money The wax you waste in your first year costs more than any course you could take. Before you scale, launch, or price your first collection, read this - because these five mistakes are quiet budget-killers that most chandlers only recognize in hindsight.
AUTHORGROWTHLAB Building to Sell Is Not Selling Out Building a business to sell isn't betrayal, it's strategy. I sold my accounts, kept my trademark, and walked away with a 10-year deal still generating income. Here's what Black entrepreneurs need to know about exits and investing.
