#shopsmall

If you have a small business, reply to this post with the name in the subject line. and then let us know what you got.




peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

at quintesscentialcandles dot com **

/quintesscential on IG

/QuintesScentialCandles on FB


** my wife's company, actually. i didn't link directly to the site b/c i don't want the traffic pointing back to okp. she don't know i post here, but i'm just trying to give a boost. so pls don't be like "poetx said so".


QC is an all natural soy candle business. we hand-craft / hand pour each candle, and have a wide assortment of custom fragrances that appeal to multiple palates. soy wax burns longer and cleaner than paraffin (which is a petroleum byproduct). Our 9.5 oz (Signature) candles will burn for 55 - 60 hours. Our Standard (4 oz) candle will burn for 25 - 30 hours, and we burn test each for longevity and fragrance throw.

our fragrances are all phthalate-free. that's a harsh chemical additive that is in most fragrance products unless they explicitly say that they aren't. our wicks are also lead and zinc free - all cotton, making them safer to burn around pets and people.

axe me some questions about candles, if you got em.

our most popular scent is Peace of Mind, which we came up with during election season in 2016. it's a very calming blend of peppermint, lavender, frankincense and myrhh. great for stress relief (i burn it at the job in a melter at my desk in the afternoon, or when ppl be getting on my nerves). we put it together b/c a fellow vendor asked (he suffers from migraines). he loved the candles and said that burning them kept his migraines at bay.

we can't make that claim (some of our customers says it helps w/ migraines, some say no difference), but it is definitely a relaxing, calming scent.

if there's a particular scent or kind of fragrance you like, let me know and i'll let you know if we have anything like that.




peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

y’all ship? I’ll check it out tho

and right now everything is 25% off.

thanks.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

i blend and mix all the fragrances, btw. my wife will tell me, generally, what she wants (we need 5 seasonals, and i want something like xyz), and then we'll look for different oils, get samples, i'll mix 'em on paper, and if something has promise we'll pour it and test it. between all the kids and their s/o's, we get a lot of feedback.

it's fun when we sell at events (craft and artisan shows, etc), to check out how different people react to the different scents.


playery:

Earthy (sandalwood is the base note. oak moss and a hint of amber round it out).

Teakwood and Linen (pretty self-explanatory blend of clean, fresh linen scent and teakwood). Earthy and Teakwood and Linen tend to be the go to scents for Black customers. which is hilarious, b/c that's my palate.

Opulence is new. this one is dope. we actually put it together as a proposed custom fragrance for an apartment complex in North Hills, Raleigh. it's a blend of fresh bamboo, exotic woods, and coconut. (the coconut is not obvious, though). very upscale. (the apartments went with Carolina, instead, to put into their new lease welcome packages). Carolina is good and unique, too, but just tends to be a bit more polarizing.

Dragon's Blood - top note is patchouli, with notes of wood and citrus. exotic. very polarizing, though. patchouli is one of those fragrances that people either run to or run from. it's always fun to watch ppls reactions. i've had two separate ladies tell me, deadass, "it smells like Asheville". (that's the hippie part of NC out in the western mountains).

Driftwood - base note is cedar with a very light vanilla on top. it doesn't conflict with anything. nice, low key background ambient scent.


Mandles: (our man candles -- women like these too, it's just that if there was a color wheel, this would be opposite anything floral)

Tuxedo and Whiskey - very spot on whiskey fragrance with some notes of amber, etc.

Teakwood & Linen (above).

arguably, Earthy and Dragon's Blood can fit into this.

I'll put Carolina here, although it's not necessarily masculine. it's pine, magnolia and a hint of tobacco. we created this a year ago, in the hope of crafting something quintessentially NC (we're both transplants but been here so long that it's home). none of these fragrances play well with others, as they tend to overpower blends, but i kept messing with it. it burns very sweet and mellow. the tobacco (a very small bit, mind you), can be a bit off putting on the cold throw (smell out of the jar), which makes this candle a bit polarizing, but it is a really nice and unique scent. it did well when we were in the food hall as a tourist memento.


Relaxation & Refreshing:

Spa Time - subtle, yet complex blend of blackberries, sage, cucumber and mint. puts you in mind of getting the spa treatment w/ the cucumbers on your eyes. really refreshing.

Peace of Mind - our top seller, perennially. this is the most chill. i have this going in the melter in the afternoons at work when ppl be getting on my nerves and it keeps me from punching ppl. true story.

Sweet Dreams - a Lavender and Fresh Linen combo. puts you in mind of a high end hotel where they spray lavender on the pillows. good for before going to bed at night. or just to unwind after a long day. sweet, clean and light.







peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

I feel like there usedta be more small biz folks/hustlers #OnHere but hey.

Good job, good effort.

weeks ago, and it was a few pages back. thought it was a good idea and might do better w/ a new poast, since there was no engagement w/ that one.

nope.

welp.

i helped create hustleboard back in the day. and that turned into MLM and tumbleweeds. then it got turned into the dilla tribute board. iono what it is now.

oh well.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

(links in sig)

Picked it up as a hobby a few years ago when I was out of a job to save money and to use as gifts. I first gifted it to my best friend, who told me that he would buy it if I were to actually sell it. I believed him but I didn't believe that EYE could make something that strangers would buy. I kept giving it away and getting the same response

I use different scents so it doesn't smell like straight oil, but the base recipe is the same. A few of the homies in OKS have copped, so I've since created the promo code "THATSITE" for 15% off

I’m copping 5 of these for family.

Charlotte NC

In theory, it hits most of the east coast in 2 business days. I'll put it this way tho: I'll make sure it gets to you by Christmas either way

I’ll cop today.

I put that shit on everything fam!!!

Good product.

I'ma make it fresh, but if I feel that's it's pushing it I'ma upgrade the shipping for free. Thanks so much, man

Appreciate the support, my man

that's what's up.

how long have you been selling it?

where do you sell it besides online?

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

>how long have you been selling it?

"Unofficially" for almost 3 years, but I went live/official with it a little over a year ago

>where do you sell it besides online?

Currently just a few barber shops in DC. That's been a lot of trial and error tho so I'm looking to focus on online sales and smaller shops where there's a dedicated merchandising associate. These barbers just wanna cut hair, lol

>>how long have you been selling it?
>
>"Unofficially" for almost 3 years, but I went live/official
>with it a little over a year ago

cool. despite your initial trepidation, how has the reality of jumping in stacked up with your preconceptions? what's the biggest thing that surprised you after going in for real?

>
>>where do you sell it besides online?
>
>Currently just a few barber shops in DC. That's been a lot of
>trial and error tho so I'm looking to focus on online sales
>and smaller shops where there's a dedicated merchandising
>associate. These barbers just wanna cut hair, lol
>

excellent. i was thinking barber shops would be a natural (pun intended) spot for you. get that strong word of mouth going, and especially if you can convince a couple barbers to use your products on their clients. ie, you get the deluxe cut, they throw that Monarch on top.

we *tried* to do a thing w/ a barbershop earlier. was all good for a minute, but then it ain't work out. we're still looking for different sales outlets / models. what works best for us is direct to customers, like at craft / artisan shows, and when we had a kiosk downtown in the food hall. we do great in those settings. only thing, that's time intensive. we need to figure out how to get passive sales popping. internet. wholesale, etc.

still working on it.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

>cool. despite your initial trepidation, how has the reality of
>jumping in stacked up with your preconceptions? what's the
>biggest thing that surprised you after going in for real?

Honestly, I sort of had an idea of what it would be like because I was also working w some friends to start a small tech startup around the same time as I was developing my own thing. So I knew that there was gonna be this initial 1-3 month hype among friends, family, social media followers, etc once you drop some type of professional looking tangible product. Then after that it's like ... now what? That support only goes but so far unless connections are leveraged, so I knew I had to do things to attract those outside of that circle as well as keep the initial supporters interested

I hope that answers your question

>>>where do you sell it besides online?
>>
>>Currently just a few barber shops in DC. That's been a lot
>of
>>trial and error tho so I'm looking to focus on online sales
>>and smaller shops where there's a dedicated merchandising
>>associate. These barbers just wanna cut hair, lol
>>
>
>excellent. i was thinking barber shops would be a natural (pun
>intended) spot for you. get that strong word of mouth going,
>and especially if you can convince a couple barbers to use
>your products on their clients. ie, you get the deluxe cut,
>they throw that Monarch on top.

>we *tried* to do a thing w/ a barbershop earlier. was all good
>for a minute, but then it ain't work out. we're still looking
>for different sales outlets / models. what works best for us
>is direct to customers, like at craft / artisan shows, and
>when we had a kiosk downtown in the food hall. we do great in
>those settings. only thing, that's time intensive. we need to
>figure out how to get passive sales popping. internet.
>wholesale, etc.
>
>still working on it.

When it works, it's a beautiful thing man. Especially when they're local. I'd just drop off the product, then when they're ready, come back with more product, pick up a check, and wait for the signal again. But in my experience, most barbers are terrible with communication and it rarely ever goes that smooth. They're also weird about signing contracts. Plus they're taking a way bigger cut than Shopify, free samples also eats into profit as well as shipping costs

Man, I feel you on the craft/artisan shows being effective but time intensive. We are in the same boat right now

onustees.com

✊🏾❤️

how long you been doing this? how has the journey been?


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

...the journey was been beautiful...

It's constant trying new things... and adjusting to the feedback and outcomes...

I tell myself I'm going to jump in 100% (aka leave the job...) however, not sure if that's my path...

been at it 11 years... and thinking of switching lanes while continuing to push the brand(s).

>...the journey was been beautiful...
>
>It's constant trying new things... and adjusting to the
>feedback and outcomes...

yeah. our 4 years has had some twists and turns. you learn a LOT though, so that's cool.

>
>I tell myself I'm going to jump in 100% (aka leave the job...)
>however, not sure if that's my path...

that's a big leap.

i kinda did that (not w/ the candles, w/ doing small business IT consulting). for a year after getting laid off. it was good in theory. turned out it was several holes in my theory. not the least of which being when my old insurance pricing went away and that COBRA bit my ass.

now i'm back corporate and juggling all typesa shit on the side. it's all good though. if that's your path, i pray it works for you.
>
>been at it 11 years... and thinking of switching lanes while
>continuing to push the brand(s).

cool thing is you have a strong brand + longevity and i assume, by now a dependable supplemental source of income. that's a great thing.



peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

All Love.

Probably start doing online/shipping once I've got more inventory in another year or two.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

But if you non FBA show me product anyways. I might support your business as well.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

I'm trying to keep the money in the community. I'm open to supporting other heritages but I gotta ride my people.