Candle Bar DSM – Chloe Bratvold
Even though Candle Bar DSM opened its doors in the middle of a global pandemic – Black Friday 2020, to be exact – the business has far exceeded owner Chloe Bratvold’s expectations … so much so that she’s already doubled her projected best month.
For candle lovers – or really anyone who’s looking for a fun bridal shower, bachelorette party, fundraiser or weekend activity idea – Candle Bar DSM offers a unique experience. At the store, which is located in West Des Moines' Valley Junction, customers choose from a selection of 65+ scents to blend into their own candle, diffuser or room spray creation.
And according to Chloe, the experience is really what it’s all about … although having your own custom scent to burn at home is pretty sweet, too.
So why did you start Candle Bar DSM?
The biggest thing really was that we all burn candles because we obviously enjoy candles; the average person has a candle in their house, and unfortunately a lot of the ones on the market aren’t great for you. They have a paraffin wax in them, which is essentially a crude oil that has been burned into the air and then you’re inhaling that chemical.
So I really wanted a cleaner candle, but I also wanted it to be a social atmosphere. I feel like we have a lot of social atmospheres but, unfortunately or fortunately, they’re all driven kind of toward alcohol. Which don’t get me wrong, I like a cocktail now and again, but definitely something social we could do with other people, especially given the scenario of the year, and then obviously working for myself was a big part of it as well. I just was trying to find something different and unique that was specific to something I enjoyed and that was a cleaner, better for you option.
Tell me more about that.
Our scents are all carcinogen, paraffin and sulfate free, and they’ve all been approved under Prop 65 [the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act in California]. It’s kind of the step in the direction that we’re all trying to make when we burn things, similar to driving our cars and things like that. It’s just better for the environment.
How’d you learn the process behind making candles?
It was really self-taught. I started out with kits at home just really out of boredom or after I Googled what [candles] were made out of. I was like, oh no, and I started buying kits online that you would just make at home. And the business side was kind of learn as I go, and I’m still doing that.
What’s being a small business owner been like?
You know you have an idea of opening a business. You’re like, yeah, it’s going to be a lot of work and it’s going to be time-consuming, but do you know if you’re going to have support? That was my biggest concern. And to be honest, from a business standpoint, just doing a business plan from the get-go, I was pretty reserved because of COVID.
Based off my projections when I created my business plan, I had an X for my best month, and every month I’ve been open I’ve been double that, so it’s been really busy. We’ve booked out most weekends two weeks in advance, which is kind of crazy.
Everybody wants to come in on Saturdays, which I totally get, but we only have 13 seats, and I am trying to separate groups when I can to try and keep that separation, and everyone wants to hang out in groups of eight or 10 now, which is part of the reason why we’re booking up so quickly.
And I’m just trying to figure out the growing pains, obviously dealing with the fact that we can’t get everyone in. And staffing, I thought I could do a lot of it myself, but I quickly realized that that’s impossible.
But it’s been really good and I’m learning a lot. I have four employees now, soon to be five, so that’s exciting as well.
Would you say that most of the people coming into your store are with a group? And how does the candle-creation process work?
I’d say the average group is four people. But like this last Saturday, we had three groups of 10 and a group of 16. It can be an alternative to a bridal shower or a stop on your day for your bachelorette, things like that, so we definitely get bigger groups, too.
So you come in, grab a clipboard and choose from our selection of jars. They vary based off of price point, material and how many ounces the candle actually is. We also have flameless options, so we do room sprays and diffusers.
Then you go through our 65 different scents, and you would choose your top four. Then we mix two to three of those to make a custom scent. That’s kind of where we come in; the staff helps you decide what will mix well together because obviously not everything will.
The process usually takes about 30 minutes in total. However, the wax has to harden before you can walk out with them. So that’s where the other businesses on the street kind of come in, due to the fact that people need somewhere to go in that hour and a half to two hours, which I think has been beneficial for us and other businesses, because most people are staying on this street that A) they’ve never been on or B), they’re like, let’s go to lunch or let’s stay around here so we can just come back and get it.
What’s been one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced?
When I first started, it was kind of the back side of the business, so like my books and things like that. I’ve gotten more comfortable with that. It’s actually pretty simple with all the platforms that are out there to help you with financials and things like that. But now I would say it’s the inventory issues. My suppliers have had issues due to the storms in Texas, so a lot of my products have been out of stock and they look to be out of stock for some time, so keeping up with demand. We sold out of three products this weekend, which is good, but I’m not sure when they’ll be able to replenish them. So just dealing with the average flow of inventory, and there’s only so much I can control about suppliers.
If you were to give advice to another female entrepreneur, what would it be?
Keep going. I had a lot of naysayers along the way, so just continuing to believe in yourself and your goal and your idea and not so much what other people might think of that idea. Just really focusing on what it is you want and putting your head down and making that happen.
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