Sisters Launch Candle Business With £150 - Now They Make £120k

• Sisters Giselle and Liz launched Maison Bohiti after seven years of travels
• They invested £150 in materials and quickly saw demand soar
• They quit full-time careers to focus on the business
• Currently they sell 500 candles a WEEK and make £120k a year

Going abroad and exploring the world always leaves us with memories we will look back on for a lifetime - and it’s this concept that fuelled two sisters to launch a business which has gone from strength to strength.

Giselle Martinez, 31 from London who co-founded Etsy business Maison Bohiti with her sister Liz, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘We are tropical twins born in the Dominican Republic and raised in London.

‘We spent 7 years travelling around the world. We wanted a change and to explore cultures. We also wanted to go out of our comfort zone.

We went to China first, then most of the countries in South East Asia, followed by Australia. We went to over 50 countries in total.

‘Our time abroad helped us to develop new skills and open our minds to new perspectives on life.

‘After this experience, we developed a fascination with travel that inspired us to create something truly special - our candles.

‘We chose candles as our main product because we wanted to find a way to create scents that evoke powerful memories.

‘The goal is that by lighting up a candle, we transport people to a specific place or a memory they have.

‘We came up with the name Maison Bohiti for our business as its origin starts in the Caribbean where we are from. The name Bohiti comes from the Taíno language and means ‘Great Spirit of the Forest’.

‘The Taíno had a deep connection to the earth and the spirits that protected it. We wanted to honour the traditions of our ancestors, so Maison Bohiti was born - a candle brand which helps you to reconnect with the natural world and find peace in a busy modern life.

‘We started out by buying materials and trying candle making methods. Our main material is wax - we tried beeswax but settled on soy wax.

‘We have tried tests on all kinds of wicks, and we have stopped using any wicks that are not made of cotton.

‘In the beginning we spent £150 on materials to try out. The second month we spent £200. We had good traction from there with revenue to reinvest in materials and it was upwards growth from that point.

‘We posted on Etsy to see if people would like the candles and within 3 days we had about 10 orders. It then snowballed so that one day we had 54 orders in a day!

‘We were struggling to keep going during this time as we both had jobs. My sister was an accountant and I was a teacher. We had no time to develop our skills and business.

‘We saw the business was growing fast and it was generating enough revenue for us to focus on it full time, so we both quit our jobs.

‘We never had any difficult financial periods because we left our jobs once we were sure the business was thriving - so we always had income.

‘At the beginning, we were operating from the kitchen at home, but the business soon took over our house.

‘Before long we made the decision to rent a workspace in order to hire people to help us with the demand and packing orders. Our current premises is about 500 square feet.

‘It is currently just the two of us, but we are looking to employ at least two people in September as it will be our busiest season.

‘Right now we have about 100 candles a week to dispatch from Etsy. We also have a wholesale website on Faire that is growing fast. It gives us an average of 5 orders per week - but there are around 80 candles per order.

‘Our sales have gone down due to other candle brands coming along and the cost of living crisis. However, we have been lucky enough to still make a great profit.

‘We are inspired by our brother who is very successful in Spain. He owns two companies and they have both grown hugely in the last few years. We want to achieve similar success.

‘In our first year we made £120k and we have maintained this revenue bracket for the three years we have been in business. This year so far we have made about £80,000.

‘We started out with a candle in the shape of a woman’s body and expanded it from there. Our best selling product is currently a U shaped candle..

‘Our advice to those looking to start their own business is to do your research, keep going and not be afraid of failing. Most of all, trust yourself.’

Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘By creating a unique style in a competitive market, Giselle and Liz have built a luxury candle business which is clearly incredibly successful.

‘Hopefully their story will prove inspirational for other ecommerce entrepreneurs out there!’