Wicks N More Case Study

Wicks n ' More is known for their high-quality, hand-poured fragrance candles. I had the chance to sit down with the co-founders and former owners, Beckey and Kim Neal. Wicks n ' More was founded in 1998 by mother and daughter, in their home garage as a hobby. Both, Beckey and Kim, gave their opinion about a small family business and about their business experience. Our discussion of their business growth, product line, product strategy, and new inventions relates to the product development of a small business. Their business is successful and is now a multi-million dollar business where fragranced candles are sold all over the world. Beckey and Kim worked full time as a nurse and a medical tech, respectively in Tupelo, MS. They faced a

According to the book, to gain competitive advantage a few rules to follow are: basing innovations off of experience, focusing on products that have been overlooked, be sure that there is a market for the product, and focusing on new ideas that lead to more than one product. Once the company was able to get the equipment they needed, the candles came in all shapes and sizes to extend the product line. Beckey and Kim knew that they needed to create different types of candles with different scents. Beckey 's twenty years of experience in oil landscape painting gave the company the advantage to know what types of oils that needed to be used. Kim 's decorative touch gave the company an advantage to keep the product line elegant, which is what they are known for. They wanted to keep the elegant look of the candles, but hopefully give more options to customers and wholesalers. This gave the company the competitive advantage over their

My question to them "what would you recommend to those who want to be future business owners?" They responded with "be sure you have the funds and that you trust the people you are in business with." Beckey also said to focus on a niche and the target market that you want to acquire. "One of the best things and worst things about being in a family business is seeing your family every day," Beckey said. She went into detail about the different examples where the family would begin to disagree on things due to the emotions that were outside of business. Beckey decided it was time to sell the company to another family that would carry on the legacy of Wicks n ' More and further it in business. The company is currently owned by a small family that has kept the business running for the three years after Beckey and Kim sold