Business Startup Story – Just Enough Beach

We met with Lisa Wright the Owner of Just Enough Beach who shares her business startup story and tips to help other small businesses.

You can watch our interview with Lisa or read the breakdown below.

Tell us about your business

“We create candles and diffusers that smell as beautiful as they look. Our natural soy candles are hand-poured in Yamba and are inspired by cocktails we love to share. Scents include Lychee Martini, Malibu Crush, Passioned Lime, Rose Bellini, Peachy Punch, Salted Caramel, White Russian and Lemongrass Margarita. The unique packaging is designed by me and hand-wrapped from our warehouse. 

We’ve just started creating diffusers too – so all of the scents that we’ve brought out in our candles are now out in matching diffusers. 

Recently, we started a Cocktails & Candles Workshop where ladies join us for an afternoon and we show them how to pour their own candles and then they sip the cocktails that inspired the scents. We’ve sold out all 3 events so far which is very exciting!

We have a candle club as well, where we send out candles every 1, 2 or 3 months. Candle Club Members receive free signature wrap and delivery and we surprise them with a different scent depending on what choices they make when they sign up, it’s great for gifts for girlfriends or to treat yourself with a new scent in the mail monthly.” 

How did the great idea for this business come about?

“It was an idea we had a while back, which has taken over a thousand hours of testing to get the exact right fragrance, choice of jars, choice of wicks and choice of wax. It’s lovely to make something with your own hands also. One of the other important reasons was, to build a job we love doing that will pay our bills and hopefully employ more people down the track.”

Lisa, what motivated you to start your own business and become a small business owner?

“Due to the small regional area we live in I needed to do something that could hopefully gain myself some employment. We also hope to employ more people later on down the track. Our goal is to have a regular income and sell online.”

What has been the highlight for you since starting?

“The feedback from customers – we love it when we make a candle and people say it smells good! That means we’re doing something right!

We’ve spent hours testing and sampling to find the perfect balance of soy wax, lead free cotton wicks and fragrance, so our candles have a strong cold and hot throw, we are proud to say our candles smell gorgeous when not lit and they burn with an amazing scent once you burn them.

People love that our scents are inspired by Cocktails. For example, our Malibu Crush candle is inspired by a Pina Colada – it’s our coconut smelling candle and smells like Tahitian coconut shaken with tropical fruits. Our Passioned Lime candle is inspired by a passionfruit and lime mojito and smells like golden passionfruit muddled with zesty lime. 

Another highlight is doing the Cocktails & Candles Workshops which I really enjoy as I love talking to people and interacting. Leading on from that I’ve just gained some workshops with the local Council teaching kids how to decorate candles – which booked out very quickly. It’s exciting that we get to share and create things with other people by hand and support local.”

What are your tips for other business startups?

“I think you need to have a look around and see how you can be different in the market. For example, there are lots of candle businesses out there so we needed a point of difference. We created Just Enough Beach candles to be beautiful smelling candles in unique packaging, inspired by cocktails we love to share.

It was created so people would love the cocktail-inspired scents and be intrigued by the unique packaging, so much so, that they just had to try them. Once they do they love the scents and use them for themselves and as gifts and keep coming back to purchase them because it makes their home smell amazing.

What’s also important is how you can help people. E.g. Why would they need a candle? So they can relax and take time for themselves.  There’s a whole different level of calm when you burn a scented candle in a home. When the scent makes their homes smell amazing, they’re going to love that product, use if for themselves and then give it as gifts to others. 

So hopefully because we helped them relax and enjoy some self-care in their homes with beautiful scented candles that were inspired by cocktails we love to share, when they need a candle or unique gift, they’ll immediately think of Just Enough Beach Candles.

How can you help someone in your business with your service or product? Find your point of difference, then believe in yourself, dive in and take the first step, make sure you set up a website and some social media like Instagram and Facebook.”

What has your experience been like with ETC?

“Originally I thought there wasn’t anything that I could learn from the New Business Assistance with NEIS program because I have run my own business before. But I did end up learning quite a lot, especially around the finance side of things. A lot of it was things I already knew, but they put it into a format e.g. a business plan template. It has really helped me to think about everything in more depth and helped me to come up with my elevator pitch.

The mentoring and the group of people I did the course with were amazing. They would offer great constructive feedback and helped me believe that I could do this. 

I’ve had great help from Debbie at ETC – she’s been wonderful and was a very encouraging mentor. I think she will be a friend for life. I’m still calling her with questions and getting her feedback. She is invaluable.”

Thanks Lisa! Find out more about Just Enough Beach >