Hart Main

What is better than candles, man candles. This young entrepreneur saw a niche in a “Lit” market place, get it. It all started when he was teasing his sister about all the girly scented candles she had to sell for a fundraiser. This teasing led him to the idea that made him some serious cash. He was 13 years old when we started his business of selling manly smelling candles. He called, ManCans. The candles themselves are inside soup cans. His goal at the beginning of his business was to raise enough money to buy a $1,200 bike so he could participate in triathlons, he has exceeded that goal by an unimaginable amount.

Hart started out by selling to friends and families and as the interest picked up, the stores picked up his candles. Now his Soup Can candles re being sold in over 150 stores across the nation. Hart has also helped in the social aspect by donating large sums to soup kitchens. “To date, Main’s company has given 100,000 cans of soup and $35,000 to 25 soup kitchens in four states.”

All it took for him to get started was the idea, a supportive mother and $100 dollars in saving. At first the company was ran out of their house. The first 20,000 candles that they produced was in their home. The family would buy cans in bulk, donate them to soup kitchens and ask in return that the cans be returned to them. Now, for every candle .75 cents is donated to soup kitchens in his state of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginal and Michigan.

They have expanded their candle selection to appeal to the women. Hart and his father also wrote a book titled, “One Can, One Meal” to help educate the younger generation about entrepreneurship and how to get started.