Hart Main, then 13, came up with masculine scented cand
les after making fun of his sister’s girlie scented candles for a school fundraiser. Owns a Successful Candle Company.” It wasn’t until Hart set out to buy a $1,500 bike that he realized what he joked about. Hart and his parents contributed little sums to the start-up and collaborated to develop the candles, aptly titled ManCans. They are presently created by a developmentally impaired workforce at the Beaver Creek Candle Company in Lisbon, Ohio.
Over the past five years, ManCans candles have gone from being made in Main’s kitchen and sold to family and friends, to being made at Beaver Creek Candle Co. and sold in nearly 150 stores across the United States. ManCans also has donated thousands of dollars 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.
And that’s not all. The recent New Philadelphia High School graduate has written a book, which was released last week. He co-authored the 90-page book with his father and reflects on starting his own business and offers insight to youngsters looking to achieve a similar goal.
Looking back, Main, now 17, said he never anticipated his company would grow like it did: “My goal was to buy the bike, then be done with it.”
This is a very interesting invention, but I think it’s so cool! I would have never thought to invent a manly scented candle because I didn’t know there was a market for that. I am very curious to see how he does for years down the road and to see how he adapts his product to the changing market.
As a guy, I can relate to the struggle of finding scented stuff that isn’t either flowery or fruity. I’ve been seeing companies like Bath and Body Works expand to create male-oriented scented lotions, which I think is really neat as well. Ideas like this are a great way to expand into a relatively untapped market.
This story is interesting to me because of how Hart didn’t expect his business to grow as much as it did. He only wanted to save up enough money to buy a bike, but now he has a whole career, which is really inspiring! It also reminds me of Amy Mucha and how she considers herself an “accidental entrepreneur” with Daisy Pops.