Do all candles have to be girly? This is the question that Hart Main, a 13 year old asked when his sister was selling candles for a school fundraiser. When he wanted to buy a bike that cost $1,200, he decided to start his own business instead of fundraising the way most kids would. Hart Main decided that not all candles had to have girly scents. He created Man Can: candles with scents like bacon, fresh cut grass, and saw dust, that were sold in tin soup cans.
Main started his business by purchasing a candle making starter kit with $100 of savings in order to raise enough money to buy his bike. He would buy soup cans from the grocery store which he would use to sell his candles in, instead of traditional glass jars. Eventually, his family was buying more soup than they could consume, so Main began donating the soup to soup kitchens as charity. About a year after starting his small business, the local news station picked up Main’s story. As a result, Main had 4,800 new candle orders. Main then moved manufacturing from his kitchen to a warehouse and five employees were hired to help with production.
Four years later, Main was approached by Beaver Creek Candle Company, and Man Cans went into full production. Now, instead of donating soup cans, Main donates 75 cents from every candle sale to soup kitchen in four states. Man Can has now donated $35,000 to twenty-five soup kitchens.
So no, not all candles have to have “girly” scents. Hart Main found a need in the candle market for manly scented candles, and brought this idea into reality in order to buy a bike. Main took a risk by using his savings to start a candle company, but it paid for itself many times over. At the young age of 13, Hart Main started a successful business by questioning the norm, creating a solution, and investing in his idea.
That is a really cool business that 13 year old boy started because he wanted to buy a bike. Such a creative brain for him to come up with the business “Man Can.” That is really crazy four years later it is a full blown business.