Nic Bianchi is the 20 year-old founder and CEO of the candle making business Bianchi Candle Co. Nic started his candle company when he was only 12 years old! From a young age, Nic showed signs of being an entrepreneur. When he was 7 years old, Nic created a business logo out of construction paper and put it on the outside of his bedroom door. On Nic’s 12th birthday, his mother decided to pay a graphic designer to turn the logo into a real logo. In elementary school, Nic sold toys to his classmates during recess and hired some of his fellow classmates as salesmen for his toy business. Nic then moved on to trying several things, including woodworking and making leather products, until he found his passion in candle making.
Nic specializes in making hand-poured, all-natural soy wax candles. At the age of 15, Nic sold a whopping 165 candles in one day at his first craft fair. Nic started his candle making company, Bianchi Candle Co., in his family’ s garage, but now works at a large manufacturing space in Papillion, and has multiple employees. Bianchi Candle Co. proved to be very successful, and the company now has 20 locations. You can also buy Nic’s candles from the Bianchi Candle Co. website. In 2017, Nic created a line of themed candles that were very popular. The candles’ themes included themes like bravery, perseverance, and gratitude. He created another series of candles each with a hero on it. The heroes included health care workers, first responders, police officers, and members of the military. Nic says this line drew inspiration from his father, who is detective with the Omaha Police Department.
While Nic has been extermely successful with his candle making business, it was not without sacrifices. Nic gave up playing basketball and track and field, and all other extracurricular activities during high school to focus on his business. Despite this and the lack of free time, Nic believes that it was absolutely worth it. Nic continues to grow his company, and he believes that: “If people are going to tell you, ‘you can’t do it,’ that should inspire you to do it that much more.”
I think that Bianchi is a perfect example of what entrepreneurs start out as. Entrepreneurs seem to always start out as kids who have an idea and continue to use their creative minds to develop the idea instead of looking to more traditional ways of making money. I also think the downsides of being an entrepreneur are encapsulated within his story. Having to give up on sports and other places of enjoyment to grow a business is a very real reality that entrepreneurs have to face. Nice article!
Nic’s story shows very clearly how important aspects of your life take priority over other parts. It’s not all sunshine and puppies in life, sometimes you have to make tough decisions and sacrifices.