How Maleah Duvall Turned Her Hobby into a Business

Maleah Duvall
Duvall's Scented Candles, Bath & Body
Havelock, NC

Do what you love. It's a well-known adage, but how many of us actually practice it? Entrepreneurs are probably among the few people who make a living doing what they truly enjoy. North Carolina businesswoman Maleah Duvall is no exception.

Several years ago, Duvall started making candles as a hobby. She gave them to friends and relatives for Christmas and on their birthdays, and everyone loved them. So when she was looking to start a business that was flexible enough to accommodate her husband's career, Duvall knew making and selling candles was the way to go.

"My husband is in the Marine Corps, so we move a lot. It's hard to have a normal job, especially when you don't know how long you'll be somewhere," Duvall says.

Selling candles, which she still makes herself, allows Duvall to be a stay-at-home mom. The Duvalls have two children, ages 3 and 11.

When Duvall started selling her candles in 1999, her customers were mostly friends and wives of her husband's colleagues. She didn't have a sales and marketing strategy, so Duvall relied heavily on word of mouth. "People trust a product more when someone they know recommends it," she says. "Word of mouth is more tangible [than advertising]."

While Duvall still relies on word of mouth, she quickly realized that the Internet could help her promote her business. She bought a computer and created a Web site. Now about 90 percent of her sales are generated from her site.

She's also used the Internet to tap into a network of other work-at-home moms. With the help of this network, she recently created a distributor program. "This has allowed other work-at-home moms to have their own business at their own home selling my products. We're working together as a team towards the same goal," Duvall says.

Duvall didn't start out with a written business plan or a formal budget. And while she initially regretted this, Duvall now reconsiders; when asked if not having a business plan was a mistake, Duvall explains, "The more I think about that, the more I think it's a trick question. If I had made a business plan, I might not be where I am today. I really think it might have limited me." She adds that she probably wouldn't have started a distributor program because it wouldn't have been part of the initial plan.

But Duvall does plan to create a budget for next year. Because her business has grown so quickly — she signed up 12 distributors in about two weeks — Duvall finds it difficult to predict her costs. But she knows a formal budget is necessary because she'll soon have to hire a few employees and move the business out of her home.

In fact, the business has grown so quickly that she is constantly making candles. But Duvall says she still loves her hobby despite the fact that she now works all hours of the night: she tries to pour the last candle wax by 2:30 a.m. so that she can get to bed and start work the next day by 8 a.m.

Duvall works these long hours because she takes pride in her products. "Everything I do is handmade, but I want to give it a quality look. I'm always concerned with looking professional."

— Kim Wimpsett