Business spotlight: The candle company fired up for growth

This article is part of our Risk + Reward series. Capital One Business and Inc. partnered to survey 349 business leaders in November 2025 to explore the factors that affect how they weigh business risks and rewards in navigating modern business landscapes.

Timing is everything in business—and Katie and Eric Roering may have perfectly timed the ascent of their clean candle company. They were early to spot the need for clean candles in 2017, after a friend gifted them a candle that gave them a headache every time they burned it. Ingredients weren’t listed on the label, so they did some digging and discovered that it included synthetic fragrances, paraffin wax (a petroleum byproduct) and other compounds linked to negative health effects. As a date-night activity, they started making candles using beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils. Their creations took off with friends and later at local farmers’ markets, inspiring them to turn their hobby into a business they called Fontana Candle Co.

After nearly a decade of steady growth, the husband-and-wife team started hitting the accelerator. This year, they plan to increase year-over-year revenue by ramping up manufacturing capabilities and investing in paid marketing and brand awareness. “We think if we scale aggressively through the next few years, we will establish ourselves as the dominant leader in the natural candle world,” Katie says.

According to the second annual Risk & Reward survey by Inc. and Capital One Business, conducted in November 2025, 37 percent of business leaders are adopting a defensive growth stance (maintaining the business or keeping up with competition) over the next 12 months. In addition, 37 percent plan to grow moderately and 24 percent plan to grow aggressively. One reason Fontana’s founders are preparing for major gains is consumers’ growing interest in wellness. “In the future, people might not be buying more candles, but the types of candles they are buying will switch from big-brand, traditional synthetic candles to more holistic, healthy, natural choices,” Eric explains.

According to the 2025 Risk & Reward survey, the top trait necessary to lead a small company is risk tolerance. The Fontana team can relate. In the past they have proceeded cautiously, but this year they are going all in. While big risks can reap big rewards, it’s important to consider all the potential outcomes, including the impact on work-life balance and your long-term vision. Katie says they plan to push hard for the next few years, then stabilize their growth rate. “This is the year we’re putting it on the line because honestly, as I’m getting older, I feel like my risk appetite is decreasing. As I get closer to age 40, I want to be more settled,” she says.

Historically, the biggest hindrance to Fontana’s growth has been production—marketing has outpaced the company’s ability to make and move product. To solve this challenge and seize the natural candle opportunity, the company purchased a 26,000-square-foot facility, hired an operations manager and invested about half a million dollars in automation. “We’re going from making 2,500 to 3,000 candles a day to 1,000 candles an hour,” Eric says.

With manufacturing challenges hopefully solved, Katie and Eric are focusing on marketing. They are partnering with an experienced agency, ramping up pay-per-click (PPC) spend, starting a TikTok shop and using AI for brainstorming and copywriting. Like most companies reported in the latest Risk & Reward survey (71 percent), Fontana describes itself as “out of the gate” with AI, meaning it’s leveraging the technology but not yet to its full potential. With the help of e-commerce partners, the company hopes to be at the forefront of product discoverability on AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

So far, the company has bootstrapped in order to grow the business, although the founders have plans for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan and are considering taking on investors. “Being on the Inc. 5000 [list], we get emails all the time about people wanting to invest or even buy us,” Katie says. No matter what their long-term funding strategy is, their Capital One Spark Business Card will remain essential. “I buy everything I can on it, from PPC [online advertising] to raw materials to office supplies to software subscriptions,” Eric says. “We’re using the cashback to do some research and development, marketing and travel this year, as I’m trying to be more externally focused, meeting vendors and going to conferences.”

Savvy financial management is part of Eric and Katie’s plan to level up to the next stage of growth and establish Fontana Candle Co. as a natural candle pioneer.