Is this a midlife crisis or just a very good idea?

`Is this a midlife crisis or just a very good idea?’ This is a question I found myself milling over when I first announced my candle idea to my grown up children and heard their reaction.

My daughter asked me directly if I was going through a midlife crisis!  Although mildly amused that her mother was thinking of diverging from her role as the Minister for Home Affairs, she could not quite fathom the reason of why I would want to start an ecommerce business in my 50’s.

Well, the desire to challenge myself coupled with my love of Irish artisan candles morphed into The Green Hare Candle Box.

It has been a journey with many challenges for me, starting with the name.  You could say I went down one side of Ireland and up the other in trying to baptise this idea.   I went from Inch Box to being very confident about the Pink Mushroom Candle Box, as the little pink mushroom is obscured in long grass and I thought this symbolised the struggle of small businesses perfectly.  I proudly announced this name to the home critics to be told it sounded like a nightclub and the affiliation to drugs- OMG.

Back to the drawing board and the bed at night would have put Belfast’s Linenhall Library to shame.  Again I started firing out possible names to be told `Mum its 7 o’clock in the morning.’

However, I got there and feel very pleased with The Green Hare Candle Box, though my daughter told me to drop the The.  There is no winning!