One business’s mistake is another’s fortune.

At least, that’s how it’s playing out so far for Sudbury’s Steph and Monique Paquin.

Steph was getting beard oil and beard balm products shipped to him from a couple of shops across Canada and the United States, when one of those businesses made a mistake with one of their batches.

"I kept asking them ‘how long is it going to take you to make it?’ They said they were in the process, that it might be weeks, months.

"(Those products) are hard to find around here."

Tired of waiting, Steph and Monique got to work on their own beard oils and balms.

"He was disappointed," Monique said. "I told him he should make his own, and it’s like a light bulb, it just clicked."

Steph and Monique did their own research, experimented with products, and have since opened Nickel City Beard Blends, which sells four different kinds of beard oils, a beard balm, and a sandalwood comb.

The couple mix a variety of coconut, avocado and castor oils together. Once complete, those blends are met with the addition of drops of carefully crafted, 100 per cent natural essential oils.

"There’s different ratios, there’s no secret recipes," Steph said. "And after months and months of trying out, we finally found our blends. Some of our friends tested them out and they loved it.

"It took us months to experiment because some were too strong, some weren’t strong enough, and then when we finally had our blends, we had our friends test it out and they said it was perfect, to not change anything."

All of Nickel City Beard Blends’ products are 100 per cent natural.

"That was really important," Steph said, "because as we were experimenting, we were using fragrance oils, which contain some chemicals and my wife "¦ got a swollen face, or her lip swelled up, she had an allergic reaction."

That won’t be happening with any of Nickel City Beard Blends products.

"So many people are going towards natural products now, so we thought it’d be a big bonus," Monique said.

This is the couple’s first business venture and they’re enjoying the experience. Monique is off on maternity leave, while Steph is a graphic designer by day.

"The kids go to bed and I go downstairs until midnight, get up the next morning go to work," Steph said.

The duo has been putting in the work, finding success early on.

"We’re hoping this thing takes off," he said.

Steph and Monique are looking to extend their products to local shops, barbers and hairdressers around the city.

The beard oils, which come in a 1-fluid once, 30-mm dark amber glass bottle with a glass dropper, consist of a Mocha Mint, The Sticks, Sweet Tang and Plain Jane. All are $20 each.

Their bead balm is made of shea butter, cocoa butter, pure white beeswax and coconut oil. This product sells for $25.

Nickel City Beard Blends also sells beard combs.

For more information, or to place an order, go to nickelcitybeardblends.com.

Twitter: @keith_dempsey