In the five months since Jon Setzen started candle business Arlo Jacob, he’s sold about 2,500 of his pipe tobacco scented candles.

It’s a steady business but not Setzen’s primary source of income.

In addition to being a small business owner, Setzen is creative director at Culver City web hosting company Media Temple. And he’s not alone in holding down more than one gig.

Media Temple has an unwritten policy that employees who want to start their own businesses are free to do so. In addition to Setzen and his candle company, there are employees who run restaurants, own party planning businesses and front bands.

“For years I’ve spent my evenings after my kids go to sleep working on work that I couldn’t do during the day,” Setzen said. “We work hard here at Media Temple, but my evenings give me time to myself. To have a workplace that supports people’s side businesses and creative freedom is really nice.”

Media Temple bills itself as a web hosting company for creative types. Many of its 125,000 customers are photographers, musicians and small business owners – in addition to corporate clients such as Red Bull and Diesel jeans.

Chief Executive Demian Sellfors said the company supports the outside projects of its more than 200-person staff because the side businesses help keep employees engaged while they provide customer support.

“It’s vitally important that we are spending time outside the office having experience and being exposed to things that inspire us,” he said. “It actually makes the customer experience better because our employees are involved in a small business or are entrepreneurial as well.”

Many tech companies are known for their liberal policies regarding employee ventures. Google Inc. has drawn notice for its policy that employees can spend 20 percent of their work week on pet projects. Culver City advertising agency WDCW implemented a similar strategy in 2009.

Media Temple has very few policies in place regarding staff side projects. All employees keep track of their own vacation time and get an additional month off every three years as a kind of mini-sabbatical.

Sellfors said the company is results oriented. As long as employees fulfill their Media Temple responsibilities, they are not questioned about taking time off to run their businesses. But at the same time, if employees can’t figure out how to manage both jobs, Sellfors said he won’t hesitate to let them go.

Side Business

Many employees say Media Temple’s support of their businesses goes beyond giving them flexible vacation time.

Jason McVearry, editor in chief of content, said his Media Temple colleagues were some of his first customers when he opened up take-out restaurant Poke-Poke on the Venice Beach boardwalk in 2010.

“Demian personally came by to check out the shop one night,” McVearry said. “I got all these regular customers who were also Media Temple employees. It really helped our word of mouth.”

McVearry and his wife run Poke-Poke together. In the early days, McVearry spent most of his weekends at the restaurant, which specializes in its namesake dish – a Hawaiian style ahi tuna tartare. But today, he has a staff of five that allows him to be more hands off with the business.

Candle shop owner Setzen, on the other hand, has no employees. Culver City candle manufacturer Stone Candles produces the $38 wax pillars. He then sells the candles online and fulfills orders for a few hours each weekend. His 5-year-old son puts the “fragile” stickers on the packing boxes and his wife is helping develop two new candle scents.

“Being here at Media Temple, I’m surrounded by our clients who are extremely creative people,” Setzen said. “I wanted to get back to doing something on the side. I’m finding out how to balance doing that with my Media Temple work, which I also enjoy.”