26-YO Agra woman dropped out of CA prep, learnt how to make custom candles & started her brand with just Rs 25k - now clocks Rs 1.5L/month

Imagine coming home after a long day, taking a hot shower, ordering in some pasta, and lighting up a candle that reminds you of your partner.

This isn’t your everyday fragrance candle – it is personalized to the T.

Like a story, moment, or memory turned into a whole candle, giving you wholesome energy exactly when you need it the most.

This is precisely the experience that Vritika Agarwal, the founder of House of Aura, aims to offer to all her customers.

“Look around yourself, and there’s a candle brand on every corner. I wanted mine to be different in the sense that it should connect to people, their stories, and their lives. Fortunately, it’s been a little over a year, and that is exactly what my small business has turned out to be – a warm hug to my customers,” Vritika Agarwal tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in 2024, House of Aura is an Agra-based candle brand that offers 100% personalized, hand-poured, and soy-wax candles. On average, the monthly revenue of the small business varies from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,50,000.

THE BACKGROUND

Hailing from the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Vritika Agarwal is currently 26 years old.

For her undergraduate studies, she pursued a B.Com degree from St. John's College, Agra. Right after that, she began preparing to become a Chartered Accountant.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, I dropped my CA plan. I wanted to do something in the creative field. My parents were a little taken aback by the decision, but supported me nevertheless. I started my freelance career in social media and helped brands scale their digital presence via content creation and creative strategy,”Vritika Agarwal shares.

After spending close to three years helping other brands grow, she was ready to build something of her own.

“I was working with a candle brand and was intrigued by the creative process of candle-making. It’s such a delicate balance of science and scent. Now, making handmade stuff was something I had been doing since childhood. I would always give the prettiest cards and personalized surprises to my loved ones. In my mind, I knew this was my space: candle-making and craftsmanship,” she says.

This laid the foundation of House of Aura in 2024.

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JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES

Vritika Agarwal bootstrapped House of Aura with a humble amount of Rs 25,000, which she had saved from her social media management and creative strategy gigs.

The small business founder reveals the investment breakdown:

• Rs 12,000 went into obtaining the raw material needed to start making candles: 5 kilograms of soy wax, 3 kilograms of gel wax, basic moulds (flowers, teddy bears, etc.), basic glass and tin jars, a small set of fragrances, and colours and additives.

• Packaging took up roughly Rs 6,000: cardboard boxes, stickers, labels, bubble wrap, tape, courier package boxes, and safety padding material.

• Another Rs 4,000 was spent on buying necessary tools such as a digital weighing scale, a pouring pitcher, a thermometer, spatulas, safety gloves, and an induction cooktop.

“This is the rough breakdown. I also kept Rs 3,000 with me, in case I required any additional stuff like ribbons or gift packaging,”the small business founder says.

Initially, Vritika struggled with balancing quality with affordability. Good quality wax, premium jars, and high-grade fragrances are on the expensive side, and as a new brand without bulk buying power, things seemed rocky at first.

“This was my biggest financial challenge. Eventually, I learnt to plan everything very carefully and reinvest every rupee I earned to keep growing,”she says.

Finding her niche and everything that led to it was another challenge that Vritika navigated. When she started House of Aura, she tried to do “everything.” It was only after some time that she realized the real demand in the market for personalized gifting and creative custom-made candles.

“After entering the market and speaking to countless customers, one thing became very clear to me: people don’t just want candles. They want thoughtful, creative, meaningful experiences. They want something that connects with them on a deeper level. House of Aura’s USP eventually became just that,”entrepreneur Vritika tells Startup Pedia.

During the journey, Vritika kept experimenting, making mistakes, and refining her recipe processes. 

“From wicks getting frosted to fragrance load issues, I have made every mistake there is to make in the candle-making process. But I remained patient and allowed myself the grace to fall, get back up again, and do it all over one more time,” she smiles.

Yet another challenge was handling the creation, packaging, shipping, and customer communication aspects of the brand herself. It was overwhelming at first, but she kept at it.

“Systems have saved me. When I encountered inventory issues, I set up structured testing processes to build reliable vendor relationships. When I had to grow sales, I set up content calendars to leverage organic marketing and content creation. Consistency solved most stuff for me,”entrepreneur Vritika shares.

To date, Vritika also does not outsource the product-making process.

Her reasoning? She loves doing it. And she wants full control over the quality and detailing of each product.

“My sister and I do everything together. She is my entire team. I work with her in my workspace,”Vritika tells Startup Pedia.

THE UNIT ECONOMICS

At House of Aura, most customers purchase 2-3 items together, so the average order value stays around Rs 600 to Rs 1,000. Personalized and event-based orders, however, are much higher in value.

The small business founder shares the general unit economics of every product that costs Rs 100 to a buyer:

• Approximately Rs 45 goes into production

• Rs 15 goes into packaging

• Rs 20 is taken up by logistics and shipping

• The remaining Rs 20 is the brand’s profit margin

However, even though this is the general structure, it must be noted that these figures vary by design.+9

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HOUSE OF AURA: CANDLES THAT CARRY ENERGY

Today, House of Aura acts as a unique candle brand that brings together creativity, feelings, and gifting.

The Agra-based brand offers deeply personalized gifting options, custom scents, themes, colours, and shapes, creative DIY kits for people who want to make their own gifts, and designs that are uniquely handcrafted.

What makes House of Aura especially different is its story-to-candle concept. Customers share a story, moment, or memory with Vritika, and she turns it into a candle set.

“For instance, recently I made eight candles that a guy wanted to gift to his girlfriend on her birthday. These eight candles represented eight things she liked. Each matched her personality and favourite flavours: pinaté, chai, mango, watermelon, burfi, Christmas theme, and crystal theme – all customised exactly for her,”Vritika Agarwal tells Startup Pedia.

Other examples of the story-to-candle concept of House of Aura include:

• A childhood memory becomes a candy-scented candle

• A long-distance relationship becomes a dual-themed candle

• A breakup turns into a “healing” candle

Entrepreneur Vritika’s USP line is “Share your story, I will turn it into a handcrafted candle.”

From Jar Candles, Pillar Candles, Floating Candles, Wax Sachets, Dessert Candles, Bubble Candles, Gel Candles, Flower Candles, and Heart Candles, to combos and hampers, and occasion-driven candles (birthday, anniversary, housewarming, festival, Valentine’s), House of Aura has something for everyone.

The prices start from Rs 299 and go up to Rs 2,000.

Each and every soy-wax and handpoured candle that leaves House of Aura and reaches the end customers is handmade by Vritika and her sister.

“I personally check each candle, test the wax, wick, fragrance ratios, and ensure smooth finishing. Quality checks like these never fail and keep our customers happy,” she says.

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SOCIAL MEDIA GAME

For Vritika’s House of Aura, social media has been everything. Since its inception, she has been putting out behind-the-scenes and end product videos on YouTube and Instagram.

The small business founder claims that these channels are perfect for brand discovery and customer conversion. Currently, she has a community of 1,00,000+ across social media channels through pure, organic content.

GROWTH

To date, House of Aura has catered to more than 10,000 customers across India.

The revenue stream for the small business has been steady as well. On average, it clocks Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,50,000 on a monthly basis. During gifting and wedding seasons, these figures surge to Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, depending on the volume and type of projects.

“The biggest revenue chunk comes in from our customization category. Personalized gifting such as themed sets, unique mould designs, and special-occasion candles consistently drive the highest sales,”the small business foundertells Startup Pedia.

For Vritika Agarwal, starting House of Aura has opened many doors.

She has now gained trust as an educator and offers 1:1 candle coaching, social media guidance, and digital resources for other creators. Additionally, she has also expanded into multiple creative ventures, such as raw material supply and launching digital products.

As someone who runs a 100% handmade startup, she was also recognized at the Bazama National Handicraft Artisan Shakti Conclave.

“I don’t believe in Plan B. I am committed to scaling House of Aura into a bigger brand and growing its product lines. Honestly, I am thankful to the version of Vritika that stopped dreaming about becoming an entrepreneur and just took out the Rs 25,000 that she had saved. It’s because of that grit and positive impulse that this brand is and will continue to steadily grow,”Vritika Agarwal concludes.

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