Ragini shares with us the inspiration behind her new wellness brand, her current challenges, and how an MBA has helped her on this entrepreneurial journey.
How did the MBA help you decide to start your own business?
Besides it’s obvious academic value, the MBA encouraged me to self-reflect and discover who I am as a person. It provided me with the support and personal acceptance I needed to take such a big leap.
Why did you decide to do an MBA?
I come from a communications and media background. I wanted to get exposure to the business side of things beyond what a consulting firm could offer. It was always my intention to start my own business, however I had a completely different idea prior to starting the MBA and during, I had an idea in healthcare. However, over the year as I reflected on my strengths and what I valued, I ended up aligning my idea more to something that played to my strengths and utilized the skills I have acquired from my diverse work experiences.
As for how the MBA has helped, I have reflected on all of the "cliche answers" of networks, academics, resources, but none of them really apply to me. Entrepreneurship has been a very personal journey. I do value the experiences that the MBA provided. It contributed to developing my thought processes, which eventually led to Agapi. Additionally, the tips & guidance I got from the classroom discussions and external speakers have definitely been helpful whilst implementing my idea.
Taking the first few steps to start a business are often the biggest steps. What were the first 3 steps you took to get moving?
I didn’t really take any chronological steps for Agapi. I just went with the flow, followed my inspiration and trusted my intuition. However I suppose if I detailed out 3 steps they would be, first, I made the decision to pursue the idea. Then, I evaluated market demand. And third, I created a brand that conveyed what I wanted to accomplish.
What was the inspiration behind launching?
Agapi is very close to who I am as a person. A love for self-care products and an enthusiasm for encouraging people to lead happier lives is what inspired me to launch Agapi. I enjoy experimenting with scents, flavours, sounds, textures, objects that are soothing and help you to relax. I am excited to share them with the world.
As a brand, we feel emotional & mental well-being is as important as physical well-being and is often neglected. We would like to encourage people to practice self-care more since we feel happier people lead to happier societies and more harmonious relationships. The concept was inspired during lock-down which is when many people got a chance to reflect on who they are and what they want.
What challenges have you faced setting up?
I am still in the process of setting up, so thus far operational delays and finding quality service providers in the middle a lock-down are currently my biggest challenges.
About Agapi
Agapi is a wellness brand founded to improve one's overall mental, emotional & spiritual well-being and spread happiness. One service that I am personally very excited for is Agapi Wellness, which is for now intended as an added benefit for the subscribers. It attempts to connect our subscribers to wellness experts in order to provide them with an opportunity to interact with alternate healing techniques and general wellness tips.
We offer Agapi boxes, a monthly subscription box service for self care & personal well-being. Each month find 7-8 feel-good goodies thoughtfully curated to help you relax & de-stress. All the items have been personally sampled before being included in the box and happy to say are Made in India. The concept was inspired during the lock-down to provide fellow Lock-downers with a place to unwind.
Ragini Gupta, founder, Agapi Boxes
Sample order:
Vitamin Sea Body Soak + Gratitude prompt deck encased in leather envelope sleeve + Jade Facial Roller + 3Doodler iTouch pen + Busy Bee lip balm + Midnight Jasmine scented crystal jar Soy Candle
Packages:
Basic – Starting INR 2999/- with goodies worth INR 4000+
Deluxe- Starting INR 4699/-with goodies worth INR 6500+
Ultra- Starting INR 5699/-with goodies worth INR 7500+
For orders & enquiries: WhatsApp Ragini Gupta +91 7311192999