Maanya founded her company focusing on natural skincare products doing third-party manufacturing. Inspired by her paternal grandmother's determination and her father's practical business mindset, Maanya values transparency and strategic planning in her business. She learned important lessons from early mistakes and now plans to enter the fragrance industry. Her personal mantra is to maintain positivity and seek ultimate happiness and fulfillment in life.

Maanya Mahaur founded Agastya Skin Care Solutions in 2019 while pursuing her MBA in Entrepreneurship at Amity University.

The company specializes in manufacturing skin care products and operates as a third-party manufacturing unit. Under the Agastya Skin Care brand, two associated brands exist: Agastya Natural Co., focusing on 100% natural products without preservatives to differentiate itself from competitors, and Aroma, launched in 2021, also operating in third-party manufacturing.Their products are formulated to have a shelf life of 2 to 3 weeks.

Maanya's entrepreneurial journey is guided by her philosophy of putting her heart and soul into everything she does. She began her venture by selling soap through an Instagram page, marking the inception of Agastya Skin Care. She plans to expand her business in the coming years, driven by her belief that success requires wholehearted dedication.

Maanya completed her MBA in Entrepreneurship from Amity University in 2019, after she had earned a Bachelor's Degree in Forensic Science from the same university. She completed an internship under Ramesh Amadan, who is now in the advisory department of the CBI, but she had doubts about the future potential of forensic science in India. She took a year off between 2016 and 2017 to study the chemical aspects of skincare, completing several diploma courses to deepen her understanding and to learn formulation skills.

Born and raised in Delhi, Maanya spent her early childhood with her grandmother, who had a passion for skincare. Her father, an engineer, completed his degree from IIT and worked for nearly 17 years before founding his own boiler manufacturing company, Manya Boilers, which he has successfully run for 25 years. Her mother is a housewife. Manya’s interest in skin care increased when she started spending more time with her grandmother and became curious about traditional ingredients for skin care. She was always keen to have better skin care and that pushed her to start a skincare brand.

When asked about her skills, Maanya shares that she always stays grounded and true to her values, maintaining transparency with customers and clients. Whenever she deals with a client, she strives to be transparent and avoids making any false commitments that could affect the customer's skin.

She has a reserved personality and tends not to trust anyone easily. She believes in planning thoroughly, whether in relationships or business, and carefully calculates the pros and cons before proceeding. After starting her business, she was initially afraid it might fail due to her lack of knowledge and experience. Handling multiple products was a significant challenge in itself.

Maanya knows the importance of product reviews for improvement. One of her initial mistakes was trusting people too easily and relying solely on their feedback for product enhancement. She also invested large amounts in marketing without seeing the desired results. Maanya learned that marketing should be done strategically and cost-effectively. She approached various marketing agencies to boost sales and promote her business, but influencer marketing did not yield the expected results. From these past mistakes, she realized that it would be more effective to work with skincare influencers rather than makeup artists.

Maanya speaks less at events to maintain her value and ensure her words carry weight. She has always been happy with her work, despite many people telling her that the market is saturated. She counters this by pointing out the lack of women founders in the industry. She also visited various places in Delhi to engage with experienced businessmen who established the market in Old Delhi. She believes that any skincare business owner can learn valuable business aspects by spending time in such environments.

Maanya is planning to venture into the fragrance business next. She wants to excel in that business with proper research and development from scratch, aiming to thoroughly understand the functioning of the fragrance industry.

When asked about her role models, Maanya says she views her paternal grandmother as her role model, particularly inspired by her determination for entrepreneurship. Her father, on the other hand, always approaches things practically and has a business-minded perspective. Maanya believes there is a thin line between an entrepreneur and a businessman. For her, entrepreneurship is about being productive and using skills to achieve results after one or two years while also making a significant impact on society.

Maanya's personal mantra is to maintain positivity and seek ultimate happiness and fulfillment in life, striving to live each day to the fullest. During her time at Amity University, she appreciated the numerous networking opportunities it offered. She attended the Women Entrepreneurship Development Program (WEDP) workshop, where she met Suparna Trikha, a skincare expert. Suparna taught her how to take care of clients' skin and manage finances, which had a lasting impact on Maanya's approach to her business.

In 2017, Maanya experienced a breakthrough in her journey. Initially, she had planned to attend a camp abroad organized by Amity University in the USA, but due to visa issues, she went to Singapore instead. In Singapore, she met a woman, a random encounter, who she believes was a cosmetic brand owner. This woman taught Maanya valuable tactics specific to the Singaporean market. That time, Maanya faced and managed the challenging aspect of manufacturing and production. The guidance she received helped her significantly in various areas like production and marketing.

Apart from her business, Maanya enjoys going to the gym and walking with her dog. She has a personality that dislikes sitting idly. During her free time, she often reads her UPSC notes to stay mentally engaged, as she can't sit idle or dwell on the loss of a loved one. She loves traveling but finds watching movies uninteresting as she  gets bored with them quickly.