The R500 start was only the first chapter of Rich Aunties

A candle is a product a customer can understand with several senses at once. They can look at it, pick it up, consider its scent and imagine where it would sit. That makes a market stall a different sales environment from a picture on a screen.

For Cape Town entrepreneur Veliswa Tiya, the distinction mattered. Vuk'uzenzele's September profile describes the start of Rich Aunties Aesthetics in 2022, following retrenchment, an online candle-making course and an initial R500 outlay. Early expectations for online sales gave way to a stronger response at markets.

Tiya brought retail experience with her, including a Retail Business Management diploma and eight years in merchandise planning. The range expanded into diffusers and decorative homeware. Later support included equipment, access to exhibitions and R130,000 from the Hollywood Foundation's 2025 Western Cape Bambelela Business Awards.

The profile also reports three part-time workers, while Tiya still performs most of the work herself. That is an important part of the picture: growth creates more to make, sell, pack and administer before it necessarily creates enough room for a full team.

The small starting amount makes a memorable headline. The route to customers is the more useful business question.

At a stall, a maker can see which products people stop for, what they ask and which items they compare. A customer who leaves without buying has still supplied information. Perhaps the price is beyond their budget; perhaps the size or colour is wrong; perhaps they need a gift next month rather than today.

Those observations can help shape the range, provided the business records them rather than relying only on the enthusiasm of a busy afternoon. A bestseller that takes too long to produce may still need a change in process or price. A product that attracts attention may lead customers towards another item that actually earns the margin.

Support programmes can help overcome a specific constraint, such as equipment or the cost of reaching a new market. They cannot replace a customer's reason to buy. Tiya's story includes both sides: outside help and the continuing work of finding people who want the product.

For readers who enjoy buying from a small local maker, that is part of the appeal. The purchase is a real exchange: something useful or beautiful for the home, made by a business trying to establish a dependable place in the market.

R500 explains where this account began. The customers returning to the stall explain why it can continue.

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