My Journey With Atlanta Healthcare
Last year, this time I was living an exceptional nine to nine job, working in my cubicle for a large consulting firm and moonlighting for my business during spare time and on weekends. I was trading sleep for my entrepreneurial venture. Those of you who have done it will agree with me that it is not exactly easy.
With over 14 years of working with consulting firms like Arthur Andersen and EY LLP, and being the founding member of government consulting practice, I had established myself as a key member in a leadership role at the firm. However, somewhere I felt an insatiable desire to do more, a need to challenge myself, a resolve to involve myself in creating something that would drive me each day. Not knowing what I wanted, I spent spare hours working on ideas for a sustainable business proposition. I knew I had to do something that will be exciting enough for me to jump from a comfortable and secure career and to risk moving my cheese!
Around this time, I started to develop interest in the space and opportunity around the clean air agenda. I was particularly interested in air purification machines (more commonly known as air purifiers these days) and allied product segment – a domain which my father had been working on for past many years. The continuous degradation of air quality and the potential long term harmful impact it can have on health, resulting from simple cough to depression and even cancer had to be addressed. As per WHO there are approximately 7 million deaths annually linked to air pollution. Today, with all the attention quality of air and its effects is getting, people are looking for solutions to tackle this problem.
According to TechSci Research report, “India Air Purifiers Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, market for air purifiers & allied products in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 40% during 2015-20. This huge opportunity in the segment along with the desire to work out innovative solutions to improve air quality, I decided to hang my boots at EY and scale Atlanta Healthcare to take the company in developing new solutions for improving the air we and our loved ones breathe. My years of experience in technology and strategy consulting have equipped me to build upon a simple and pragmatic growth strategy for Atlanta Healthcare.
The market response to our products, positive feedback from customers, our niche positioning in the market and out latest round of funding and the commitment shown by our investors has vindicated my decision. Being the first mover in this segment, Atlanta Healthcare is uniquely positioned. Our investors, who include former advisory leader of EY- Sunil Chandiramani (also on the board of Atlanta Healthcare), Ashwin Kedia of Alchemy Capital Management, Anand Mittal- Co-Founder People Group (Shaadi.com), Snapdeal’s senior vice president Amit Choudhary and chief strategy officer Govind Rajan and others have been very supportive of our plans and continue to guide us in accomplishing our vision of becoming India’s most admired brand in air purification product space. Continuing with our focus on quality products to address the impact of air pollution, Atlanta Healthcare will be launching 3 new products in 2016.
While it is still initial days, from my experience so far all I can say is – if you are contemplating to take a leap from your regular job and to start something of your own, don’t wait! At first the transition may seem like madness and may not be easy but it is definitely worth it. Be clear in what you want to do, the problem you want to address, the impact it will create and most important- do it only if you are passionate about it. Work out a sustainable business plan that adds value and not just valuation! Be clear on what’s your value proposition or it’s just a ‘me too’ race. I believe that when you are finally out on your own, you can and will figure out a way to make things work. If you succeed you will live your dream, and God forbid if you fail, the experience will still be worth every minute and will enrich you. The entire rigour of starting from scratch and building a business brick by brick will bring-in that versatility that will widen your professional outlook and make you a wiser person. So go on—take the leap!
by Vibhor Jain, CEO Atlanta Healthcare
vibhor.jain@atlantahealthcare.in
