Dr. Vinita Sharma’s business has profited her on a linear high, but not without its roadblocks and the whirlwinds of a learning curve. Of having to learn new ropes of the trade at the drop of a hat to continue her consistent path to success.
Dr Vinita has been a working mother, balancing her children at home and her work in her clinic together. How did she do it efficiently, only she knows, but one thing’s for certain in these two scenarios: Dr Vinita does not compromise when it comes to the things she holds dear. Just like she ran from pillar to post to take care of her children – taking them places, cooking nutritious, home-cooked meals for them – she was not willing to bend when it came to buying equipment for her laser skin clinic.
“Many doctors deal with company representatives and dealers who tilt the scale in favour of a particular product because of their own commercial interests. Because of that, I decided to take matters into my own hands and ordered the machinery myself. I went from Bangalore to Chennai to pick up a piece, since Bangalore does not have a port, and to my astonishment, a component of an expensive machine I had ordered was being transported by a man on a cycle!”
Besides quality for her clients, Dr Vinita places a lot of emphasis on the personal and professional growth of her workers. She’s taken proactive measures in helping members of her female workforce achieve financial independence. “I encouraged them to open their bank accounts, and use them and also handle their own money.” She has a great rapport with her employees and being a woman and a mother, she is considerate to their engagements and circumstances, which is an area, she thinks, where women entrepreneurs have an upper hand over men.
Dr Vinita declares that she always had a creative spark; a thirst to do things in her own unique way. “I participated in a lot of extra-curricular activities during my education. I was always involved in one thing or the other.” The relocation from the United States to India presented to her an opportunity to build something of her own. “I’m always on the lookout for things to challenge myself with.”
Call it provenance or cosmic interference, but where at the one hand Dr Vinita was busy nurturing her family, on the other hand, her business grew organically, without much effort. “I made about Rs.10,000 in the first month itself, and I was so happy.” Her clinic wasn’t allowed to advertise as per the lease arrangement, so the word-of-mouth popularity it enjoyed really took Dr Vinita by surprise.
The business was on autopilot for the time being, but Dr Vinita’s looking forward to the expansion. She’d drawn plans for a new clinic and is also ready to dip her toes in the skincare product game, but the pandemic has withheld these plans from being realised. But Dr Vinita decided to use the extra time on her hands to enhance her skills and entrepreneurial education, especially with respect to finance and marketing, by enrolling in the Growtherator programme, which has already opened her up to the idea of marketing. “I’m not the kind of person who likes talking about herself a lot, so I was missing out on marketing. I’m warming up to the idea now.”
Dr Vinita wouldn’t have had her clinic and business had she not taken a leap of faith. “There will be people pulling you down. But you must pay heed to the little voice inside you, that’s your true self. Just go through with it. Having the burden of regret for the rest of your life is not worth it.”