Ayurvedic treat for all

Rejuvenating the concept of ayurvedic treatment with an excellent team of professional doctors and staff is Kerala Ayurvedic Health Care. In an interview Vijaya Kumar Nair, Managing Director, Kerala Ayurvedic Health Care shares the upcoming business opportunity

Neha Gohil (NG): Tell us something about Kerala Ayurvedic Health Care. What was the motivation behind starting this business?

Vijaya Kumar Nair (VKN): Kerala Ayurvedic Health Care was started in 2003. The brand offers best quality treatments, with the use of best oils/medicines and other products from Kerala. The company has well qualified and experienced doctors and staff, and proper understanding of the marketing of ayurveda.

Being quite impressed with the wonderful treatment with ayurveda medicines with no side effects the company was started. Also there is a huge potential to sell ayurvedic  medicines and treatments world over as people these days prefer natural style of living and health maintenance and treatments.

NG: Share with us the USP of Kerala Ayurvedic Health Care?

VKN: The USP of the brand is quality treatments, products, best services from well qualified and experienced doctors and staffs, and regular updates from customer care.

NG: There are some misconceptions related to Ayurveda. What do you have to say to justify these?

VKN:  There were misconceptions related to Ayurveda like there are only few health problems that can be treated through Ayurveda. But now people have acknowledged that ayurveda has cure for all the health problems even for cancer, Parkinson’s and paralysis. In fact ayurveda is useful not only to treat diseases rather there is lot of therapies and wellness programs in ayurveda for health maintenance, like: rejuvenation, relaxation and detoxification.

There was another misconception that it can be opted for only after 45+ and that too only for joint pain etc. However, now even people at the age group of 20 can take ayurvedic treatment for various health related problems and also for health maintenance.

NG: Why and when did you take up the franchise route for expansion?

VKN: The brand receives at least three franchise inquires every day from different part of India and abroad. There are serious inquiries from at least 22 countries and presently the company is operational in five countries. It is not possible to start own centres everywhere because providing the best quality treatments and services is not easy. So franchising was the best foot forward and the brand started expanding in different parts of India and abroad, via franchising.

NG: How has franchising helped the brand so far in achieving its success?

VKN: The company is still in its initial phase of franchising and business promotion and is reaching out to people in different countries. The company is in the process of identifying serious likeminded business partners to promote ayurveda treatments, rather than a spa concept where ayurveda is only for massages.

NG: How many franchisees do you have presently? What motivated you to expand via franchise route?

VKN: We have franchisees currently in Hungary, Georgia and Tashkent. The company has its own centres in Trivandrum, Kerala, New Delhi, and Dubai. There are plans to start own or franchised centres in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, London, Mauritius, Kuwait and US in the coming months.

NG: How much investment and area is required to take up the franchise?

VKN: The minimum requirements are 800 – 1,000 sq. ft area, for two treatment room centre. Depending on the capacity to invest money and the location for accepting more patients at a time, the size can be increased. For this two treatment room centre, we need one doctor and two female and male therapists. If the location is ideal for foreign traffic then excellent business possibilities are available, because the brand is getting maximum number of foreigners in its centres.

For set up at least Rs five lakh is the minimum investment without the building and interior decoration.

NG: Mention few challenges in running an ayurvedic treatment centre and how can they be overcome?

VKN: The most significant challenge in taking up a franchise of ayurveda centre is to adopt the essence of ayurveda, trust the system of ayurveda medical science, and then make it as a service where best quality treatment is in the focus.

Most of the people coming to this franchise program, take it as a business option where profit is the motive. But it would be difficult to be successful till they realise the importance of ayurveda treatments and quality of services.

Another issue is the expertise of the doctors. If the franchise owner is not an ayurvedic doctor then getting good ayurveda practitioner is a problem, most of the doctors are interested in risk free practicing instead of investigative practicing and attending complicated cases. Only few doctors are enthusiastic about attending most of the complicated cases