Technology has made lives easier and has also provided convenience to the consumers. In a conversation with Mr Siddharth Sangwan, CEO, Hindustan Wellness, he talks about the wellness sector in India, his unique business model and being the most impactful business.
What was the idea behind starting Hindustan Wellness?
When we had started, there was no organisation which was focussed on the preventive health care. There were only two kinds of institutions. First, the hospitals which have the sole aim of just treating the people and they do that via occupying beds which are their revenue model or through OPD. They were running some sort of preventive health care programmes and check-ups. We figured out that they were treating only patient units. They were not suggesting people how to not become a patient rather were happy to convert them into a patient. The second type of institutions was the pathology labs or diagnostic centres which were also providing some sorts of preventive health care check-ups. They were very transactional as they would take the blood and give the reports which were all about it. They offered nothing more. The idea was to make an organisation which was focussed on doing a preventive health check up or a wellness check up of a customer and helping him stay away from the hospitals. We took it up and that is how Hindustan Wellness came up as an organisation.
What led you to be titled the most impactful business?
We are customer- centric as an organisation. Most people do not know that we are among one of the few organisations and start-ups which haven’t gone for a formal funding. The major reason for that was that it did not seem that our business was a cash burn business. Our business is all about the belief to give great services to the customer, help him improve his lifestyle and live a healthier life. We have been able to accomplish that objective and that is why there is a repeat purchase from our existing customers.
Are you looking forward to providing your services in brick and mortar form other than being present digitally?
I don’t think we will be entering brick and mortar business. We are going to be fundamentally focussed on how we can provide a cost effective solutions to our customers at home. So, brick and mortar is out of the question for now. The other reason for this would be that being present digitally gives us the flexibility to expand in the geographies where we are not present at a quick pace. However, we would like to look at a franchisee model to move further, sometime down the line wherein we would like to have strategic partners who are engaged with us. Those strategic partners can have offices at different locations but we are not going to move into the brick and mortar business.
Let us know something about your unique business model.
We were the first one to start with a centralised collection model in the entire Delhi NCR. A normal customer would walk up to a collection centre or he would call up a person from a nearby centre to get his blood tested but the services are not standard. The person was not given the same experience via the franchisee or the partner. We started with the centralised collection mechanism in Delhi NCR and we combined the technology with the healthcare. We call ourselves as a wellness company with a DNA of technology. So, everything we do has the technology to empower the customer. We also have a customer app wherein the customer can not only store his own reports but can also manage his family’s report with just a few taps. We give all our reports in digital format so that the customer can do an analysis of his reports. We don’t just do the testing of the reports but we also help the customer understand that report.
Tell us about your app, STETHO, and how it is catering to the needs of the consumers?
One of the biggest pain points that people have is that they don’t know how to manage their reports. There are piles of reports and they keep losing it. They have to carry them whenever they have to go for their checkups. With the help of STETHO, they can actually get all the reports in one particular place which is digital. Along with it, they can also see the trends of the report. So, it just not helps one to store reports but also helps them to see the trends. The consumer can go on one particular parameter and see a graph for themselves. STETHO empowers the customers instead of them always being at the mercy of the doctors. The app lays out all the difficult terminologies in a simple format for the consumer to understand. The consumer can also monitor his lifestyle through STETHO.
What is your fore view of the wellness sector in India?
I think it is going to grow very fast. People understand now that prevention is better than cure and awareness is spreading more every single day. People want to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the focus on wellness is going to spread across India. It will cause awareness among all the segments whether it is middle class or rich. Everybody wants to focus more on wellness other than the treatment of illness. So, it has a great future. We, as Hindustan Wellness, are very rightly placed at the moment to lead and show the next steps to the industry.
