These 3 Women Are Utilizing Technology To Make Life Simpler For Doctors A readymade SaaS tool for doctors that is used by their patients.
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At times, reaching out to investors or mentors can become tricky for entrepreneurs considering their busy schedule. To make entrepreneurs' life easier in terms of getting funds and mentors, Entrepreneur Media has created a platform called "Startup Kickoff' where startups can pitch their business plans to a panel of investors/ VCs/accelerators.
At the seventh edition of the Startup Kickoff powered by The Entrepreneur India Show 2016, investors once again praised and encouraged the innovative startup ideas. In this edition, we found that apart from pitching, startups were given an opportunity to showcase their products and services to the funders in Demo Zone, an area specially dedicated to the startups.
With various applications they received, the panel selected 20 companies to showcase their product in Demo Zone and out of these 20 companies, OyeHelp became the Showstopper. They were the one who attracted the investors the most.
The Team of women co-founders started OyeHelp, a digital health technology company that provides easy-to-use personal M-clinic Apps for doctors, clinics, and hospitals to simplify healthcare.
The app virtual replicates the experience of a doctor's clinic or hospital as the case may be, for their patients. It is a readymade SaaS tool for doctors that are used by their patients.
With this app the doctors can easily build their brand, advice, manage appointments and get payments anytime, anywhere. The venture is backed by a team with over 20 years of experience in delivering value to businesses with innovative technology solutions, online marketing services, and business operations support.
In a candid chat with Meena Kapoor, Co-founder, OyeHelp, Startup Kickoff winner during Entrepreneur India 2016 we came to know some of the interesting facts about her journey and how she has evolved as an entrepreneur during the time.
My eureka moment
I wanted make a difference through digital health care, the how and why came later. The idea of the personalized app, was truly aha moment, when we thought of the entire ecosystem of the doctor, and what was the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle. The needs of the doctor were not being met by competition.
The doctors were lacking privacy, losing control over their time, and giving out free consultations over phone and whatsapp. Our personal app solutions solve all these issues for the doctor, while helping them retain and build their brand identity, as well as collection consultation fees that is now missing unless a patient visits the doctor.
Is there a story behind the name, you have given to your business?
OYE Stands for "Own Your Expertise" and is a sound we are all familiar with when trying to reach out to someone. Help of course is what the platform provides by bringing the patient and doctor together!
Want to know about my business mock up? Here it is
Our business comes from primarily two sources. Doctors, hospitals and clinics to which we provide the personalised brand app, and backend practice management software. The second source is the patient, from whom we charge a convenience fees for consultations. Going forward medicine delivery and lab tests ordering will be another source.
We have over 350 doctors signed up to our portal, and more signing up daily through our hospital farming efforts. 10 per cent of these doctors have bought personal apps, for either themselves as an individual, or for their hospital. At present all we are selling is the personal app, we are looking to raise funding to move quickly in this space.
My journey would be in complete without him
My mentor was Dr. Akash Chopra, who introduced me to my entrepreneurial journey? Unfortunately he passed away some years ago. He was a maverick, a showman and a great believer of "thinking big'. He taught me to believe in my instincts, to believe I could do or become anything I wanted to. He also taught me to look at business, as well as life, with a sense of humour. When you truly enjoy what you do, it is a recipe for success.
Business fundamental I strongly believe in
Never stop learning, never stop evolving. The day you stop, you are dead. Business dynamics change on a daily basis, and while it is great to have a plan, and stick to the plan. Be prepared for change. Be prepared to unlearn what you thought was right and start all over again. The second facet, which is as crucial as the first, is your attitude towards your business and customers. You must be ready to do anything, to make your customer smile.
Celebrating Aha Moment in the business
The first Aha moment came the day I thought of the personal app. As strange as this sounds, but I actually dreamt of the personal app, and then told everyone about it. Everyone loved the idea of providing professionals with an end to end digital office. The second aha moment came for us as a team, when Akanksha actually managed to sell 10 apps within days of launch with little or no sales background. We knew we were onto something.
Challenges so far I have faced
As far as challenges go, scaling has been a challenge, and the frustration of wanting to do more, and not having the resources to do it. I use storytelling and humour as a style for addressing challenges both in my personal life and business. I imagine that whatever we are doing now….whether presenting at Entrepreneur India, or going to a hospital and meeting a difficult doctor, is all part of a story that is being scripted for the climax of the movie. I often tell the team, to remember difficult moments, and jot them down in the "OyeHelp story' for future reference.
This is what I eye next
We ensure that operation grows at the same scale so that we have delighted doctors on our platform. In the immediate future, we intend to expand our presence to all major cities across India. We are looking to increase our doctor pool to 10,000 doctors in the first year with at least 40 per cent of them owning a personal app, and consulting their patients with the same. At present we have over 5000 users using our services. We intend to scale both rapidly.
I describe my journey as
I come from a corporate communications background, and in my first venture, I stumbled into entrepreneurship. The early years of running an internet and mobile business were not easy; it was a new sector of which I knew little. In due course, I learnt about technology after making just about every mistake possible, and then it all started falling in place. My persistence to make it happen, I think brought me where I am. I developed a passion for entrepreneurship, and I am loving my journey.