As part of our ongoing quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, we invited yet another passionate and purpose-driven entrepreneur – Vishal Shah for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. Vishal is an exceptional Business Leader, Seasoned Entrepreneur, Mentor, and Change Maker. He is the Founder And CEO of Aanvii Hearing Solutions. Let’s learn more about his journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I completed my schooling from Nalanda English school at my birthplace Tiptur, & graduated from Kalpataru science college, Tiptur.
I assisted my father’s pharmaceutical distribution company since I was in 10th standard until my graduation. I believe that’s where the seed of becoming an entrepreneur was sown.
Passionate about participating in various quiz programmes, an avid sports lover, moved to Bangalore in 1998, I began my entrepreneurial journey by being appointed as a distributor for Gillette India limited. We used to sell grooming products to the shops assigned under my distribution territory.”
Parallelly got into the distribution of Cadburys, local masala brands, local tea powder and after a lot of struggle became a known face in the distribution arena.
This reputation got me the privilege to become a distributor for Hutchison Essar South Ltd in 2002 and launched hutch (now Vodafone telecom) as one of their 1st distributors in India. Distributorship for Tatasky Limited also added on my platter as well and was into providing DTH connections in the assigned territory.
Launched another company in 2006 which is engaged in the supply of garment accessories to garments manufacturers & has been very successfully running this company till date.
With these experiences gained and the courage to enter even unknown domains & industries, I happened to open my 1st clinic at Bangalore in association with Siemens hearing Instruments Pvt Ltd in the year 2014.
The sudden shift from FMCG, telecom to healthcare happened due to my father himself being hearing impaired and seeking hearing solutions for himself. This triggered a lot of interest in this industry and hence Aanvii Hearing Solutions was born.
Within the 1st year of the launch of my 1st clinic, it was very evident that this industry is with loads of potential and gave us the confidence that we can provide hearing solutions to a lot of people who are deprived of hearing and in turn a decent lifestyle.
The first year was a huge success. This motivated me to open my 2nd clinic in 2015, again with the huge support of Siemens Hearing Instruments Pvt Ltd, which is now known as Sivantos India Pvt Ltd. This 2nd clinic was the icing on the cake. We started to get more & more patients and that kept us motivated to do something bigger than that.
It soon happened that few of my relatives, who have been a part of my daily life, started showing interest in joining this industry.
Fully convinced with the growth potential this industry had, I allowed them to join me and we opened 3rd, 4th & 5th clinic in the same year 2015.
With the support of my wife, my daughters, my family & relatives, we went full throttle. Gained support from relatives living in cities outside Bangalore, took them on board and went on rapid expansions at Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Pune etc.
I am extremely proud to bring along 13 partners within the family and being able to run the fastest-growing company in the industry. We now operate 40 clinics across 9 cities in India. We are the largest chain of best sound centres in India.”
Our vision is to operate 100 clinics across the country by 2025 and to turn around lives of minimum 5 lakh people suffering from this silent disease.
We are aware of all the good work you are doing in your space, our audience whats to know – what keeps you going?
The satisfaction to bring the joy of hearing back to any individual keeps me going. it’s in my DNA…
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
I chose entrepreneurship because I always wanted to make an impact. Having assisted my father in his business since my childhood, I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurship. It’s fascinating how you build something from scratch to build an empire around it and not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage, planning, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, combined with good strategy & execution skills. thanks to all my mentors and above all my dad, who gave me valuable inputs to make the journey a lot easier for me.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey so far;
Being an outsider of this industry was the biggest challenge. And the hunger to earn a name for myself, kept me on my toes always in this journey. I was very clear that I will not enter or do something that’s small in comparison to what I can do. Building a team with zero experience of this industry and to take along all the partners & the audiologists towards the goal, was also the few of the challenges faced and successfully overcame so far.
What is your business mantra: money or emotions?
I would say discipline, honesty, ethics are the business mantra for me. A satisfied customer is my prime importance. Follow what your heart says. Do that & money follows you automatically. There is no room for emotions while I am at work.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
1 – Be transparent.
2 – Communicate effectively with the team.
3 – Be a strong negotiator.
4- Learn to say no.
5 – Appreciate & acknowledge everyone.
6 – Everything falls in place when you work with complete integrity.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
When you do what you really love, the pressure and the stress are not felt. You carve out a habit to deal with them even without knowing yourselves. There is no escape from pressure & stress. The pressure is good as it always results in innovation & ideas that will help you reach or achieve what you want. I relieve my stress by being with my wife, my kids, my close friends, listen to music, watch movies, watch sports.
Stress, excitement and nervousness are all part of an entrepreneur’s journey. Sleepless nights guaranteed. It is actually fun. You learn a lot every day. from being nobody to now heading a company that operates 40 clinics & 120 employees and so much to do in the upcoming years. You evolve practically every day.
Please share with our audience – what has worked well for you so far?
My determination to succeed, unwavering focus on the goal set, my team, my dad’s confidence in me in whatever I take up, hunger to learn more & more, the skill of being an influential orator, ability to multi-task a lot of things at a time, being aware of the industry moves, negotiation skills, and very importantly luck has worked out well for me, so far. And I hope all of the above stays with me till I retire.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
1 – Embrace technology.
2 – Be ready for change as change is the only constant.
3 – Develop patience.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Integrity, commitment, responsibility, adaptability, focus, the courage to take risks, knowledge, accept failure as learning & use it for better prospects, motivation, passion, trust on self and trust on the team.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
1 – Follow your dreams. They definitely do come true.
2 – Have a vision chart. Build a foolproof plan around it.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
