A Case Study on Mobile Medics Healthcare

Pvt. Ltd.
The role of Business Plans in a start-up

Étude de cas,
Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership , BITS Pilani

Amruth B.R .Keerthikiran.K, Prathish Jose,

A.V.S Karteek, Saurav Neel Patyal, Rachit Chandra
Introduction :

Business plans have always been looked upon as the starting board for a
successful business, there have been issues with teams spending a lot of time and
effort to develop a business plan in the early stages of a startup. But with all the
diverse opinions around a business plan, they remain an essential component of a
startup and provide direction and assist teams in identifying the potential of their
idea and business.

But is developing a Business Plan worth the effort that goes in to it? Does it
cripple the team’s flexibility while making decisions? What is the role of B-plans in
getting funding, building a team and launching an enterprise?

Sriram and his team were one such group of undergraduates from BITS Pilani,
India who faced these questions on their way to founding their rural healthcare
company – Mobile Medics Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.

Mobile Medics plans It is essentially a private healthcare system that can

complement the existing government infrastructure. A van equipped with testing
equipment and drug supplies will carry a doctor and nurse and reach the village.
They plan to charge each patient Rs.50 ($1.25) as consultation fees.The system is
modeled as “treatment at doorstep”, saving the villager from the long and
cumbersome journey to the major hospitals.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

THE IDEA:

During a visit to his grandparents’ village, Sriram was struck by the villagers’ dire need of basic
medical amenities. The penetration of healthcare facilities was minimal to say the least. He
wanted to do something, but he himself being a management student knew charity was not the
way out to improve the situation.

To improve the situation, he knew a sustainable business was needed. This is what started a
long journey called Mobile Medics.

Back then at BITS Pilani, Business plans, Start-ups were still farfetched ambitions. But, for him,
the problem was too close to the heart to give up on. Here, he started to convert this problem
to a business opportunity. He researched. He got information from all the sources he could
think of. He talked to his professors; read all the books he could lay his hands on. BITS Pilani
itself being situated in rural India helped his cause. All the information told him there was an
underserved market waiting to be explored. He was trying to turn a social problem into a
business venture.

CONQUEST:

Conquest, the national level Business Plan competition of BITS Pilani, being organized around
the corner and he decided to make an executive summary out of his idea. Back then very few
people knew how to write an executive summary. So, he had to take the refuge of the internet.
Although, it helped him to write the summary he lacked the insight to support the assumptions
made in the b-plan with credible information. This was because of the generic advice he got
from the Net. To fulfill the Conquest requirement of having a minimum of three people on the
team, Sriram randomly picked his team amongst his friends.

Sriram consulted the President of Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership see exhibit 5 who identified
the potential of the idea and suggested that in order to make the business successful, he would
need the support of the right team. After the conversation, Sriram realized the need to have a
well-balanced team to handle all aspects of the business.
Sriram knew knowing the importance the human resources his team would require and
approached Kavikrut (Kavi), who had the network to put this team into place. The team
consisting of Srikanth PNV,Amit Mirchandani, Rajashekhar MV was finally in place

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Mobile Medics was one of the six teams shortlisted for Conquest finals. Mobile Medics were
assigned Anupendra Sharma as a mentor. They were exposed to less romantic but still essential
facets of the business. In particular they came to understand the importance of numbers. They
learnt how to read and write financial statements with ease. They also managed to fine tune
their business idea and make a pitch which would over time win business plan competitions
around the world. He added maturity to the financial aspect of the business model. He
provided them with the rigor of thought required to consider all foreseeable effects of their
business environment on their model. The team also imbibed confidence from the fact that
some one so high up in the industry believed in their idea. This needed them to go back to the
villages. The team conducted extensive research on ground to statistical credibility and the
financial teeth to the plan.

At Conquest, they were pitted against teams from IIMs, ISB and habits.in. This gave them the
motivation to put in that extra effort to compete against quality teams. They being the only
under-graduate team, they made up for their lack of experience with the hard work.

They went into the Conquest finals with solid preparation behind them. They were very
protective about their idea. Today, in hindsight Kavi says “Be open with your idea. No one can
flick it, not by listening to a 30 minutes presentation or by reading a Business plan marked
confidential. The best way to protect your idea is to work on it”.

Conquest finals proved to be an immense learning experience for the team in terms of them
learning both, how to handle the numbers as well as how to tackle ground realities while
starting up. The judges added to their learning, recollects Kavi, by grilling them on their plan
and providing insightful comments. The team also felt a need to be better synchronized.

Starting as the underdogs, Mobile Medics proved their mettle. Eventually, it was Mobile Medics
who won! They had transformed an idea into a B-plan which had won them a coveted title.
Other than the prize money, the team took back a new found confidence, a richer network and
lots of well learnt lessons.

AFTER CONQUEST:

Conquest was the watershed moment for the Mobile Medics’ B-Plan. The whole process right
from the writing of the executive summary to the winning finale crystallized their idea with a
potential to a business plan that went on to win competitions around the world.

Truly, competitions around the world! The next step which the team took was to put in their b-
plan into Outrageous competition. The orginal team of CONQUEST couldn’t make it to the

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

competition due to visa clearance. So the team was headed by Anupendra, who was now very
much part of the team. Since they also needed a student doing MBA in order to participate in
the competition, Anupendra brought in Jordan Tongalson, who was doing his MBA at Columbia.
Though the inclusion of a team member whom the team was not familiar with, brought in initial
moments of apprehension, the team put themselves together to put up their plan for the
competition. Jordan helped the team in scaling the idea and consolidating their financials by
adding new assumptions which increased its clarity. This association with Jordan strengthened
and he went on to become the CFO of the company.

Following their success at Columbia, Sriram decided to put their entry into other B-Plan
competitions. This took them to IIMB. The team was represented by Kavi, Sriram and Srikanth.
This was their first experience outside BITS. They won the second place .this convinced them
that conquest was not a stroke of luck. They started believing in their plan and presentation.

So the fairy tale of few undergraduates from BITS Pilani continued. They now moved to bigger
competitions with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. They submitted their B-plan to Global Social
Venture Competition, New York and Asia Moot Competition
, Bangkok simultaneously. Kavi, Srikanth and Sriram took the entry to Bangkok while Anupendra
was representing mobile medics at GSVC. He was joined by Rustom Masalawala. His work with
social ventures around the world added a lot of value and credibility to the team.

Mobile Medics continued their winning streak. They won the best presentation award at The
Moot. They hit the jackpot at GSVC. They earned their starting capital of USD 25,000. Getting
funded by Goldman Sachs Foundation was what made the decision of starting up easier.

The business plan went through quite a few major changes and innumerable refinements
during the course of these competitions.

THE PLUNGE

While at Mumbai, doing an internship Kavi had to take the call: to startup or not. The usually
quick decision maker, Kavi took two weeks to decide. To decide Kavi tried putting a value to
Mobile Medics X years down the line. Having won competitions as big as GSVC, he was high on
confidence and believed that this plan had to work.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Once done with the crucial decision of taking the plunge, the team got in touch with the
Business Incubator (TBI) at BITS Pilani. BITS Pilani readily agreed to allot a TBI slot to Mobile
Medics and offered infrastructure and support. This made the process of starting-up all the
more easier.

Due to the nature of their business which involved extensive travel, Mobile Medics bought their
first van . When the team came back to Pilani, they started with surveying and setting up office
space. But things were not as rosy on the ground.

Mobile Medics had undergone a lot of change till now. The team was always open to
improvements in the B-plan even if meant reworking the entire plan.

Initially, the B-plan was based on Re 1 per day per customer for holistic health care. Even after
emerging as the ‘Most Outstanding Social Venture’ , once they went around and surveyed
villages, they realized that a pre-paid version depends on trust and reputation which can only
be built over a long period of time. This required the team to make a major modification in their
revenue model where in they moved over to a post-paid approach.

A significant portion of Mobile Medics’ revenue model consisted of sales of generic drugs. Their
initial plan of selling the drugs right from the van encountered a legal setback as it was not
possible to get a license for selling drugs on the move. The solution to this problem was the
cause of another major delay in the roll out plan.

Kavi realizes that this was probably the biggest blunder Mobile Medics had committed.
Ironically, none of the Business Plan competitions ever questioned them about the legal issues
associated with selling drugs. Fortunately, a solution was found out and Mobile Medics moved
closer to the actual roll-out.

They had considered a rotation policy for the doctors where a pool of doctors from various
clinics would work for Mobile Medics a day per week. Although , initial surveys of doctors in the
vicinity drew a favorable response, the plan had to be scrapped because dependability of the
services of the doctors was crucial during the initial phases of the operation.

Though, hiring of qualified doctors was just a paragraph in their B-plan, Mobile Medics faced
their biggest challenge in recruiting their first doctor. This delay set their launch back by more
than three months.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Three years and numerous victories later, Mobile Medics launched their operations on the 28th
of February 2007, befittingly during the Entrepreneurship Week.They plan to start their initial
operations with Pilani being the hub and a van delivering healthcare to the villages in a radius
of 3 kilometers. They started off with a permanent doctor and a nurse.

“In the nascent stages, we plan to work out of a hub village with a few smaller villages in the
vicinity to service”, says Kavikrut, COO of Mobile Medics and currently based in Pilani. He is
assisted by the Mobile Medics team(see Exhibit 2).

IN RETROSPECT

The bridge between theory and practice could never get bigger. While the original B-Plan is
impressive on paper, actually implementing it is a Herculean task.

Currently the implementation phase is in its nascent stages. The actual pilot has started in
February 2007 for about 4 months after which the venture will run on full steam. How they
survive through the red tape, lackadaisical attitude of people, infrastructure breakdowns et al
will be their greatest challenge.

“CONFIDENCE, CREDIBILTY, CONTACTS and CASH are the four C’s that the business plan gave us
in launching our company” acknowledges Kavi. Without a B-plan Sriram might not have given
his idea a concrete form. The amount of research and market analysis that went into the
development of the B-plan helped them better evaluate the potential of their idea and
understand nuances of implementation. This understanding was further strengthened during
the interactions at various competitions. And with their victories at both the national and
international levels, their beliefs were reinforced in the idea. It also kept them motivated during
the hard times and not lose their drive.

Not every great idea makes it into a great business. It is in this context that Kavi recollects how
their success with the B-Plan helped them be taken seriously when they approached people for
support. “No doctor would have agreed to give up his practice and go around villages with us
were it not for the confidence our victories inspired in them. Our business plan gave us
credibility which has been vital in our efforts to start up” says Kavi.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Another key element which B-plan competitions introduce into the team is the kind of
professional network which they get to develop during the course of the competition. One of
the prime reasons for the failure of startups immediately after graduation is that most of the
people in the network of the founders will themselves be students and faculty who do not have
an experience or stronghold in actual business arena. B-plan competitions serve as a huge value
add to a startup in filling up this void.

And of course, all B-plan competitions have prize money in addition to the assistance they
provide for getting funding. This also added to the initial resource base which they gained
during their B-plan stage and making it easy for them to kick-start their project.

But all these experience they had gained during these B-plan competitions also established a
set mindset in the team towards their business environment and the problems they might face.
Overcoming these shortcomings and unlearning some of the elements which they gained while
they were developing their B-plan was crucial in them preparing themselves for the real
challenges.

“You don’t get to listen to issues revolving around the psychology of a common man or the
bureaucratic hassles in a B-plan competition. It is essential that teams working on their B-plan
realize that their business model is to help them assess all factors which will influence their
business than giving them a rulebook about how to go about building their company. This was
one of the experiences which we hoped to give during Conquest” says Amruth, the then Joint
Coordinator of Conquest. The initial struggle by the Mobile Medics team during incubation also
revolved around understanding the psyche of their customer base which no B-plan competition
could have prepared them for. Mentors, B-plan competitions and advisors can give an insight
into the business world only at a conceptual level. But the details can be explored only when
you get your hands dirty. And that’s what the Mobile Medics team learnt the hard way.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

 Exhibits
Exhibit 1

Winner: Conquest 2005 - The Business Challenge

BITS Pilani, March 2005, Pilani, India

“This is where it all started”

Runner Up: Bzzwings Business Plan Competition

IIM Bangalore, Oct 2005, Bangalore, India

“The journey continues”

Best Presentation Award

Asia Moot Competition, April 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

“We are on a roll guys!”

Winner: Eugene Lang Outrageous Business Plan Competition

Columbia Business School, April 2005, New York

“Even they think we are outrageous!”

Winner: Most Outstanding Social Venture of 2006

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

 Global Social Venture Competition, March 2006, New York

“We mean business”

Exhibit 2

Sriram Gutta, Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Gutta is Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Mobile Medics. He first came up with
the idea of Mobile Medics, and pulled together a team on campus to write the business plan.
While at BITS, he held several leadership positions including President of the Management
Association, and Member of the BITS Hockey team. His interests lie in marketing. He is
completing his Masters in Management Studies from BITS Pilani, while working full-time at
Mobile Medics.

Kavikrut, COO

Mr. Kavikrut is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Mobile Medics, being responsible for
leading the operation at Pilani. He is a graduate of the MSc Tech. in Finance program from BITS
Pilani. In 2006, Mr. Kavikrut was named one of 30 BITSians under the age of 30 for outstanding
leadership. He worked in OTC Derivatives Management at GlobeOp Financial Services, the
world’s leading automated, state-of-the-art Middle and Back-Office support services for Hedge
Funds and Fund Managers. Mr. Kavikrut was the Coordinator for 100-member Department of
Photography, Student Editor of BITScan Magazine and a Member of the BITS Swimming Team.

Srikanth PNV, Financial Controller

Mr. Srikanth is the Controller of Mobile Medics, and a member of the team that won the first
business plan competition in Pilani. His expertise lies in finance and investments. He recently
worked with YES Bank, Mumbai, in the Life Sciences Corporate Banking Division. He also been
actively involved with the Economics & Finance Association at BITS Pilani, spearheading many
activities including publishing of their annual magazine 'Money Matters'. He is completing a

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Dual Degree with an M Sc Tech in General Studies and an M Sc Tech in Finance from BITS Pilani,
while working full-time at Mobile Medics.

Anupendra Sharma , Chairman

Anupendra Sharma is Co-Founder and Chairman of Mobile Medics. He is also an Investment

Partner at Siemens Venture Capital, focused on investments in medical technologies and
software. Prior to joining SVC, he was a Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Siemens, focused
on transactions in the Medical Sector. Mr. Sharma worked at JPMorgan and Salomon Smith
Barney in Investment Banking prior to joining Siemens. Prior to investment banking, Anupendra
was part of the core team that set-up Ford Motor's operations in China and India. Mr. Sharma
co-founded the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at BITS Pilani, named one of the top 5
centers of entrepreneurship in India, and has mentored start-ups in the US and India. He holds
an MBA from Cornell University, MS in Accounting & Finance from Manchester Business School,
and Masters in Economics and Bachelor of Instrumentation Engineering from BITS Pilani.

Rustom Masalawala, CEO

Mr. Masalawala is Co-Founder of Mobile Medics. He is also the former Portfolio Manager of the
Acumen Fund, a not-for-profit organization focused on investing models in the developing
world. He currently consults to several not-for-profits and social ventures around the world,
and has worked with companies in India, Africa and Latin America. Prior to joining the Acumen
Fund, he worked for leading corporations including Unisys, AT&T, NEC, Panasonic and
NetPilgrim. Mr. Masalawala received his MS in Computer Science from the State University of
New York, as well as his BS in Physics/Mathematics and a Diploma in Business Administration
from Xavier's College in India.

Jordan Tongalson, CFO

Mr. Tongalson is Co-Founder & CFO of Mobile Medics. He is also an Associate at The Blackstone
Group in New York. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Tongalson worked in the Mergers and
Acquisitions group of Siemens Corporation where he completed M&A transactions representing
an aggregate value of over $5 billion. Before joining Siemens he was an analyst in the
investment banking division of JP Morgan H&Q. Mr. Tongalson has over 5 years of experience
in Mergers & Acquisitions and Investment Banking and he holds an MBA from Columbia
Business School and a BA in Chemistry from Hamilton College.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Dr. Girish Dang, CMO

Dr. Dang is the former Chief Medical Officer for Ranbaxy’s Mobile Medical Unit, which was
created fifteen years ago as a charitable venture and remains in existence today. He holds the
record of personally treating more than 500 patients in a single day in two villages in North
India. Dr. Dang is now a registered nurse and works in Boston. He holds an RN qualification
from Massachusetts and an MBBS from India.

Dr. Sharib Khan, CIO

Dr. Khan is the Chief Information Officer for Mobile Medics and an expert in Healthcare
informatics. He is responsible for formulating and implementing the healthcare information
strategy for Mobile Medics which includes electronic patient data capture and analysis for
health outcomes, disease surveillance, epidemiologic profiling and enabling better clinical
decision making. He is currently a research officer at Columbia University. He has consulted to
the Department of Health, New York City and New York State on several health information
technology initiatives and also advised healthcare software vendors. Dr. Khan completed his
Masters in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University in the City of New York. Dr. Khan
holds an MBBS from the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS),Delhi.

Student Team Members

Amit Mirchandani and Rajashekhar MV have been part of the Mobile Medics Team since its
initial stages. They along with Sriram, Kavikrut and Srikanth have been responsible for the
victories at the Business Plan Competitions in India. Both of them were instrumental in
conducting the Test Runs during April 2006 at various villages near Pilani.

Mr. Amit is completing a Dual Degree with an M Sc Hons in Economics and a BE Hons in
Computer Science from BITS Pilani. He is currently interning with Microsoft Research Centre,
Hyderabad, India.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Mr. Rajashekhar is completing a Dual Degree with an M Sc Hons in Economics and a BE Hons in
Mechanical from BITS Pilani. He is currently interning with I2 Technologies, Bangalore, India.

Exhibit 3

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Exhibit 4

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.

Exhibit 5

The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) at BITS Pilani, was set up for that very purpose,
to create entrepreneurial leaders and have a significant impact on the global entrepreneurial
community.

The Center is also one of:

The Centers for Excellence at BITS Pilani

The top 5 centres of Entrepreneurship among Indian Universities

The founders of the National Entrepreneurship Network

The various immensely popular events held by the Center, such as Conquest, Epsilon,I4RI and
Prayag have managed to create maximum impact on the student and entrepreneurial
community in India.

©Étude de cas, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BITS Pilani.