We invited Dr. Pranjan Mitra, Founder & Chief Dentist at Denta Mitra, for an interview with Most Popular Stories. Let’s get to know about his entrepreneurial journey.
- Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey as an
entrepreneur
Born in Haldwani, I am a Public Health Dentist and a Professor in Public Health Dentistry Department. I have been in the field of dentistry since 8+ years and am a guide to aspiring dental graduates and postgraduate students. I was a recipient of the Indian Health Professional Awards in 2017 for the Category – Excellence in Public Health Dentistry. My entrepreneur journey has been quite exciting with a lot of challenges. I belong to a non-business family and with a very little understanding of technology. That’s where my good old buddy and renowned entrepreneur Satyajeet Pradhan, who is also the founder of Bizydale India, a reputed tech company helped me and has been the driving force of Denta Mitra from day one. I have evolved as a young entrepreneur in this journey. Within few months of the Denta Mitra launch, I have provided more than 1000 dental consultations. Denta Mitra had also received the Indian Achiever’s Health Care Excellence Award 2020. I have conducted numerous oral health awareness webinars and also provided free consultations to underprivileged students. We have ratings as on date of 5 in Google play store with more than 340 reviews and close to 5000 installations.
2. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
When we are in 9 to 5 job, your ideas and concepts never transpire into a reality. Being an entrepreneur, you can put as many ideas into a concept and see it grow like a banyan tree. Entrepreneurship makes you a free bird. Fly as high as you can. The dream of building something innovative which is conceptualized by you is achieved in entrepreneurship.
3. What was the vision behind it?
The vision behind Denta Mitra is bringing dentistry to homes. It is creating a one-stop in house and on the go solution to dental problems. Denta Mitra is a virtual dentist AI app-based solution which tracks, measure, and assists people on their oral health. People can scan, diagnose, track their oral health status from anywhere anytime and shall be reminded of their daily oral hygiene actions which they might miss or ignore. They can also solve their dental problems through Video Consultation with the team of Dental experts at Denta Mitra. We are soon planning to start a house call visit of dentists services.
4. Describe the services that you offer to your customers and in what
way they are unique?
Denta Mitra is a virtual AI app-based solution to help track, measure, and assist people on their oral health. It ensures that the user understands the importance of oral care based on app recommendations. THE recent COVID situation has brought social distancing and due to which many people are avoiding visits to dental clinics unless it is an emergency. So, patients can use Denta Mitra to solve their dental problems through Video Consultation with the team of Dental experts at Denta Mitra. Patients can also try home remedies as recommended by the app till they visit dentists.
Denta Mitra has start-of-art unique features, such as teledentistry, AI tooth scanner, oral health score, dental tips, reminders, etc. The oral health scanner based on artificial intelligence is a novel feature. Patients can easily diagnose cavities and other teeth problems using the AI scanner. It helps us monitor our oral hygiene at our fingertips. The reminder section includes notifications to remind us of various oral hygiene activities such as brushing teeth twice a day and replacing toothbrushes after a few months.
5. What difficulties which you have faced or you are facing?
The most challenging part was handling business operations since I am not from a business family and have very little knowledge of Technology. That’s where my childhood buddy Satyajeet, Co-founder and CEO of Bizydale India helped me and has been the driving force of Denta Mitra from day one. Also arranging finances or initial investment is still a challenge however that has not stopped us from building this app further.
6. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Listening to Music, Bollywood songs, and playing Keyboard. Travelling is also a stress buster for me. Whenever I feel that I am losing out, I pack my bags and travel to any serene place. Due to the COVID situation, I am not able to travel much so I engross myself in reading motivational books about great achievers of our present time. Meditation and Yoga also helps a lot in managing my high emotions.
7. How do you market your business?
Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Earned Media and PR, Content Marketing, Kiosk based presentations in Conferences and Events are few of the marketing techniques we are using currently.
8. How many hours a day do you work on average & can you
describe/outline your typical day?
My daily routine is very common apart from some surprises here and there. I wake up between 6to 6:30 am. I have my bed tea, freshen up and go for a morning walk and some fresh air. Sometimes stretches in the park in our complex. I come back to the room and then exercise and some yoga. The last session is followed by Meditation. I take a refreshing shower and have my breakfast. I leave for College which starts at 9 am. I return at 3 pm and have a light lunch. Take rest for some time. In the evening I play the keyboard for about an hour to relax and calm myself. Then Denta Mitra work begins. At 9 pm I have dinner and watch News and Sports. After dinner, my academic sessions begin like preparing lectures and notes for students. Next one hour for reading books which can be novels to motivating stories. Half an hour for social media and music before sleeping. Then the cycle repeats.
9. In your opinion what are the keys to success?
No shortcuts, please. Success depends on your skills, hard work, determination, smartness, and hunger to succeed. Patience, persistence, and passion will definitely succeed you.
10. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring
entrepreneur?
Don’t follow the masses. Think of something out of the box beneficial to society. Don’t focus on money, focus on the effectiveness and excellence of the product. Money is always a bi-product.
Follow Denta Mitra at
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dentamitra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentamitra_app/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dentamitra/
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