The Covid-19 era has been one of the toughest time periods for people across the world. While the loss of life caused by the pandemic was devastating, the economic impact of the resultant lockdown was also equally crippling. The brunt was largely felt by the common man who struggled to access even basic healthcare solutions which had suddenly become increasingly expensive. In a bid to introduce affordable solutions for the healthcare industry, Samita Nag along with her partners co-founded a new venture, Cresmed Healthcare Solutions in 2020.

Leveraging her domain knowledge and two decades of cross functional corporate experience, Samita has helped Cresmed become a formidable name in the Indian healthcare market. Her innate ability to identify the right product for the client and make the solution available within the stipulated budget also played a key role in establishing her niche as a business leader. Today Cresmed is on the way to expansion with plans to launch branches in other key Indian cities along with setting up a manufacturing unit in Bangalore. And, Samita is leading her role as the co-founder with élan.

In a candid conversation with the Women Entrepreneur India team, Samita speaks to us about her diverse industry experience, Cresmed’s growth and a lot more. Here are choice excerpts from the conversation.

What Motivated You To Foray Into The Field Of Healthcare Products & Solutions And Establish Cresmed Healthcare Solutions?

One of my business partners, Dr. Shivkumar and I had been toying around with the idea of starting a business in the field of healthcare, which he is already a part of. I have a Master’s degree in Life Sciences. I reasoned that healthcare could be the best suited field for me to easily expand my knowledge since I already had the foundation for it. Additionally, I bring to the table 20+ years of corporate world experience from having worked across different departments. This experience has equipped me with the skill set to run a startup successfully. We knew that collectively we had the requisite expertise in each arena which would make Cresmed a success, thus the company was founded in 2020.

Tell Us About Cresmed Healthcare Solutions And The Various Services That The Company Specializes In.

With the pandemic striking, the industry was in need of affordable solutions that could cater to the already economically-struck society. We forayed into the Covid-19 testing vertical, offering cost-effective products to the testing laboratories, thus bringing the cost of testing drastically down. The company is head quartered at Bangalore and is built on the strong foundations of collective team experience of over 60 years. Today most of the leading laboratories and laboratory chains across South India use our product range.

We have a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions which includes Molecular Biology equipment& products, Diagnostic equipment, Kits, Chemicals, Reagents, Disposables, Surgical products, Medical Equipment, Healthcare Information Systems, Infectious Diseases Products & Veterinary Products. We also provide turn-key solutions right from design, planning and implementation of high-class Diagnostics centers.

What Are The Various Roles & Responsibilities That You Currently Shoulder At Cresmed Healthcare Solutions? What Are Some Of The Most Pressing Challenges That You Face As The Co-Founder?

I have prior industry experience in the domain of Admin, HR, Operations and Learning & Development. Therefore I look after Operations, HR, L&D functions at Cresmed Healthcare.

Much like many other startups, we also find it challenging to find quality people with the required skillset. As a business leader I focus onhiring the right talent, identifying their training needs and training them to be solution providers to our clients. Afterall, they are the ones who will be the face of Cresmed and our vision will be fulfilled through them, so training them well is top priority.

“As a business leader i focus on hiring the right talent, identifying their training needs and training them to be solution providers to our clients”

We also face challenges pertaining to aligning our business goals & vision within business partners and setting supply-chain management.

In Your Opinion What Have Been Some Of The Most Significant Milestones And Experiences That You Have Achieved So Far In Your Professional Journey?

The very fact that I got the opportunity to work for established brands such as L’Oréal, [24/7].ai and others, has helped me develop expertise across departments and functions. Back in the day I was the sole team member in the support team of L’Oréal’s Kolkata branch and thus when the Sales team expanded, my role & responsibilities had broadened.. This experience taught me valuable people skills. I also learnt howto keep the back-end running smoothly in order to encourage sales in the front.

My role at [24/7].airequired me to handle people in operations and I worked closely with the Senior Leaders which changed my mindset for the good. At [24/7].aiI built a committed team to implement a robust HRMS across all the four branches and training 3500 people across levels on its usage. I learnt the best practices in many departments which enriched my knowledge. After my corporate life, I started training, facilitating and leading leadership workshops. This is where I came across many participants from varied industries such as Healthcare, Hospitality, Automobile, IT, and companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, Carl Zeiss, Columbia Asia, HP and L’Oréal. This helped me in honing my leadership skills further. I had started attending workshops which eventually changed my mindset towards risk taking. Thus, I decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship. This opened my mind to the endless opportunities as an entrepreneur. It’s been a long journey from having an employee mindset to developing an entrepreneur mindset.

Drawing from your experience as a successful business leader, what would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future? There are some key qualities that must be retained in your journey as an entrepreneur and business leader. Ethical business practices tops the list, and a close second is perseverance in the face of resistance & adversities.

Be very cognizant of your finance management along with minimizing your expenses – personal & company-wise, especially at the start-up phase. Invest in training yourself and your employees – many times this may seem as ‘not required’ but if you are in it for the long run, it could become one of the most important things. It is also important to treat your employees as partners in your business journey by offering them careers and not just a job. Last but not the least, working hard at being an entrepreneur does not mean you do not retain a work-life balance.

Samita Nag, Co-Founder, Cresmed Healthcare Solutions Bangalore

Samita leverages her domain knowledge and 20 years of diverse corporate experience to lead Operations, HR, L&D functions at Cresmed. As a leader, she is passionate about hiring the right talent, identifying their training needs and training them to be solution providers to clients.