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Making your smile more sparkling

Dr Meenakshi Banker believes people seldom notice anything else if you wear a beautiful smile. With the commitment to spread a sparkling smile on every face, she went to India's most coveted dental and medical college, the College of Dental Surgery, KMC, Mangalore, to get a degree in Dental Science. She spent two years practicing medicine and then began her entrepreneurial journey.
With more than 18 years of experience, her entrepreneurial ventures have grown exponentially and she now owns and manages a pharmaceutical and chemical trading business and a large multinational steel trading corporation spanning six countries and more than 100 employees.
She has also dabbled in jewellery design with in-house designing, manufacturing and retail.
"We also invest in and support a few start-ups in the artificial intelligence and fintech space," Dr Meenakshi said.
With her passion for dentistry, she established a state-of-the-art dental practice, Dentist Direct Dubai, which is poised to grow into the fastest growing dental chain across the UAE
"I moved to Dubai two years ago and it was always my passion to start a chain of world class dental practices, I could finally turn my dream into a reality by starting Dentist Direct Dubai," she said.
She said currently all dental clinics focus on treating disease once it has occurred or focus on cosmetic treatments. While, her simple philosophy of preventing dental disease before it causes damage to health and the wallet has made Dentist Direct a favourite among people who are seeking high-quality dental care at affordable prices.
"Our concept is to prevent dental diseases and promote dental health. This will eventually lead to huge cost savings for the people and ensure better dental health along with benefits to their general well being. Many health diseases can be prevented as they can be identified in their very early stages in the oral cavity," she said.
Business background
Dentist Direct has a team of highly experienced doctors and hygienists from the United Kingdom offering a quality care with the best skill and expertise.
"We also focus on drill-less, painless dentistry using lasers and the latest technology, as most dental patients hate the sound of the drill and the thought of the syringe in their mouth," Dr Meenakshi said.
With a very sound business background Dr Meenakshi had no problem in managing personal funding to her venture.
"Funding was entirely personal and we intend to invest in many more practices personally, as we are fortunate to be able to invest without a short-term return on equity pressures," she said.
Dr Meenakshi said: "We are currently investing to develop our property portfolio in the UK and also to invest and then expand a world-class full-service law firm. We hope to be present in different sectors as it helps maintain a more stable growth without feeling the pressures of any particular business / industry cycle."
Dr Meenakshi said, she feels herself blessed for having a supportive family, especially her husband. "Without their support I would not be able to achieve success. And also her entire team at Dentist Direct Dubai, who works together as a family," she said.
She said in the beginning of her business she had set a goal to achieve absolute customer satisfaction, which she said, resulted into success of her business.
"Our entire team of doctors and support staff is motivated to provide the best quality of care to the patient and that is the single biggest reason for our success," Dr Meenakshi said.
Favourable environment
She said the UAE start-up environment is favourable for talented and innovative individuals who dare to turn their ideas into a thriving business.
"For start-ups the UAE is growing and it's providing ample opportunities. There is a host of dynamic and enterprising entrepreneurs who have the right ideas but would need help in financing, mentoring and curation of their ideas to reality," she said.
"The high number of high net worth investors who are willing to invest in start-ups in UAE is a very helpful factor for anyone who would like to start a business here," she said.
However, she said there is still a need for more mentors who are willing to devote their time and experience to new start-ups.
She urged entrepreneurs to focus on steady and long-term sustainable growth on solid foundation.
"There is an old Chinese proverb - if you are still in business after 1,000 days then your business will do well in the long term. The highest probability of failure is in the first few years of the business. Never get preoccupied with trying to meet the short-term demands of the investors," Dr Meenakshi concluded.
- riaz@khaleejtimes.com