Interview

Rani Samant I'm Rani Samant, doctor of Ayurvedic medicine. You are here today in my clinic, which is called Ayurvedian. It's in Melbourne, Mill Park. Our practice is allied health practice. So I've got practitioners like osteopath, Ayurvedic doctors, Ayurvedic practitioners, remedial massage therapists, psychologists, and counsellors. We're trying to integrate the holistic medicine into the modern medicine as well. That's the goal of our practice. 

I come from India. From Mumbai and Pune. So I did my graduation from Pune and I did my internship of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine in Mumbai.

Manasi Wagh Would you like to tell us what Ayurveda means and how it is practiced? 

Rani Samant It is a combination of two words. It's the Ayu and Veda. So Ayu meaning life, Veda means knowledge. It's about knowledge of life, holistically. It's the traditional Indian medicine. It also involves the herbal formulation, advice, recommendation of nutrition, and it also incorporates the practices of yoga, meditation.

So again, it's a holistic science. So any recommendation, it's consideration of a person as a whole. And we try and find the root cause. It's not just physical body, but it's like mind, body and universe. Environmental health as well, you can say. 

Manasi Wagh Did you have prior experience or knowledge about starting a business back in India or in Australia?

Rani Samant The answer to that is yes, and no. Yes, because I come from a business family background. But I did not have the knowledge of Australian style of business, I can say, when I came here because it's a completely different ball game altogether. I had that kind of inborn tendency to start the business, I would say.

Manasi Wagh How did you go about finding all that information for the business plan or planning for the finances to start up a business?

Rani Samant I'm now directing about four different companies. They're all in health space, but I didn't know anything like where to start. I just went with my gut feeling. 

Back then, I was a sole trader. I did not have any idea about what is Pty Ltd, how to form the company, and so on. The easiest option I knew was getting yourself registered as a sole trader, getting an ABN. And all that information I got was from some tax agent. But as my practice started to build, I realised that to have a company has got advantage in terms of claiming the tax, in terms of having more people working for you.

But I would suggest having to have a good business plan really helps. You need to know who is your target audience, how much you are going to need for your marketing. So you need to have that at least for the first, say, one year. You know, to start a business, you need to be a risk taker as well. 

Have a good accountant. My accountant had helped me in terms of how I can get the finances, how I can get the loan from the banks, how I can have, you know, separate accounts for loan account and the business account. You have to do your own research, to be very honest. Um, to start your business, I would say give at least three to four months just for planning.

If it's a professional business like how I have, like medical or health space or anything like food industry, accounting, so those would have to get the information and advice from either your tax accountant, financial advisors, and the lawyers as well. 

Manasi Wagh And since 2018 was the year this clinic started, has the business idea or the business model changed or evolved in any way?

Rani Samant A lot. As you know that we have had two years of COVID. So it changed the face of the business. We started the company in 2016/17 and, you know, we had different plans. We had integration of many other practices that we wanted to do. But then with every challenge and closed door, there's a new door that they say that's open for you.

So the telehealth became very popular during the COVID, which is really good, because now I can just work from home and do my consultations. And so that's definitely changed. And it keeps changing. Every business keeps evolving. I mean, I've been doing business since, I would say, 2009/10. Opened up many businesses, closed it down, and so on, so I know that, you know, it doesn't go according to the plan, but it's good to have a plan.

But because of something, it didn't work, that doesn't mean you have to stop. You just need to find some other ways to just keep continuing and keep doing what you love to do. For your survival, you have to adapt. I always say the goal of the life is to grow. 

Manasi Wagh Do you ongoingly seek any business or financial advice from anyone? Or now you have enough knowledge that you run the show yourself? 

Rani Samant I think it's always good to get constant advice from the people who are experts in their industry such as your accountant or your business partners. You know, you just assess as well every now and then where it is heading, whether you are on the right track.

That process is kind of a continuous process. There's no such thing that you know everything. You find the mentors, there's always somebody who is better than you. Enrol in the courses. You know, how I can be a good leader, how I can improve what's happening around me. And so that's the key to your business success, I would say.

Manasi Wagh What would be the least helpful advice have you received when you are successful? 

Rani Samant Everybody is happy when things are going well, but sometimes you do face failures and that's when these type of advisors start to come. And not because, you know, somebody wants to give you wrong advice. It could be your friend is just worried about you. And they're like, just go and do a job, where you can get paid and, you know, you don't have to worry about anything. You have a child, and nine to five would be perfect. So, again, that is their experience and it doesn't mean that they mean something wrong. It's just that they haven't seen the other side of the story. They're not you and you know you are passionate about this. 

Manasi Wagh How would you keep yourself motivated? What kind of mindset do you hold when you are at the top or the ups, but when you are at the downtime as well? 

Rani Samant I have always given my health as a priority, making sure that I do my yoga practice in the morning, meditation in the morning, and that gives me a lot of, I think, boost, and that resilience comes from there.

And I would suggest have that kind of a routine, which is only for you. Businesses do take a lot from you. So, you have to think about yourself first, which is what I do. My health, my mental health is of prime importance. It could be just having to have friend therapy, like going out with friends. Or seeing your GP as well sometimes helps.

I've seen some of my colleagues having to go through the anxiety and other issues during COVID. And I have gone through that kind of anxiety as well. But having to have some sort of a tool for you to come back to is very important. 

Manasi Wagh When we think about the ups and downs, and you employ people who are dependent on you and your business for their livelihood, how is that experience for you?

Rani Samant You said that people are dependent on you and exactly... these are the thoughts that come into your mind. Your company is where it is because of your team. It's not just you. The people who are working for you, you need to think about their health a lot. And especially the mental health. Finding the right resources for them, making sure that they have proper training.

As a company owner, you need to be aware of the resources, like really good courses for mental health for your employees. What we do in our practice, what I teach my clients, I try to get my employees as well to be on to that kind of a healthy pathway. So, we do the transcendental meditation as a team, and in that way, there's this team spirit is there at the same time.

Manasi Wagh What kind of strategies do you employ if and when your business is experiencing financial challenges or downturn? 

Rani Samant Be aware that there can be a downtime, especially in the initial years of your business, and which is what happened. There was a COVID, but luckily we had the resources. We had enough savings in the bank account, which we could rely upon.

We need to always have a plan for the downtime so that you're not stressed, you're not pressurised, because things go wrong when you are stressed. You can make wrong choices, you can make wrong decisions. Now, running the business for so many years, I know what month it's going to be a slow month, what month is going to be really busy month for us.

We can forecast our revenue, we can forecast losses as well from the current situation. So, every morning we open up the system, we see what's happening in the company. And when you are at that scale, you must have good systems. 

Manasi Wagh Now looking towards the future, do you have plans of what's in the pipeline? 

Rani Samant I want to have a global business. I've recently been to India, signed up some contracts, and got the distribution for Ayurvedic health food products, which is the direction that I want to go. So next thing is USA. So yeah, just expanding Ayurveda globally, and working on the standardisation of the Ayurveda, and Ayurvedic medicine, that is my next goal.

Manasi Wagh Now, looking back at your journey so far, what do you wish you had known at the beginning? 

Rani Samant I started as a sole trader, and some of the businesses didn't work as I wanted it to be. So again, finding your right passion is important. Find out what you are really good at. There were so many questions, and I wasn't confident back then because it wasn't that kind of right people as well around me, I would say, so finding the right team, good advisors, that really helps, and they should be in the same headspace, and their passion should be kind of similar to you as well.

Say, for example, you want to start a food business, right? Find somebody who is already in the food business, and see what they have done, who are their mentors, do your own research. I didn't do it back then. I wished I had done that. 

Manasi Wagh What advice would you give in terms of having a good money mindset? 

Rani Samant Yes, go into the business which is money making business (laughs). I mean, jokes apart, but always have a good business plan. Do a market analysis as well. Who are your competitors? What is the price point? How much profit you are going to get? How many products you are going to sell? Some people have got that inbuilt ability to think about all this. Some people don't. But they're still successful if you have got the right tools and right resources.

So, educating yourself on taxation is important as well. GST. Getting some small courses done on that would help. So, having to have a good money mindset is highly important when you are in business. Good financial literacy really helps. I would tell you that, yes, I have got this business background, business mindset, but initially I did not have that kind of a financial literacy, I would say.

I was just going ahead with my gut feeling, but I didn't have a plan, and I wish that I had some kind of plan. And that's why I say again and again that having to have the right people, your accountant, financial advisor. Talk to your banks, they are also very, very helpful. We are in a country, we are really fortunate that we have got these resources available.

And when you ask for help, help is available. Don't be shying away from asking the questions. It's very important that you keep asking the question until you are satisfied. 

Manasi Wagh Since you've started the business and you've been running it for a few years now, how has this impacted on other parts of your life and on you as a person as well?

Rani Samant Obviously I've grown out of it and I wouldn't have been this person if I had not gone through those challenges. I really enjoyed the process to be very honest and I do see myself as more confident and more resilient as well. If you want to ask me about my family life, yes, you do have to basically sometimes sacrifice few things in terms of spending more time with your child or taking him or her to the schools.

But that's the part and parcel of the business life, like being an entrepreneur. You need to accept that and just enjoy the process. I mean, there is no balance. I don't see that you are going to have any balance between family and business life, although we do say that balance is important. I would say that finding a right spot for your own self and just being happy with the process.

And if you think that something is bothering you, just, you take action. But at the same time, I get the support from my family. From my son, from my husband, I wouldn't have done this if they were not there supporting me. And now they are part of the business as well. So, your family becomes your business partners as well, or business advisors sometime.

Manasi Wagh What advice would you give to people in terms of having a good self confidence and that emotional strength while running up a business? 

Rani Samant If you are good at what you are doing, if you know your passion, then keep going, believe in yourself. When you know that you are doing the right thing, you are good at what you are doing, then that confidence comes from there.

Upscale in your field, and if you are following those processes, then you have to be confident, because you need to trust your own self. And that trust is going to come from you only. So trust your gut feeling. 

Manasi Wagh What last advice would you give about building financial independence? 

Rani Samant Find the resources, right resources. We are fortunate that this information is available online. And if you are an immigrant, there are organisations that are running these type of courses. Financial literacy, I would say that it is highly important, especially when you are thinking of starting a business. 

Being very vigilant is important. You always think that you would come across the right tribe because you are super excited, and you think that everybody that comes across you is on the same path, and you expect that people are honest around you, but that doesn't happen always. So being thorough in your research is important. 

What are the industry guidelines? Make sure that you go on ticking those boxes. Even if one box is not ticked, just stop there, find out, try not to find the way around it. Because at the end of the day, you will be in trouble as a director or as a CEO of the company. 

And never give up. I think failures are needed because they make your journey really beautiful. What's the point of having only just, you know, good things in? Always, I try to find the ways to improve, to avoid such failure, right? If you're not learning, then there is a problem. So that's what the message is, learn from your failures. 

In terms of having come from this cultural background, it has benefited me, I would say, and this is a message for all the immigrant women there. Bring in your personality, don't be afraid of, like, who you are. You have that gift of your culture. Nurture that, you know, your people are there to support you and they look upon you as well as a guide. So, be the flag holder, first one there. And I want to proudly wear that cultural, ethnic, you know, shade on me always. And without that, I don't think I would have had enjoyed the business. 

Manasi Wagh Thank you so much. It's been a fantastic learning for me as well as a migrant woman myself. 

Rani Samant Thank you so much. Thanks, Manasi. Have a lovely day, everyone.