If there was a stellar example of transforming dreams into reality, it would be Dr Shanith Mangalat. A man of many dreams, immense action and an array of successful ventures. This is his story, carving out his journey.
Dr Shanith carries many labels with him; entrepreneur, doctor, businessman, visionary and more. The chairman and CEO of hnc Healthcare Group, founder and chairman of Ourshopee.com, founder and chairman of Ruky Perfumes, and chairman of DSR Holdings, he carries all these roles and responsibilities with utmost zeal and passion. Along with these titles, Dr Shanith is a promoter of 20 operating companies with an aggregate annual revenue of over $100 million.
His dreams of starting various ventures struck him when he was working as a doctor in Dubai, but let’s go to the beginning, shall we?
Dr Shanith described how the entrepreneurship bug bit him during his postgraduate degree in family medicine at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad. While working on an e-health project and receiving extensive training, he realised that there was immense potential for the merging of technology and healthcare in the near future.
“After I learned IT, I had the feeling that e-commerce will control the world in the future, and that was the stepping stone for my entry into the e-commerce platform, Ourshopee,” he said.
His entrepreneurship journey began with a company known as Telelink, a venture he co-founded with a group of friends. As budding medical practitioners, Dr Shanith and his friends found great success in their first venture — learning many important lessons that would accompany them throughout their lives. A few years post the success of Telelink, Dr Shanith decided to sell the company, and begin a new chapter in his life. A chapter that would combine his passion to do something new with his profession of saving lives.
Dr Shanith is no stranger to the healthcare sector, In fact, his family in Kerela already owned a prominent hospital, which gave rise to his passion for healthcare. His newest venture in the healthcare sector began with rebranding the hospital under a new banner – hnc Health Group.
Along with the new banner, Dr Shanith focused on making healthcare services more advanced and accessible. His efforts bore fruit as hnc Healthcare Group expanded to three state-of-the-art hospitals and 11 clinics by 2017. And that is not all. While the hospitals are primarily located in Kannur and Kasaragod, seven of the 11 clinics are located in the UAE.
As hnc Healthcare Group continued to grow, Dr Shanith drove his focus to a new pasture, a new venture.
Dubai was a turning point for Dr Shanith, who underwent an attitude transformation that prepared him for the journey ahead. His new mantra was, ‘You don’t hire skills, you hire attitude. Skills can be taught’. This mantra is something he firmly believes in and practices to date.