Arun Singhal is an IIM-B graduate and has worked with some of the most renowned corporations like Dumex, Jonson and Johnson and Hindustan Uniliver.
At a glance
Startup: Enrichmentors
Founder: Arun Singhal
The year it was founded: 2007
Funding: Bootstrapped
About Enrichmentors
With 26 years of work experience, Singhal has a proven history of helping people develop and grow their careers. His wife, Pratibha is licensed to provide homoeopathic consultation for better health. Singhal started Enrichmentors because he wanted to take a second look at his life. Since he was working on a senior level, he was always involved in a high performance-based job. He was skilled but he didn’t want to continue working at the cost of his health.
With his skills and expertise, he started a partnership firm with some of his family members that would consult, counsel and coach individuals and MSMEs to have better health and wealth. Enrichmentors helps individuals and small scale industries with financial consultations, career and medical counselling.
Making Life Easier
Enrichmentors focuses on easing the life of working professionals by giving them sound advice as and when required. The difference between them and their competitors is that they don’t just create a plan but also make the journey with their clients. They guide them at every stage and tweak the strategies if required. The real insights and expert opinion combined with their willingness to work are what truly sets them apart.
Overcoming Challenges
“We faced a tough time in setting everything right. Apart from my credentials, we didn’t have any easy starting points. Our connections were limited to the people I knew in my previous organisations. Generating leads and turning them into clients was something we constantly struggled with.”
Singhal says when they managed to find a client, he wanted to try them without paying their fee upfront. Singhal and his partners faced a dilemma—they couldn’t start working until they got the fee because they didn’t want to waste their efforts for a client who wasn’t committed. It took a lot of convincing for the client to trust them and release a portion of their fee.
Out of the four areas they served—management, financial, medical consultation and career counselling, only two performed well. It was easier for them to generate leads who needed medical or management consultations. They overcame this challenge by following a typical B2B business model where they went and advertised in high traffic places. They then set up meetings with clients to assess their problems and then gave a quote to them with a detailed payment plan keeping in mind the clients’ profile.
Inspiration
Leaving a career at 49 takes courage especially if you’re working as an executive. Throughout his life, Singhal was involved with dealing in the sales, marketing and operations department which meant working under constant pressure.
Studies have shown that 40% of employees have reported that their job is extremely stressful. Another study has revealed that 62% of employees ended up with work-related neck pain. Due to work-pressure and willingness to try something new, he quit his job.
He had tried applying to other corporations but none of them could match his previous salary let alone surpass it. Pratibha encouraged him to start something of his own.
Advice for Entrepreneurs
Singhal says he’s fortunate to choose an idea that he could financially support. He always recommends keeping the costs to a bare minimum so that you can save and invest again in the initial years—that’s when your business needs it the most.
Other than that, he believes in having a business idea with a strong value proposition.
“Once you’re done identifying the area you excel in, identify your business model, study your competitors, keep your expenses low and go for it.”
