Jeetendra Lalwani, Co-Founder & Director, Dial4242
Jeetendra Lalwani is Co-founder and Director at Dial4242. Having been a successful marketer with over a decade of experience, he has been associated with renowned agencies like Leo Burnett, Bates 141, McCann, TBWA, Cartwheel in India wherein he led marketing campaigns for brands like, Virgin Mobile, Fox Star, Sony Music, DCB Bank, Sab TV, Google, Sony Pix, HDFC Bank, Saffola, Reliance Mobile, Economic Times, etc.
Jeetendra holds an MBA degree in Marketing. He is also a Founder at Heads or Tails – a digital marketing agency based in Mumbai. Campaigns executed by Heads or Tails have been well recognized and are ranked among the top campaigns in India. In conversation with Dominic Rebello, Jeetendra says he plans to use technology more effectively in saving the life of the patient during the golden hour by reducing the time taken by an ambulance to reach the spot.
What is the idea behind Dial4242?
There was no ‘eureka’ moment for Dial4242. It was conceptualized on my personal experience and after undergoing and understanding the numerous hassles involved in booking an ambulance which is most likely during the time of an emergency. I personally felt the need to have simple, quick and seamless means to book an ambulance as I was very often put in a spot during the time of my father’s illness. I figured that we were missing out on that go-to resource when it came to booking of ambulances bearing in mind that in emergency situations the ability to think logically is lost and that the existing process to have an ambulance at your door step which should ideally be simple is extremely time consuming and complex.
How big is the potential for a business like yours?
According to the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for the financial year 2013-14, a total of Rs. 18,149 crore was spent on patient transportation services, like use of an ambulance. So definitely it is a huge market
How do you plan to scale up?
Our model is something which can be easily taken forward too any city or country in the world. At the same time in a country like India, overall emergency category does not have adequate infrastructure and optimal technology. We plan to make it better and easily accessible for everyone
Who would primarily be your consumer audience?
Each and every person needs an ambulance and you never know when the emergency strikes. In any advanced country people are well aware of handling emergency situations which is not the case in India. We think it is important for everyone to be aware of it and hence infact we have started the #BillionFirstAidResponders program via which we are visiting various colleges/societies and training them on how to be a first aid responder.
Where do you see yourself five years down the road?
Currently we think the ambulances in India are ill equipped and don’t even have proper paramedics on board. Our plan is to change this totally for better. Even in Urban India, an ambulance take 15-20 minutes to reach the pick up point, with our aggregator model we plan to reduce down that time. Secondly we plan to use technology more effectively in saving the life of the patient during the golden hour.