Mr. Sk Salman Khurshid, (FOUNDER and CEO )
Mr. Sk Salman Khurshid, founder and chief executive officer of Indian automobile doctor. The company’s work utilizes all cutting-edge technology and has a very memorable title. Mr. Salman has always had a deep interest in the automotive industry and has honed his talents by studying and acquiring the most advanced instruments from overseas. He has worked in several locations, both in India and overseas. He has dealt with several automobiles, including Porsches, Bentleys, Audis, and others. With his current expertise and skills, he had started his own organization. Named Indian automobile doctor With his new firm, he intends to introduce all the latest and most advanced technology to India, while simultaneously educating a large number of individuals who have an interest in this field. Interestingly, not only college students but also people from local garages are learning from him.
He is willing to share his expertise and knowledge with everyone so that India can become more developed in the next years with more advanced technology and people to manage them.
Q1: what inspired you to start your own business and what distinguished it from rest of competitors?
I tried to recruit trained engineers when I worked at 108, the all-Odisha ambulance maintenance, but I was unable to locate someone with such advanced training or expertise. The necessary manpower was nowhere to be found. I hired employees from a variety of fields, including tech, business, and others, but I couldn’t tell whether they had any particular expertise. I then gave my maintenance engineer, supervisor, and manager the necessary training, and I learned that they were also capable of doing it. Everyone was capable of accomplishing everything, thus the only reason they weren’t performing well was because they weren’t given sufficient instruction.
Automobiles are one industry that didn’t completely collapse during COVID-19. Now that I needed properly trained workers for 108 maintenance, those that I trained went out into the field to fix the pcr van and ambulance with the aid of cutting-edge diagnostic equipment. We all know that our production farm is made up of new college students and freshmen. I served as a jury member for a global skill competition where many students competed. I gave them all different tasks to complete, but nobody was able to.
Even after simplifying the assignment, only 2 pupils were able to complete it correctly. I received a call from Dr. HK Mohanty, the principal of Bose College in Cuttack, and DTET Director Raghu ji sir, IAS, after seeing the results of the competition. Dr. HK Mohanty has advised at a meeting that adequate training and industrial preparation be provided to students so that they may do their best at their various workplaces.
As a result, we had a brief talk and launched a project that gives students the opportunity to learn and earn money simultaneously. The technology is constantly evolving, but educational institutions are unable to change their curricula whenever they want. As a result, I have spanned the gap between industry and education. I visited campuses, gave lectures, and established partnerships with DTET ODISHA, start-up ODISHA, MSME, etc. I therefore began offering free training to college students. Our all courses are being accredited by NSDC. So the students are not only getting knowledge but also getting a certificate endorsed by NSDC which helps them in fetching employment as well.
The lectures and the students themselves have now realised how crucial it is for students to learn about technology so that they can advance in their field of employment. Let’s use a typical local garage mechanic as an example. Although these individuals can repair BS2 vehicles, they are not knowledgeable about BS6 engines because no one ever took the time to teach them the most recent technology. As a result, we paid and taught every local technician. We also give our customers who experience vehicle problems an app so they can easily request our assistance and have services delivered right to their door or anywhere they are facing issues.
Q2: How tough was it for you to establish your business brand in Odisha and get the cutting edge technologies to boost it?
I had a small challenge at first, but I knew my strengths and how to use them to make money. I quickly began instructing my students, and within a month or two, I had them generating money. As a result, they have established franchises in many states as of today. As a result, this spread within 6 months, and I had significant growth because every technician needed this. I did a lot of experimenting, and today one technician who wasn’t even an eighth pass earns as least 1 lakh every month, and ten other technicians work under him.
Regarding finance, I used to finish whatever was on my to-do list by evening. When a car needs maintenance after 6 o’clock, I will personally go there and make the necessary repairs. Regardless of the type of vehicle—Audi, BMW, etc. Previously, we would go fix the automobile and come back. I used to complete the task for 30,000 when it should have cost at least 1 lakh. People thus began referring to me as a magician. I visited numerous districts both in this state and many other states.
The automotive business offers countless career prospects. India has a wealth of talent, but if it is not utilised properly, it is wasted. A person can make money anywhere in the world if they learn a few things about cars. Particularly, there are numerous opportunities in Odisha alone, and the government is also providing many excellent opportunities so that a person can even travel abroad and make a respectable pay.
Q3: What inspires you to be in the automobile sector ?
I’ve known from the start that I do have an interest in cars. In Mumbai, I fixed an Audi as my first repair and a Ferrari as my fifth repair. I noticed that local mechanics in Mumbai were unable to identify the specific problem with the vehicle. Then, I progressively encountered individuals from China, South Africa, Vietnam, and other nations who trained me and taught me a great deal. I did not understand anything about pollution management until I studied European technology, after which I made preparations. I spent all of my money on myself for the goal of training.
In 2013, I instructed everyone on the use of the diagnosis tool, and I never slept for longer than three to four hours since I was aware of how much technology may benefit us. I picked up a lot of knowledge online. Therefore, everything is only achievable if you improve and expand your skills. No task is minor or large. You only need to become an expert in your field to be the best. Just learn the talent and become an expert so that no one else in the society is able to do it. After that, educate society about what you know.
Q4: What sort of marketing strategies did you inculcate to establish your brand’s presence in the market ?
The most recent training techniques involve no one. Even if someone possesses theoretical understanding of something, they may not know how to use it in practise. And if any firms do have experience fixing cars in the real world, it is only with Maruti or Hyundai. The diagnosing programme needs licensing, which is the first thing. Around 1 lakh rupees are lost for every tiny error that is made. Therefore, there are numerous methods that software can be used to fix an automobile, but most people are not very knowledgeable about this. We train and help our students develop their talents in a more realistic approach. We give them practical experience rather than just theoretical information or any animation. And this was our strategy to stand different in market .
The other factor is affordability. We realize from the starting that most of our target audiences comes under low income group, hence we took conscious effort to make our courses affordable while not degrading our quality.
Also, We fund them in some way. After training, we even provide them with opportunities such as jobs, funding, and clients. We provide the pupils with the chance and ensure that they work efficiently.
Q5: Where does the automobile diagnostic tools utilize by your organization to get it manufactured ?
There are multiple diagnostics tools for automobile, and we really want to manufacture them in India in the near future also, once we get government assistance. But as of know we are importing all the tools from abroad .
Q6: Does your business provides services to customers who contact you or do you also offers services to the major automakers active in the market ? If so then do mention the few companies.
Occasionally at the showroom, they change the ecm control module and other components, but our firm repairs them at a reasonable cost. We also assist local workshops and instruct them in the use of advanced modular tools. Customers include car owners, garage owners, dealers, and others. In addition to providing service to maruti suzuki and Hyundai, as seen by the large number of ecms brought to us for repair, we have also served Hyundai cars.
About the customers, our customers can call us in our helpline number or can book our services through app. Our technician will make sure to attend them with the necessary tools to repair. Every process from receiving order to repairing is kept transparent to ensure that our customer can retain trust on us.
We have Service Vans which immediately assist our clients who are in outskirts of city by providing on-road assistance.
Q7: Tell us about your training program and how the respond has been so far?
1000+ people have attended both our online and offline sessions, and we have at least 200+ students in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. We are expanding to several other states and districts. The training programme is managed by our own application, and we conduct seminars across universities and districts. Also, if some Mechanic has a problem with their customers car in the garage, our employees assist them via an online video conference, which they save for future reference.
Q8 : Why did you decide to establish a branch in south Africa as compared to any other country?
From the beginning, I had an excellent relationship with Salman Bhai. We received excellent assistance from salman bhai, who has a car firm in South Africa and was proficient in key programming. And he was supporting us with crucial programming issues, while at the same time we were assisting them with diagnosis.
Q9. : What advice you may offer to those aspiring young people who want to make a career in this field?
Find your area of interest first, then check across the globe to see what difficulties people are facing that don’t yet have a solution, but for which others are working to find one. Therefore, identify the most pressing problem in the industry and look for a skill that is always improving. I used to spend roughly two lakh rupees on tools from overseas in order to learn new things in my field. Invest both time and money on the field of your interest.
Q10: what makes your company stand apart from rest of other companies ?
There are many companies that sell tools and nothing else, but our firm teaches people and sells tools at the same time while providing Services to the car owners as well. We attempt to generate jobs and educate those who are interested, something that no other company does, and I believe this is what sets us apart from others.
Basically, we serve as a complete package in Automobile Industry which are:
- Automobile Advance Training
- Automobile Advance Tools
- Automobile Services
No other company in India other than Indian Automobile Doctor (Automobile Doctor India Pvt Ltd) is attempting to solve all the above distinctive challenges of Automobile Industry. Along with the above, we also provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to our stakeholders which rightly differentiate us from others in Automobile Arena.
