Every entrepreneur talks about a defining moment in their business career path. One of the founders of Fast-Track 100 Company Lenstore, Mr Mitesh Patel, discovered that online ordering of contact lenses was a popular option in other countries and a new business venture was born when he discovered he could sell online in the UK at a lower price than high street opticians.
Here is a look at the meteoric rise of Lenstore and how he turned his vision into a reality.
Lower Prices
The simple mission behind the Lenstore concept is to provide contact lens wearers an opportunity to obtain a regular supply of their optical needs at a price that is lower than a high street opticians, which is conveniently delivered straight to their door.
The business co-founder Mr Mitesh Patel has a simple goal, which is to make “every customer happy” and by supplying customers with their contact lenses at lower prices and without them having to travel to collect them either, he quickly realised that he had created a strong business opportunity.
Early Influence
Many entrepreneurs say that they are born with a business mind and find creating opportunities an exciting challenge. It certainly helps if you come from a family background where running your own business is the norm, and his parents already has a long-established shop business before he was born.
From a very early age he was around in the shop and helped out with many aspects of the business, which would certainly have been a good grounding for developing his Lenstore Company.
Proudest Achievement
Mr Patel was recently asked what his proudest business achievement to date was and he had no hesitation in saying that it was the fact that he had helped create an opportunity to provide work for 30 people, who provide his company with the talent and enthusiasm to help Lenstore meet and exceed expectations.
Fast Track 100
The Sunday Times operates a Fast Track 100 league table which is designed to recognise the 100 fastest-growing businesses in the UK and Mitesh Patel and the other co-owner Olga Nuryaeva were recently give an award from Sir Richard Branson, in recognition of being the 10th fastest-growing company last year.
The business celebrated its 5th anniversary in June and this makes the level of achievement to date even more impressive, when you consider the growth in such a relatively short space of time.
Changing the Marketplace
What Lenstore set out to achieve was to challenge the established buying practices of contact lens wearers and give them a better deal with cheaper prices and a more convenient way of obtaining their supplies.
Five years ago, despite the fact that buying contact lenses online was already popular in other European countries such as Sweden, the idea was still relatively unheard of in the UK. Lenstore have been able to change the marketplace with their service and this is one of the reasons why the company has enjoyed such stellar growth.
Thanks to a fair amount of entrepreneurial spirit, UK customers are now enjoying better prices and flexible delivery for their contact lenses.
Jon Carson loves the vision industry. He enjoys writing about innovations in technology and leaders in the business.
