How a medical student rebuilt his father’s sinking business into a profitable Rs 77 crore turnover enterprise

When a 22-year-old medical college student back in 2014 learned that his father’s medical coaching institute was in deep trouble and it was on the verge of closure, he immediately rushed to his father’s aid, revamped the organization, and turned around its fortunes in a few years.

Today, the Delhi-based Dr Bhatia Medical Coaching Institute (DBMCI), a coaching centre for NEET PG Entrance Exam (PGEE) aspirants, is back in the reckoning as one of the leaders in its category, with a turnover of Rs 77 crore in FY 2020-21.

Dr Nachiket Bhatia rebuilt Dr Bhatia Medical Coaching Institute (DBMCI), founded by his father into a profitable venture once again (Photos: Special Arrangement)

Dr Nachiket Bhatia was pursuing his MBBS from Subharti Medical College, Meerut, (2011-2017) when a salesman from a rival coaching centre came to his college to promote their institute in 2014.

“I tried to understand how he was selling the course. So, I asked him, what if I am interested in Bhatia Coaching,” says Nachiket, recalling the incident that changed the course of his life.


“At this point he didn’t know that I was Dr Bhatia’s son and he casually remarked ‘woh toh band hone wala’ (it is about to be shut).”

His statement hit Nachiket like a ton of bricks. As a child, he had seen the growth of DBMCI and how his father had built the organisation brick by brick.

It was in the year that he was born -1992 – his father, Dr Mukesh Bhatia, who was running a clinic from the garage of his 3 BHK house at Rohini in Delhi, had started a coaching centre for medical PGEE aspirants.

He had started DBMCI with four students from a room in his house. The institute had soon become popular and expanded around the country.

Dr Nachiket's father Dr Mukesh Bhatia started DBMCI with four students from a room in his house in 1992

By 2008, their turnover touched Rs 2 crore. There were 20 centres spread across cities such as Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Vadodara, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Kolkata with about 15,000 students and 40 faculty members.
Nachiket could now hardly believe his ears of what had been said about DBMCI.

“It was a big shock for me,” he says. Nachiket was staying in the hostel then. His college was at Meerut, western UP, about 80 km from Delhi.

During his next trip to Delhi, he spoke to his father about the state of affairs at the institute. He soon realised that things were pretty bad and decided to get actively involved in the business.

“The family was on the brink of bankruptcy and I had to help my dad, though my studies would get affected,” says Nachiket, recalling his predicament at that time and how he tackled it.

“I had to choose between dad’s business and my MBBS. I juggled both, devoting three days to college and three days to the business.

“In the end, I did become a doctor, but with the lowest attendance in college and with very low marks. But I have no regrets, since I know I was trying to save my father’s reputation and business.”

Dr Nachiket with his father and founder of DBMCI Dr Mukesh Bhatia

Nachiket analysed the causes for their financial downturn. “While I was pursuing my MBBS, my father took the coaching institute in a new direction,” he says.

In 2012, DBMCI had started around 20 satellite centres where students listened to recorded video lectures.

“By 2014, the number of centres increased to 100, but my father could not handle it singlehandedly and the business started crashing.”

There were also problems in management. “The coaching institute was being run as a family business. Even if a bulb needed to be changed somewhere, they would call up Dr Bhatia. People would call him for the most trivial things.

“Around 10 to 12 people were managing everything and it led to the downfall, as they couldn’t handle everything, including the expanding business. The student service worsened and employees began to leave. Only the most loyal ones stayed, despite the bad situation.”

Nachiket took charge and set out to straighten up things. He updated himself with the latest marketing techniques and infused professionalism into the organisation.

“We hired a business head who knew how to run a business and manage the franchise system,” says Nachiket.

“I visited medical colleges in around 200 cities across the country and represented DBMCI as its marketing guy and spokesperson. It helped in re establishing the brand name.”

Dr Nachiket with some of his team members

In 2017, Nachiket finished his MBBS and joined the business full-time. DMMCI was clocking a turnover of Rs 20 crore in that period, but the organisation was running in losses.

That year he introduced a course for dental PG entrance exam. “We started with a batch of 40 students at a building in Patel Nagar, Delhi,” says Nachiket, who also launched an app the next year, which proved to be a game changer.

“Though the cash reservoir was dwindling, I invested in technology and brought out an app called eGurukul. It is a product for aspirants who wish to study the course material on their own.

“The app has content for both dental and medical PG exams. It has pre-recorded lessons and also has a question-bank and test series.

“But the app never took off. Our faculty left us and started their own coaching centres and a lot of students left along with them. But in 2019 I mortgaged our house and raised funds to launch eGurukul again in January 2020.

“By May 2020 we were in profit, and we had paid all our loans. The lockdown due to Covid helped in taking our coaching centre online.”

The fees for their various courses range between Rs 14,000 and Rs 1 lakh. There are now 209 employees working for the company.

Dr Nachiket with his mother Anu Bhatia

Nachiket’s father Dr Mukesh Bhatia is now preparing content for USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Exam) which is a one day, three-step computer based exam for medical aspirants who wish to practice in the US.

For medical practitioners who wish to settle abroad, it would be an important hurdle to cross. DBMCI would soon be launching a course for USMLE aspirants.

Nachiket’s mother Anu Bhatia is also involved in the business. His younger sister Urvashi is a lawyer.

Nachiket is a gymnast, loves to play tennis, is a travel freak, and in his own words is “currently developing life skills in myself and polishing myself to reach where I really want to be - to make DBMCI the one and only name in medical PGEE (NEET) coaching.”