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AyRojgar

Cosmetics shop

A retail shop for creams, shampoo, face wash and make-up. At least 18 cosmetic categories are on BSTI's mandatory list, and uncertified or undocumented imported stock is the shopkeeper's liability.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Cosmetics shop — an illustrative AI-generated picture, not a real business

Cosmetics shop — an illustrative AI-generated picture, not a real business

Starting capital
৳2,00,000 – ৳15,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 5 people
First sale
15 – 45 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
8 – 12 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Medium difficulty

About the business

A shop selling creams, lotions, shampoo, face wash, lipstick, nail polish, hair oil and soap. It looks like a simple trade: buy stock, put it on a shelf, sell it. The trap is inside the stock itself. At least eighteen cosmetic items sit on BSTI's mandatory certification list: skin creams, skin lotions, shampoo, baby shampoo, toilet soap, face wash, face pack, lipstick, nail polish, hair oils, hair cream, hair dye, kajal, henna, petroleum jelly, skin powder, tooth powder and after-shave lotion. Made here or brought in, none of them can legally be sold without certification, and imported goods need a BSTI clearance. Stock that came across a land border or arrived without proper papers is the shopkeeper's liability when it is caught, not the wholesaler's and not the brand's. On top of that, anything sold in a pack needs a registration certificate under the Weights and Measures Standards Act 2018, and selling without one carries a fine of up to Tk 20 lakh and up to five years in prison. The goods are not cheap: on 16 September 2026 a face wash was Tk 399, a hair serum Tk 626, a sunscreen gel Tk 749 and a niacinamide serum Tk 1,006. The higher the price, the stronger the pull of counterfeits, and a counterfeit is found out on a customer's face first and in the neighbourhood's talk immediately after.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳1,50,000 – ৳11,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳399 – ৳1,006 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳290 – ৳780 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin22% – 27%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue15 – 45 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time8 – 12 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 30 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss2% – 6%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity15 – 130Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • Opening stock: creams, lotions, shampoo, face wash, soap, hair oil, lipstick, nail polish, kajal and henna, each at more than one price point, which is where most of the opening capital goes.Starting stock
  • BSTI's standard mark on the cosmetics held for sale. The mandatory list covers toilet soap (BDS 13:2021), shampoo (BDS 1269:2022), skin powders (BDS 1337:2024), hair dyes (BDS 1338:2023), hair oils (BDS 1339:2018), tooth powder (BDS 1370:2017), skin creams (BDS 1382:2024), hair cream (BDS 1420:2024), nail polish (BDS 1421), lipstick (BDS 1424:2024), after-shave lotion (BDS 1524:2006), petroleum jelly (BDS 1597:2023), baby shampoo (BDS 1884:2014), skin lotions (BDS 1923:2019), kajal (BDS 1949:2018), henna (BDS 1966:2019), face pack (BDS 1977:2020) and face wash (BDS 2000:2022).Licence
  • BSTI clearance for imported cosmetics: BSTI issues a clearance for imported goods that fall on the mandatory list. Asking the wholesaler for that paper before stocking is the shopkeeper's only protection.Licence
  • Packaged-commodity registration certificate under the Weights and Measures Standards Act 2018, applying to goods sold with a declared weight or volume on the pack. Selling without it carries up to Tk 20 lakh in fines, up to five years in prison, or both, tried by mobile court.Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
  • Telling genuine from fake by the pack: print quality, batch number, expiry date, importer's sticker. Entering this trade without that skill means carrying someone else's risk.Skill
  • A wholesale market and distributors: Chawkbazar and Gulistan in Dhaka, Reazuddin Bazar in Chattogram, plus local distributors of domestic brands who give receipts and papers.Supplier
  • A front-facing shop with glass cases, a mirror, good lighting and lockable shelves, since the goods are small and valuable and pilferage is easy.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Find the location: inside a market, beside a college, or on a street women walk. In this trade the more frontal the shop, the higher the sales.
  2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality and a TIN from NBR.
  3. 3Learn which products are on BSTI's mandatory list: skin creams, lotions, shampoo, soap, face wash, lipstick, nail polish, hair oils, kajal, henna and petroleum jelly among at least eighteen categories.
  4. 4Fix your wholesale market: Chawkbazar and Gulistan in Dhaka, Reazuddin Bazar in Chattogram. On the first visit ask about papers before you ask about price.
  5. 5Take a proper receipt for every consignment and ask to see the import papers for imported stock. When it is caught the shopkeeper answers, not the wholesaler.
  6. 6Check every pack for an expiry date, the maker's name and address, and the importer's name before stocking it. If any of the three is missing, leave it.
  7. 7Fit the shop with glass cases, a mirror, good light and shelving. Cosmetics are bought by eye, and in poor light the expensive lines do not sell.
  8. 8Keep a register by expiry date and walk the shelves against it once a month. Selling expired stock gets caught by a mobile court; leaving it on the shelf kills your own money.
  9. 9Build a line to the neighbourhood parlours and salons, which buy regularly and in quantity, but put the credit terms in writing first.
  10. 10Start selling online with photographs, but never list a product whose papers you do not have: online evidence stays on record.
  11. 11Stock up before Eid, Puja and the wedding season, and set money aside for the empty summer months.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarHigh
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayHigh
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulLow
  8. AugLow
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctHigh
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · The port city and import gateway, with Reazuddin Bazar as a large wholesale centre, so stock arrives earlier and cheaper.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The Chawkbazar and Gulistan wholesale markets are here, along with the highest purchasing power and the strongest demand for brands.
  • Strong fitGazipur · A large market among women garment workers, where lower-priced lines move steadily.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · Dense settlement and wholesale markets, with Dhaka's supply close at hand.
  • Strong fitSylhet · Remittance households spend more and ask for foreign brands, which is exactly where the paperwork risk on imported stock is greatest.
  • PossibleBrahmanbaria · Akhaura land port is in this district and border-route goods are common in the local markets.
  • PossibleCox's Bazar · Sales rise in the tourist season, and shops beside hotels move the expensive lines.
  • PossibleCumilla · Close to both the highway and the border, with a large local market and a growing number of parlours.
  • PossibleDinajpur · The district of Hili land port, where proximity to the border brings cheap stock and a stronger temptation to take goods without papers.
  • PossibleJashore · Benapole land port is in this district, so border-route cosmetics are easy to find and the risk of undocumented stock is at its highest.

Risks and cautions

  • HighCompliance: Whatever is on the shelf is the shopkeeper's liability. Selling a mandatory-listed cosmetic without certification or papers means a mobile court seizing the stock and fining the shop, and without the packaged-commodity registration the law allows fines up to Tk 20 lakh and up to five years in prison. The wholesaler walks away saying he only sold it. Without receipts and import papers there is nothing to say in your defence.
  • HighDependency: Counterfeits are hard to spot, and the higher the price the heavier the supply of fakes; copying a Tk 749 sunscreen or a Tk 1,006 serum pays well. When a customer's skin reacts she does not look for the brand, she comes to the shop, and the neighbourhood talk settles on the shop's name. Once 'that shop sells fakes' is said, it does not come back.
  • HighWorking capital: In this trade the money lies on the shelf. Without several brands and several price points in each line customers walk out, but carrying them locks a large share of capital in unsold stock. Which lipstick shade or which cream will move cannot be known in advance, and what does not move sits there until it expires.
  • MediumSpoilage: Cosmetics expire too, and in the heat creams and lotions separate or change colour. Expired stock cannot be sold and usually cannot be returned, so it is a complete loss, and without an expiry register the loss surfaces all at once at the end of the year.
  • MediumDemand: Sales cluster around festivals and weddings, at the two Eids, Puja and the winter wedding months, and fall away in mid-summer, while rent and wages run all twelve. Online pages now take a share of the same buyers, leaving less for the neighbourhood shop.

Sources

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