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AyRojgar

Paint and hardware shop

A retail shop selling paint, cement, rod, pipe, sanitary ware and tools. On 12-03-2026 a 50 kg bag of cement was Tk 475-520 and 60-grade rod Tk 87,000-88,500 a tonne, and these prices move week to week.

  • Last reviewed: 21 September 2026
  • Version 1
Paint and hardware shop

Paint and hardware shop

Starting capital
৳2,00,000 – ৳20,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 6 people
First sale
15 – 60 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
20 – 60 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Medium difficulty

About the business

The real work here is not opening a shop, it is buying and holding stock. Cement, rod, paint, pipe, sanitary ware, nails, hinges and plywood each come from a different supplier, and on every one of them the money goes out before it comes back. Prices do not sit still. A market report of 12 March 2026 recorded rod rising Tk 10,000 a tonne in ten days, taking 75-grade rod to Tk 90,000-95,000 (BSRM about 95,000, KSRM 91,000, GPH 92,000, AKS about 92,500) and 60-grade to Tk 87,000-88,500; cement rose Tk 20-25 a bag in three days to Ruby Tk 520, Confidence and Diamond Tk 500, Royal Tk 495, Seven Rings Tk 490, Rajmistry Tk 480, Premier Tk 475. With ten tonnes of rod in the godown that single move is a lakh of taka won or lost, and the shopkeeper decides none of it. The second thing is credit. Masons and small contractors buy on baki, and if that money does not come back on time the whole wheel stops. The third is the dealership. Berger and the other large brands publish nothing at all about what a dealer must put up: Berger Paints Bangladesh's site carries only a contact form with a 'Become A Dealer' option, and no deposit, territory, lifting target or trade discount is stated anywhere on it. Paint is on BSTI's mandatory certification list (emulsion paint, distemper, cement paint and synthetic enamel all appear), as are cement (BDS EN 197-1:2023) and ribbed reinforcing bars (BDS ISO 6935-2:2021), so uncertified goods on the shelf are the shop's problem too.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳1,00,000 – ৳8,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳475 – ৳520 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳435 – ৳505 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin3% – 8%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue15 – 60 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time20 – 60 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle15 – 90 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss1% – 4%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity7 – 40Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • Weighing scales, a paint tinting machine if the brand provides one, a rod cutter, a handcart and a proper ledger.Equipment
  • Opening stock. At 200 bags of cement a month a small shop carries about Tk 1,00,000; a larger shop carrying cement, rod and paint about Tk 8,00,000.Starting stock
  • BSTI-certified goods. Emulsion paint, economy emulsion (distemper), cement paint, synthetic enamel, cement (BDS EN 197-1:2023) and ribbed reinforcing bar (BDS ISO 6935-2:2021) are all on BSTI's 315-product mandatory list.Starting stock
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality. Dhaka North: online application, issued in 3 working days, renewed in 2. The fee is set under section 10(4) of the City Corporation Model Tax Schedule 2016; the exact amount could not be read from our source. Renewed each financial year.Licence
  • Being able to tell a customer what a job needs: how many bags to a slab, how many litres to a wall. Masons pick a shop for this advice.Skill
  • A paint brand dealership plus cement and rod distributors. No company publishes the deposit, the territory, the monthly target or the credit period: Berger's site offers only a 'Become A Dealer' contact form.Supplier
  • A street-front shop plus a dry, roofed godown: cement needs a dry floor and rod needs shade. The approach must take a truck.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Decide what you will sell: paint only, or paint together with cement and rod. Cement and rod turn more money but tie up more of it, and their price is not in your hands.
  2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality. In Dhaka North the application is online and takes 3 working days; renewal is annual and takes 2 working days.
  3. 3Take a godown along with the shop. Cement sets on a damp floor and rod rusts in the open, and both are straight loss.
  4. 4Go to the paint brand's area sales office and ask the dealership terms face to face: the deposit, the territory, the monthly lifting target, the credit period. No company publishes these. Do not pay a deposit without a written agreement.
  5. 5Talk separately to the cement and rod distributors. Find out how many days' credit each brand gives and at what quantity the price steps down, before anything else.
  6. 6In the first consignment weight it towards fast movers: cement, nails, wire, pipe, ordinary paint. Slow movers such as costly sanitary ware and special paints should be brought in against an order.
  7. 7Buy only goods that carry BSTI certification. Emulsion paint, distemper, cement paint, synthetic enamel, cement and ribbed reinforcing bar are all on BSTI's mandatory list.
  8. 8Fix your credit rules before you start: who may take how much, for how many days, written in the register. Unrecovered credit to masons and contractors is what stops the wheel.
  9. 9Check rod and cement prices every week. They can move Tk 10,000 a tonne in ten days: buy ahead on news of a rise, run the stock down on news of a fall.
  10. 10Keep shade cards and a tinting record for paint. If a customer's colour is not on the shelf but can be mixed, the sale is not lost.
  11. 11Count the godown every month and find what has not moved in six months. That is the dead stock; discount it and let the money turn.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarHigh
  4. AprHigh
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunLow
  7. JulLow
  8. AugLow
  9. SepLow
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · Clinker and steel scrap come in through the port and the cement plants are close, which is an advantage on supply.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The largest construction market, and the rod and cement prices that get printed are quoted from it.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Factories and workers' housing keep expanding, so small building jobs run all year.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · An industrial and building belt next to Dhaka where cement and rod arrive by river, so stock is easy to lift.
  • PossibleBogura · The commercial hub of the north, from which goods spread to the surrounding districts.
  • PossibleCumilla · A large highway market town where remittance money keeps house-building going.
  • PossibleKhulna · A divisional city near the port, supplying the surrounding upazilas.
  • PossibleMymensingh · A new divisional city with public infrastructure work under way.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A divisional city with a continuing flow of public and private building work.
  • PossibleSylhet · Remittance-funded houses and shops, and buyers for costlier paint and sanitary ware.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: Prices move inside a week. The report of 12 March 2026 recorded rod up Tk 10,000 a tonne in ten days (75-grade from Tk 80,000-83,000 to Tk 90,000-95,000) and cement up Tk 20-25 a bag in three days. On ten tonnes of rod in the godown that is a lakh of taka either way, and it cuts both ways.
  • HighLate payment: Masons and contractors take goods on credit, and when that money does not come back on time the business stops turning. We could not source a figure for how many days it actually takes, and no brand publishes its dealer credit period either, so the only defence is your own ledger and a hard limit.
  • MediumDependency: The paint dealership sits in the company's hands. Deposit, territory and monthly target are nowhere in writing and are settled by word of mouth. If a second dealer is put into your area or the target is raised, you have no recourse, so get a written agreement before any deposit changes hands.
  • MediumCompliance: Paint, cement and rod are all on BSTI's mandatory certification list. Uncertified goods on the shelf catch the shop, not only the maker, in a mobile court drive; in the parallel case of electric cable a retail shop was fined Tk 10,000 in such a drive.
  • MediumDemand: The trade rests on construction. The 12 March 2026 report names recovering post-election construction demand as one reason prices rose. The reverse happens too: when work stops you sit on a full godown.

Sources

What changed

No corrections have been published yet.

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