Filter by capital, district and kind of work. Every number uses the same units, so you can compare businesses side by side.
20 businesses
Retail & wholesaleBuying used books and selling them on. In the Purana Paltan market in Dhaka used books went at roughly Tk 20-30 a book in May 2024. In Nilkhet shop rents ran from Tk 12,000 to Tk 50,000 a month on advances of Tk 2 lakh to Tk 8 lakh.
Agriculture & farmingAreca and coconut planted together. Areca starts bearing in 4-5 years and coconut later still; a mature areca palm carries 200-500 nuts a year, and the Agriculture Information Service puts the profit at Tk 1-1.5 lakh an acre a year.
Home & local servicesStitching, soling and polishing shoes. A polish is Tk 30 in Sylhet with Tk 400-500 on an average day; one launch-based repairer takes Tk 700 some days and under Tk 200 on others.
Light manufacturing & workshopMaking clay pots, planters and terracotta showpieces. Bijoypur's work is exported, but with no gas the kilns run on firewood and part of the output is spoiled.
Digital & B2B servicesRenting boats and trawlers for fishing, cargo and tourists. Diesel is Tk 115 a litre, and hilsa fishing is fully banned for 22 days from 8 to 29 October 2026.
Agriculture & farmingA three-month coastal crop. Tk 30,000-35,000 a bigha to grow, Tk 80,000 to a lakh a bigha in a good year, and a selling window only about two weeks wide.
Food processingTurning coconuts into copra and crushing it for oil. Ordinary coconut oil sells at Tk 800-1,000 a litre and virgin at Tk 2,420-3,180, and both need a BSTI CM licence.
Light manufacturing & workshopHand-weaving mats from murta strips. In Jhalokathi one mat takes four to five days and sells for Tk 1,000-3,500, and the GI certificate has not raised that price; the weaver is still tied to the mahajan's advance.
Agriculture & farmingCanal-side guava orchards selling at the Bhimruli floating market. A maund fetched Tk 1,000-1,200 in 2026, but a ten-bigha orchard was yielding three to five maunds a day instead of ten, and with no cold store the rest rots.
Food processingRaw buffalo milk set in clay pots. In Bhola milk costs Tk 150/kg and the curd sells at Tk 200/kg, so about Tk 50 a kg is left, and getting the milk at all is the hardest part.
Home & local servicesRenting out a vehicle to carry patients and bodies. There is no national fare list; CMCH's fixed rates run from Tk 1,144 to Tk 5,785.
Agriculture & farmingBuilding beds of water hyacinth and algae on open water to raise vegetable seedlings. No land and no irrigation needed. In Nazirpur a bed costs Tk 11,000 to build against an expected Tk 20,000 of seedling sales.
Light manufacturing & workshopDrying water hyacinth and weaving it into trays, baskets and doormats. In Jhenaidah 800 women do this at home at Tk 20 a piece, 12-15 pieces a day, about Tk 3,000 a month, and the goods go to 82 countries.
Light manufacturing & workshopSmall-workshop candle and soap making on low capital. Soap is on BSTI's mandatory certification list and cannot be sold without a CM licence; candles are not on the list.
Food processingGoods go to shops on credit and the money comes back in 15-30 days, so working capital is the limit, not the machine. Branded chanachur is Tk 300-333 a kg; a small maker has to sell at Tk 200-250.
Light manufacturing & workshopMaking and selling cement-sand-chip blocks. A hollow block sells for Tk 32-50 and replaces five bricks. The deadline for 100 percent block use in government work expired in June 2025 and was missed.
Agriculture & farmingFree-range duck keeping on the haor. About 60 eggs a day per 100 ducks, feed at about Tk 2 per duck per day, and a hundred eggs selling for Tk 1,200-1,300.
Retail & wholesaleAuctioning farmers' fish on commission. The rate is about 3 per cent, and holding suppliers means giving interest-free advances - the money is in volume, not margin.
Food processingGrinding and packing spices for sale. A BSTI CM licence is compulsory: lab testing alone is Tk 2,900-5,300 per product and the licence takes 19-94 working days.
Food processingFrying rice into muri. One kilo of rice gives 900 grams of muri and coarse rice costs Tk 50-55/kg, so machine muri keeps only Tk 4-6 a kilo while hand-fried pure muri wholesales at Tk 90.
