Skip to content
  • Our data is copyright protected — copying without permission is prohibited
  • We handle no money, ever
  • No business is promoted for payment
  • Tell us if something is wrong — we check and fix it
AyRojgar
More stories
What workedA woman physiotherapist and centre founder in Dhaka, in a Prothom Alo report · Started in 2009

A one-lakh first attempt failed; the second started in a drawing room and reached 3,000 square feet

The first attempt in 2009, on one lakh taka borrowed from an uncle, did not survive. She restarted in 2013 in a drawing room in Uttara with two employees and second-hand equipment; the centre has grown from 500 to 3,000 square feet with 23 staff.

This physiotherapist in Dhaka wanted to create jobs rather than take one: "I wanted to create employment rather than be employed." In 2009 she started a physical therapy and rehabilitation centre with one lakh taka borrowed from her uncle, and that first attempt did not survive. In 2013 she began again in the drawing room of a flat in Uttara Sector 4, with two employees, borrowed money and second-hand equipment; this time the centre grew from 500 square feet to 3,000 and the staff to 23. A second branch opened in Mirpur in 2018 but is currently suspended. Alongside physiotherapy the centre offers elderly care, home care, fitness, children's speech therapy, counselling and antenatal physiotherapy, and works with a network of about 100 physiotherapists across Dhaka. The professional skill survived the first failure, and the second attempt was built on it.

Lessons

  1. 1.The first attempt failing did not end the business: the same professional skill was restarted differently, and the second attempt held
  2. 2.Adding home care, speech therapy and fitness broadened the income base, but a second branch still proved hard to sustain

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

Discussion

Nobody has written yet. Be the first.