A Facebook page started with Tk 10,000; after a Tk 45,000 loss, now Tk 3-4 lakh of sales a month

A woman in Rangpur city, living with illness and hardship, wanted to do something from home. After buying a mobile phone in instalments during the Covid period she learned needlework designs from YouTube and made a hand-stitched panjabi for her husband. When people praised it, she opened a Facebook page called 'Hater Chhoa' in 2021 and bought fabric, needles, thread and small tools with about Tk 10,000. Early on, an Italy-based woman placed an order for about Tk 2.5 lakh of batik and hand-worked dresses. But through a relative she was cheated, the work was done on poor-quality fabric, the goods were rejected and she lost about Tk 45,000. She then decided that from then on she would decide for herself. In 2023 she mastered design drawing and fine stitching from YouTube and restarted. Buyers in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Narayanganj and elsewhere order from her, and designs are made to customer demand. Today panjabis, kamizes, fotuas, two-pieces and nakshi kantha bring about Tk 3-4 lakh in sales a month, and her own monthly income is Tk 30-45 thousand. Her husband helps by bringing fabric, packing and sending by courier. More than fifty village women stitch in their spare time and earn Tk 2-5 thousand a month each.