Success and failure stories

Fined Tk 1 lakh for cutting earth and sand without permission, still selling at Tk 750 a truckload by night

In Kumarkhali, Kushtia, a mobile court fined a local leader Tk 1 lakh for cutting and selling earth and sand with an excavator next to a Padma riverbank embankment. After that the work stopped by day and went on at night, and the UNO says even on your own land earth cannot be cut without permission.

Ran for

1 months

Own demand orders, but off the list: agencies paid syndicate members Tk 152,000–165,000 per worker for Malaysia

Owners of three recruiting agencies with long-standing Malaysia business said that even when companies sent demand orders to them, they had to pay a listed agency Tk 152,000–165,000 per worker to use its name. After 31 May 2024 no new workers could enter the market.

Left a six-figure bank job to sell life insurance: 10% commission, but a trust problem

After 15 years in banking, a man left his Assistant Vice President post in 2019 to become a life insurance agent, relying on the network from his banking career. Each policy pays monthly commission, but only 4 percent of people are insured and trust is low.

Started in 2019

A money exchange from 1978 now lucky to see one customer an hour; business down almost 50%

A Motijheel money exchange founded in 1978 has had few customers for about a year as visas dried up and the economy slowed. The association says business in Dhaka is down almost 50 percent, and many in district towns have lost nearly 90 percent.

Started in 1978

A decade working in the trade, own pest control firm in 2019; Tk 2,000 for cockroaches, Tk 3,500 for termites

A man with a master's in philosophy spent a decade working and training in pest control before opening his own firm in Dhaka in 2019. He says pest prevention is badly neglected in the country.

Started in 2019

200 IPS units sold in a month during load shedding, then empty shelves and no new stock

When load shedding rose in July-August 2022, IPS sellers in Dhaka's Nawabpur and Stadium markets sold out; one shopkeeper sold at least 200 units in a month. But with no supply, sales stalled, prices rose, and local makers' raw material costs squeezed margins.

A 1 m³ vacutug in Khulna: 208 jobs in a year, Tk 7.28 lakh revenue, Tk 1.46 lakh profit

A community development committee in Khulna's ward 17 made a Tk 145,780 profit in a year emptying septic tanks and pits with a small vacutug. Over the same period the city corporation's larger vacutug ran at a loss for lack of demand.

Ran for

12 months

Started in 2012

Tk 10 lakh daycare in Tikatuli; pandemic loans still being repaid, six children now

A caregiver who worked a decade at Bangladesh Bank's daycare lost that job and in 2019 spent Tk 10 lakh to open her own daycare in Tikatuli, Dhaka. The pandemic sent the children home; she is still repaying loans from that time and now runs with six children.

Capital

৳10 lakh

Started in 2019

Cosmetics demand that usually peaks before Eid fell in lockdown, and higher transport costs cut a Keraniganj shopkeeper's profit

During the 2021 lockdown, a Keraniganj shopkeeper buying cosmetics for his shop at Chawkbazar before Eid said demand outside Dhaka usually rises before Eid but was low this time. With transport costs higher, his profit would also be smaller.

Even in World Cup season, a Gulistan sports shop sells less than hoped; import costs push a Tk 900 item to Tk 1,100

A shopkeeper with 8 years in Gulistan's sports goods market said ahead of the 2022 football World Cup that the season had started but sales were below hopes. Import costs had pushed prices up, and many traders, short of capital, were stocking cautiously.

Ran for

96 months

A rod-and-reel shop for hobby anglers opened in Mohakhali in 2014; buyers nationwide via Facebook, but a dry year hurt even peak-season sales

Driven by a childhood love of fishing, three brothers opened a shop for a Chinese fishing-tackle brand in Mohakhali, Dhaka in 2014, later adding a showroom on Elephant Road. Buyers come from across the country via Facebook and YouTube, but in a low-rain year business was poor even in the April-October season.

Started in 2014