Success and failure stories

A nursery on sharecropped land expects over Tk 3 lakh in the five-month winter season; 150+ nurseries in Alankarkathi

A nursery owner in Alankarkathi village, Nesarabad, Pirojpur, who has been in the trade 20 years, now runs his own on sharecropped land. He expects over Tk 3 lakh in sales during the November-March flower season.

Ran for

240 months

Watermelon on 80 decimal on salt island Kutubdia: Tk 2.1 lakh cost, over Tk 4.5 lakh sold

Rice no longer paid in salty Kutubdia, Cox's Bazar, so a woman began growing watermelon five years ago. This year, on 80 decimal, she is netting about Tk 2 lakh after costs.

Capital

৳2.1 lakh

Started in 2020

Started with 100 ducks for Tk 55,000; now 500 ducks earn Tk 40,000-50,000 a month

A woman in Nakla, Sherpur left a garment factory job, took UNDP training and started a duck farm. She now has about 500 ducks giving 90 to 100 eggs a day, and she has given work to three more women.

Capital

৳55k

From 250 g of worms to 4 chambers: 500 kg of compost every month and a half, Tk 12 a kg

A woman in Sukhchhari village, Lohagara, Chattogram started vermicompost in 2017 with 250 g of worms from the agriculture office. From the dung of two cows she now makes 500 kg of compost every 1.5 months, using some on her own plots and selling the rest.

Started in 2017

A hill-style restaurant on the family's own 50 decimal of land: a meal for four at Tk 700-800, pitha from Tk 10

In Dighinala, Khagrachhari, four siblings opened a restaurant modelled on a hill jhum house using their savings and a bank loan. They handle shopping, cooking and serving themselves, and keep prices low with tourists in mind.

Started in 2023

Pineapple on 5 bigha of high land where nothing grew: Tk 1 lakh of fruit sold in a year

A farmer in Kapasia, Gazipur, has grown the early Jholdhup pineapple for five years on high fallow land. This year he sold Tk 1 lakh of fruit from two plots, with seedling sales alongside.

Ran for

60 months

Computer training begun in a rented 10x15 ft shop; eight years on, a 30-person agency and a kids coding programme

An entrepreneur in Khagrachhari began computer training in a small rented shop in 2015. Despite low voltage, no broadband and little awareness, it now runs a training centre, a digital agency and a kids' programming programme.

Started in 2015

Early tomatoes planted in August; at least Tk 4 lakh profit from 5 kani, and Tk 1.6 lakh sales from one kani costing Tk 40,000-50,000

Farmers on the Banshkhali coast in Chattogram planted tomatoes in August instead of October this year and cut drainage channels to clear rainwater, getting a good crop. Selling at Tk 50-80 a kg, they made far more than from paddy.

Ran for

4 months

Started on a Facebook page in 2018; now about 200 orders a day on average from page and website

An online clothing seller in Chattogram started with a Facebook page in 2018 and now also runs her own website. Sales rise at Eid, but an E-CAB leader says overall sales in online business are slipping somewhat.

Started in 2018

From a Tk 2,000 stool order to 50 kinds of furniture; about Tk 3 lakh a month and work for 20 people

A woman entrepreneur in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj, makes beds, stools, sofas and cradles from babla-wood frames woven with rope. Starting from a Facebook photo of one stool, she now earns about Tk 3 lakh a month from online and direct orders.

Started with one bull bought for Tk 65,000; ten years on, four bulls this year are expected to fetch Tk 25 lakh

A housewife in Gopalganj has fattened cattle for Qurbani for ten years. After selling her first bull for Tk 1.65 lakh she expects at least Tk 25 lakh for four bulls this year, depending on whether Indian cattle come to the market.

Capital

৳65k

Ran for

120 months