Real experiences, published anonymously and with permission.
A young date-sap seller in Buriching, Cumilla, returned from Dubai
Agriculture & farmingCumilla
A young man from Cumilla, back from Dubai, began collecting sap from abandoned date palms. He earns several lakh taka in the three-month season, and customers must order sap in advance.
Three young friends in Dhaka running a hand-dyed clothing business
Light manufacturing & workshopDhaka
Three polytechnic students stuck at home during the pandemic started selling hand-dyed clothes. With two Facebook pages and an outlet, they now have 10 staff.
A 49-year-old agri clinic and animal-health service provider in Dinajpur Sadar
Home & local servicesDinajpur
A class-nine-educated farm and livestock service provider in Dinajpur began animal treatment after three months of training. He now runs a clinic, a medicine shop and organic fertiliser production from his home.
A 53-year-old maker of cartons and jute-mill cones in Jashore
Light manufacturing & workshopJashore
A little-educated entrepreneur in Jashore went from sack stitching to collecting waste carton and then to making paper products. He now turns discarded cartons into pulp and sells yarn cones to jute mills.
A seed grower in Kumarkhali, Kushtia, who produces onion seed
Agriculture & farmingKushtia
A farmer in Kumarkhali, Kushtia, began seed farming on 16 decimals in 2003 and now farms about 20 bigha, 12 of them onion seed. By his account about Tk 25 lakh a year is left after costs.
A woman entrepreneur in Nishchintapur, Thakurgaon, who owns paneer factories
Food processingThakurgaon
A housewife in Thakurgaon took a loan in 2012 and began making paneer from 27 litres of milk. One factory now turns 2,200 litres a day into paneer, two more handle 2,500 litres, and over a hundred people work for her.
A migrant worker and jujube grower from Lohagara, Chattogram, with an orchard on the family pond bank
Agriculture & farmingChattogram
A migrant worker from Lohagara, Chattogram, planted 100 Bolshundori jujube trees on a pond bank as a hobby. The first-year cost was Tk 60,000, and a season's sales now bring in about Tk 9 lakh.
A dairy farmer in Kashiani, Gopalganj, who owns a cattle farm and a sweets-and-yogurt factory
Food processingGopalganj
A former bank employee in Kashiani, Gopalganj, started with two goats in 2017 and in seven years built a 120-cattle dairy farm and a sweets-and-yogurt factory from its milk. The farm yields Tk 1.0897 crore profit a year.
A woman entrepreneur in Cox's Bazar who makes fish chips
Food processingCox's Bazar
A woman in Cox's Bazar started making sea-fish chips after two earlier ventures stopped. From a three-room rented flat she sells 700 kg a month and keeps over Tk 1 lakh in profit after costs.
A young entrepreneur in Khulna who sells ready-to-cook country fish online
Retail & wholesaleKhulna
An educated young man from Khulna, unable to find a job, built an online business that collects country fish from ghers and ponds, processes it and delivers it to Dhaka and other cities. It now supplies over 40 species online and wholesale.
Two master's students at the University of Chittagong selling jerseys at the railway station
Retail & wholesaleChattogram
Two Chittagong University students started selling at the university railway station with 13 jerseys for the World Cup. Reinvesting their sales, they sold about 400 jerseys in roughly two months.
A garol sheep farmer on the Shakhahati char, Chilmari, Kurigram, a retired army man
Agriculture & farmingKurigram
A retired army man began a farm in a remote char of Chilmari, Kurigram, in 2022 with garol sheep brought from India. In the past year he sold more than 80 lambs for Tk 4.93 lakh.
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