Success and failure stories

From household plastics to India in 2007 to 80 countries: RFL puts Tk 200 crore into a new export plant

PRAN-RFL Group began exporting in 2007 by sending household plastic goods to India and exported $40 million of plastic products in FY2023-24. Before its new Tk 200 crore household plastics plant in Kaliganj, Gazipur, even opened, it had a $6 million order from the United States.

Capital

৳200 crore

Started in 2007

Organic tea from barren Panchagarh land, sold as Kazi & Kazi at home and Teatulia in the US in 30-40 varieties

Tea from an organic garden started in Tetulia, Panchagarh, in 2000 is sold as Kazi & Kazi at home and Teatulia in the US. Attractive biodegradable packaging and marketing that tells the garden's story made it a premium brand.

Started in 2000

Started on a Tk 3.5 lakh loan, restarted with 16 workers after a fire; now a 400-worker footwear factory

Gazipur's Kusumkoli Shoe Factory started almost without capital in 2005 and made shoes for big brands; in 2012 the factory burned down. Its own brand Vinca, mainly sandal-type footwear, is now sold nationwide through dealers.

Capital

৳3.5 lakh

Started in 2005

From 300 chicks bought with Tk 900 of Eid money to four feed mills with 60,000 tonnes of monthly capacity

Chattogram's Nahar Agro Group began in 1986 as a teenager's Tk 900 poultry flock; later came a poultry feed shop and then feed mills. After losses from dead imported chicks and bird flu, it now has four feed mills and a Tk 1,000 crore annual turnover.

Capital

৳900

Started in 1986

Selling Tulshimala rice through a Facebook group for two and a half years; mills spend about Tk 3,500 a maund and sell at Tk 3,800

A young entrepreneur in Sherpur town opened a Facebook group called 'Tulshimala Express' in June 2020 and has been taking online orders and sending Tulshimala rice to other districts. The same report gives the per-maund cost and selling price of the district's rice mills.

Ran for

30 months

Started in 2020

Two BUET students' venture: online courses plus printed books, claiming over 250,000 book sales in two years

A BUET student who grew up in Dinajpur co-founded Hulkenstein with a classmate in 2019, selling printed books alongside online courses rather than going digital-only. The company claims to serve over one million students daily and to have sold over 250,000 books in two years.

Started in 2019

40 maunds of mustard from 7 bighas at a cost of Tk 43,000, selling at Tk 3,700 a maund

A farmer in Phulbari, Kurigram expanded from three to seven bighas of mustard after a good year and harvested 40 maunds at a cost of Tk 43,000. He has already sold 20 maunds at Tk 3,700 each and plans to expand again.

Capital

৳43k

Started with 1,000 eggs, rice husk and a lantern; now over 150,000 ducklings a month

A hatchery owner in Madan, Netrokona began with 1,000 eggs using the rice-husk method his elder brother taught him and now hatches over 150,000 ducklings a month. Research cited in the report found such a household hatchery nets about Tk 66,000 a month.

1,000 ducklings for Tk 35,000, Tk 5 lakh from eggs in five months

A returnee migrant in Delduar, Tangail runs a 'mobile' farm of 1,000 Khaki Campbell and Jinding ducks, moving them to wherever there is water. In five months he earned about Tk 5 lakh from eggs against Tk 2 lakh in running costs.

Capital

৳35k

Ran for

12 months

Cooking on 5 cows' dung for 15 years: Tk 4,000 a month saved on fuel, plus slurry sales

A livestock owner in Bera, Pabna set up his village's first biogas plant 15 years ago; five cows' dung now cooks for his family of eight. The family says it saves about Tk 4,000 a month on fuel and can earn Tk 2,000–2,500 a month selling organic fertiliser from the slurry.

Ran for

180 months

Cotton between mango trees: 12–15 maunds a bigha, Tk 35,000–40,000 profit after costs

A Barind farmer in Nachole, Chapainawabganj grows cotton between mango trees and harvests 12–15 maunds a bigha worth Tk 50,000–60,000. With Tk 35,000–40,000 profit per bigha after costs, cotton acreage in the area is rising.

From 3 ring slabs to 36 tanks: about Tk 1 lakh a month from vermicompost

A homemaker in Faridpur municipality started making vermicompost in three ring slabs in 2017 with help from the agriculture department. She now makes 12–15 tonnes a month in 36 tanks under three sheds, earns about Tk 1 lakh a month and employs 5–6 workers.

Started in 2017