Success and failure stories

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

Brands' share fell from 55% to 12-13%: ACI stopped making coils under pressure from unlicensed factories

In a coil market of about Tk 1,500 crore crowded by hundreds of unlicensed factories, big brands such as ACI and Mortein stopped production. They say these factories use excessive chemicals, pay no tax and ignore the rules.

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

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.

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

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

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

Tk 10,000 spent on 40 decimals, hairy caterpillars across the whole soybean field; hoped-for Tk 10,000–14,000 profit in doubt

A 70-year-old farmer in Subarnachar, Noakhali spent Tk 10,000 on soybeans on 40 decimals, hoping for 12–15 maunds. Hairy caterpillars have attacked his whole field, and farmers say pesticides are not working.

Capital

৳10k