Success and failure stories

From a six-seat tin shed to five storeys, feeding 700-800 people a day

Goat biriyani at 200 taka a plate and chicken polao and kachchi at 180, with 700-800 people eating there each day across lunch and dinner. It began in 1974 as a tin shed seating six and is now a five-storey building with 25 staff.

Started in 1974

Gold advanced to a workshop never came back, and both 6-crore cheques bounced

Thirteen traders in Hazari Goli handed gold and cash advances to one casting workshop between 9 and 12 October, an exposure they put at about 60 crore taka in total. Both of the 6-crore-taka security cheques he had given them bounced.

Chira at 40-42 taka a kilo, muri next door at 45-50, and the grocers stopped asking

At the Fatulla wholesale market chira moves at 40-42 taka a kg while muri fetches 45-50 wholesale and 50-70 retail. A maund of rice yields 28-30 kg of muri, and with demand shifting the chira mills are going quiet.

A 20 kg basket of lachcha from 1,300 taka to 2,400, and orders halved

Inputs rose about 40 percent, so a 20 kg basket of loose lachcha had to go from 1,300 taka to 2,400 — and wholesalers cut their orders. Annual output of about 20,000 tonnes was heading for 12,000 or less, with about 40 of roughly 200 factories already shut.

Batasa and kadma at 140 taka a kilo, and one seller's trade spread to a whole village

Wholesale rates run at 140 taka a kg for kadma, sugar figurines and batasa, 160 for nimki, 120 for jilapi and 90 for khoi. What began in the early 1980s with one man selling sweets at local fairs has turned a Bogura village into a confectionery quarter.

Inputs up 30 percent in six months, and the price of a loaf unchanged

Sugar at 110 taka a kg, flour at 62, palm oil at 135 a litre and ghee at 154 — inputs rose at least 30 percent in six months while the price of bread and biscuits could not move. All 95 of the district's bakery factories were running at a loss, one owner putting his own at 30 lakh taka over two years.

From 2 taka a glass to 10, and still only 600-700 taka a day

A glass of sugarcane juice has gone from 2 taka to 10 over ten years, but the cane has risen with it. The stall turns over 3,000-4,000 taka a day and keeps 600-700 of it.

Paddy out, sugarcane in: four lakh taka a year from a roadside juice shop

The same 2.5 acres returned about 30,000 taka a year under paddy against 18,000 taka of production cost. Crushed and sold as juice at the roadside, the cane from that land now takes about 2,000 taka a day and leaves about 400,000 taka of profit over a nine-month season.

Started in 2017

A hundred crore lost in 15 election days, with hotel bookings under 10 per cent

Cox's Bazar emptied of tourists in February 2026 around the national election: most hotels fell below 10 per cent occupancy and the 15-day loss was put at a hundred crore taka.

Cameras from 15,000 taka down to a thousand, and households as the new buyers

A four-camera setup with a DVR costs the buyer 20,000-22,000 taka and installation near Dhaka 300-500; some 6-7 lakh cameras sell a year, almost all imported.

From 18-22 trips a month to 7-8, and a lakh of profit down to 20,000-25,000

Seven trucks that used to run 18-22 trips a month for more than a lakh of profit were down to 7-8 trips leaving 20,000-25,000 taka - not even enough to cover the instalments.

1,400 taka a month per lakh, two and a half crore taken in, and the secretary gone

A cooperative society formed in Bagerhat in 2015 took in about 2.5 crore taka on a promise of 1,400 taka a month per lakh; its secretary vanished in April 2022, with roughly 70 lakh still out on loan.

Started in 2015