Success and failure stories

Two and a half crore taka of fish in a three-hour market

The Dipnagar market, started in 2009, turns over 2 to 2.5 crore taka between 6 and 9 a.m. each day, including around 40,000 kg of pangash.

Started in 2009

From 40-50 book shops down to 10-12 in New Market

New Market once had more than 40-50 book shops and now has 10-12, six of them closing since 2019; the survivors have shifted their shelves to stationery.

A day's 60,000-70,000 taka of sales is now barely a month's

What this 45-year-old secondhand book shop once took in a single day it now barely takes in a month, and the Moghaltuli-Dharampur shops are down from about ten to four.

Potato bought at 26-27 taka is selling at 12-13

Eight truckloads of potato bought at 26-27 taka a kg now fetch 13 wholesale, 12 for graded stock out of store and 9-10 ungraded.

A 6-8 taka loss on every kilo, and 95,000 sacks still sitting in store

Potatoes stored in the hope of a rise cost 18-19 taka a kg all-in while the market fell to 11-12. Of 125,000 sacks stored, about 95,000 were still unsold.

Fire takes the saree shop and both godowns, and the loss figures do not agree

A canal-side saree shop and both its godowns burned in Bhola. The owner put the loss at 25-30 lakh taka; the Fire Service put it at 15-20 lakh.

40,000 taka of capital, over four lakh five years later

A cloth business run from home in Bera municipality started about five years ago with roughly 40,000 taka; the capital is now over 400,000.

Capital

৳40k

50,000 taka online, and the first batch of kurtis gone in 26 days

A kurti label started on Facebook with 50,000 taka sold out its first batch in 26 days, and after roughly a decade online opened a shop at Mirpur 11.5 on 11 May 2025.

Capital

৳50k

Capital stuck in the credit book, and nothing left to restock with

Goods go out on credit from this school-side grocery but the money does not come back, leaving the owner unable to restock.

A 4 a.m. fire takes the shop, and the owner puts the loss at 15-20 lakh taka

A short circuit burned out a grocery shop in Raiganj, Sirajganj, with everything in it; the owner put the loss at 15-20 lakh taka.

A 15-year-old shopkeeper, 4,000-5,000 a month, his own schooling paid for

A village grocery run by a boy who cannot walk brings 4,000-5,000 taka a month, covering his school costs and part of the household.

A 20,000-taka NGO loan, a shop in her own house, 5,000-6,000 a month

A grocery shop in part of her own house beside the haor, started on a 20,000-taka NGO loan, running four years and bringing 5,000-6,000 taka a month.

Capital

৳20k