Success and failure stories

More than 5 lakh taka lost in the days Facebook was down

Two women run a fashion page that sells entirely through Facebook. During the July 2024 shutdown they could take no orders at all, and put their losses at more than 5 lakh taka.

He could not finish a 5-dollar first job; he now earns a thousand dollars a month

A computer bought in 2020 with a 30,000-taka microfinance loan, a first Fiverr job of 5 dollars he could not complete, and about 1,000 dollars a month now - plus his father's 3 lakh taka loan repaid.

Capital

৳30k

Started in 2020

Google Ads work from a wheelchair, at 1 to 1.5 lakh taka a month

Paralysed in both legs by a 2017 accident, he trained in 2021 and built a practice in Google Ads and e-commerce work, now earning 100,000-150,000 taka a month through Fiverr and Upwork.

Started in 2021

Three years of AdSense rejections, then 130,000 taka in a single month

He started in 2016 on a laptop bought with money from his father's broken savings scheme, and nothing worked for about three years. The break came in September 2021, and 130,000 taka arrived the next month.

Started in 2016

An earn-from-home ad, money paid in, and 970 taka gone

A housewife who answered an AI-generated "earn from home" ad on Facebook lost 970 taka; a second woman in the same report withdrew 800 taka successfully at first and then lost more than 1,400.

A thousand taka a day and a parlour, and the shutdown stopped both at once

Selling through Facebook brought about 1,000 taka a day, alongside a small beauty parlour. The shutdown stopped the Facebook income, and no parlour customers came in the same period.

Facebook down, and ten days later a single order for 20 pithas

Customers find her home-made pitha through Facebook. No orders came at all during the shutdown; ten days in, she got one order, for 20 pithas.

Seven to eight lakh taka of mangoes rotted on the trees during the shutdown

Mangoes from his own orchards sold through a Facebook page. The July 2024 shutdown fell in the middle of the season and 7-8 lakh taka of fruit rotted on the trees.

Five days without internet, and not one order

She sells her own designs through a Facebook page. During the five-day internet shutdown of July 2024 no orders came at all, and the page's reach was broken.

A 20,000-taka laptop to 3,000 dollars a month, with a Fiverr account seized on the way

A 20,000-taka laptop from his elder sister, a first order of 20 dollars a month later, and about 3,000 dollars a month now - with a Fiverr account seized for a policy breach along the way.

Capital

৳20k

Ran for

1 months

Started in 2018

A year of bidding before the first job, and over 11,000 dollars on Fiverr since

About a year of losing bids on Freelancer.com before the first accepted job, worth 250 dollars. The first Fiverr order was 5 dollars; cumulative Fiverr earnings now exceed 11,000.

From 16 lakh a month to 4, with the same page and the same audience

Started on an 18,500-taka phone bought by selling a cow, the page reached about 3 million followers. Platform income was 16 lakh taka in January 2025 and 4.14 lakh by March.

Capital

৳18.5k

Started in 2023