Success and failure stories

A six-lakh fit-out, and 20,000 taka of rent every month

Setting up the compose and photocopy shop cost 630,000 taka, with rent of 20,000 a month.

Capital

৳6.3 lakh

From 600-700 a day down to 200-250, with 3,000 taka of rent

Key cutting once brought 600-700 taka a day; now it brings 200-250, against 3,000 taka of rent.

After twelve years on the footpath, a one-lakh-taka shoe shop of her own

She repaired shoes on a footpath in Jhalokathi for twelve years. A local businessman put up about 100,000 taka to build her a shop and stock it with new footwear, and it opened on 5 August 2020.

Capital

৳1 lakh

From 25 paisa a job to 10 taka: forty years that put a son through a master's

A job once paid 25 paisa to 2 taka; forty years on, his minimum is 10 taka. On that he put his son through a master's and educated and married off his daughters.

Some days 50 taka, some days nothing: 67 years of mending shoes

He has mended shoes since he was nine and is now 76. The day brings anywhere from 50 to 180 taka, 200-300 in winter, and the old-age allowance is 1,650 taka every three months.

Under 300 taka in three months, with the equipment sitting idle

With weddings and social gatherings stopped under COVID restrictions, this mic-hire business took under 300 taka in about three months. Saidpur has more than a hundred such small operators.

From 300-400 taka a day to about a lakh a month, with six workers

Three years ago the day brought 300-400 taka. After a six-month course in AC and fridge servicing, he runs his own business with six workers and about a lakh a month.

Six months of training, then his own repair shop at about 40,000 a month

He was jobless for years after his father died. A six-month hands-on course in electrical repair in 2023 led to his own shop, now bringing about 40,000 taka a month with two workers.

Started in 2023

Haircut and beard for 30 taka: a roadside barber takes 250-300 a day

What costs at least 60 taka in a salon costs 30 at the roadside: 20 for a haircut, 10 for a beard. The day brings 250-300 taka, and six people live on it.

The salon closed in lockdown; a vegetable cart now brings 400-500 taka a day

A salon with staff closed for good during the pandemic. A vegetable cart now takes 2,000-2,500 taka of stock a day for a 400-500 taka margin, and reopening the salon would need 70,000-80,000 taka.

After the shop came down: a footpath, and less than half the income

A tin shop over a drain brought 700-800 taka a day. After the municipality took it down, the work moved to an open footpath at 50-60 taka a haircut.

Started in 1975

Price past 5,000 taka a maund, and not an onion in the arot

Onion prices at Santhia rose from 3,200-3,400 to 5,000-5,400 taka a maund in ten days, but supply dried up: a hat day that normally brings ten trucks brought half of one.