Business
Adidas to sell Reebok to ABG for $2.5 billion
German sporting-goods company Adidas Thursday announced that it had made a deal to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for $2.5 billion, roughly 15 years after acquiring the US fitness brand.
Back in February, the German company started the formal process of selling Reebok, which it acquired for roughly $3.8 billion to expand in the US.
"Adidas announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for a total consideration of up to €2.1 billion, with the majority to be paid in cash at closing of the transaction and the remainder comprised of deferred and contingent consideration," the company said in a statement.
Read: Toyota retains crown as world's best-selling automaker in Jan-June
The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2022 with most of the proceeds to be shared with Adidas' shareholders.
"Reebok has been a valued part of Adidas, and we are grateful for the contributions the brand and the team behind it has made to our company. With this change in ownership, we believe the Reebok brand will be well-positioned for long-term success," Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said.
Daraz introduces Seller Development Program for consumers
Daraz Bangladesh has recently introduced a ‘Seller Development Program’ to enhance the buying experience of the consumer.
The unique program introduced by Daraz focuses on strengthening the buying and selling experience for the existing customers and sellers.
Read: Daraz ropes in Hasinul as chief corporate affairs officer
With the launch of the program, the largest e-commerce platform will promote exceptional sellers while keeping the customers assured and untroubled.
Daraz through this program will ensure that sellers who are not fit for working with Daraz yet are being filtered out properly. Sellers providing top-notch quality goods and services will not be liable for the errors of the few other vendors.
Read: Realme partners with Daraz to develop online channel, sales
“Trust is a critical factor in e-commerce and it alters with every purchasing decision of the consumers. We believe that the Seller Development Program will be effective in building a healthy and sustainable relationship with the consumers accompanied by the support of brilliant sellers,” said Kamrul Hasan, Commercial Director of Seller Marketplace and Business Intelligence of Daraz Bangladesh.
Things to Consider When Choosing an Internship
Internships are a great way to familiarize yourself with a target industry. Most jobs these days require some form of experience relevant to their sector. Internships are an effective way to get this experience and hone industry-related skills. But should you jump into any internships? Or should you carefully choose based on your interest? Should it be paid or unpaid? We will answer these all in this article.
Why should you choose an internship?
Let's understand why you need an internship in the first place. The current global job market is booming with eligible candidates. There are often hundreds or more applicants for a single job. The situation is even more critical for the freshers.
Read How to improve your productivity and efficiency at Work?
While many people think that good grades are the only deciding factor in landing a prestigious job, the reality is often far from it. Employers look for skilled employees. And that’s exactly what an internship is designed to be, to train you with the necessary skills.
An internship basically gives you a competitive advantage and sets you apart from the rest. But people often make the mistake of jumping into any internship they get. If you are majoring in data science and plan to stick to your major as a career, there is no point in pursuing an internship in HR. This might look good on your CV but won't add any value whatsoever as it's not related to your sector.
Read: Best Ways to Lead Effective Team Meetings
What to consider while taking an Internship?
Now let's look at some of the other factors you should consider before choosing an internship.
Understanding your responsibilities
There are multiple job roles within the same sector. Just because you are doing an internship in line with your major doesn’t mean it will add value. Carefully read the job description before applying for an internship. In your CV, you can mention the responsibilities you carried out during the internship. So, the responsibilities need to reflect and align with your future career choices.
Paid vs Non paid
Many employers think of an internship as a training phase and often don’t include any remuneration scheme. However, you are still adding value to your employer with your regard, even if it comes in the form of training. We personally suggest you choose paid internships over non-paid ones. Because at the end of the day, you are still an employee even as an intern.
Usually, most companies pay significantly less than the industry standard owning to internship and contractual employment. However, it's still better than working without payment. check for clear outlines regarding payment or you can politely ask about it at the end of your internship interview.
Read Earn Money Online: Best ways for Students to generate income during pandemic
Location
The location also plays an important factor when it comes to choosing internships. If the company is located in a new city or country, both the scopes and challenges can be immense. There aren’t many foreign internships available in Bangladesh. However, some internships might require you to travel to remote places as part of the job responsibilities.
As a result, you should carefully consider whether the location and time spent on commuting are worth the compensation, be it monetary or experience. Due to Covid-19, many sectors are offering virtual internships. This can be a great opportunity to gain some experience from the comfort of your home.
Read: Pandemic, Remote Working & Procrastination: How to avoid procrastination when working from home?
Networking opportunities
Internships aren’t full-time jobs. They are more like an insight on how full-time jobs are and what is expected from you in your industry. Internships are a great opportunity to network with your potential employer as well. You will also get to interact with other interns who are in the relevant field as you.
Having good networking will help you advance in your professional career as well. So, it's important to check what kind of networking opportunities will you be getting from your internships. You can read more about professional networking in our comprehensive blog here.
Mentorship Opportunities
Internships are all about learning new skills. However, there are internships out there that will only pile you up with paperwork with no real skill development opportunities. You should stay clear from such internships.
Internships are meant for learning new skills relevant to your sector. As a result, you should look for internships that will give you hands-on experience and opportunities to learn beyond paperwork.
Read Leader Vs Boss: Know the Differences
Testing out your skills
Internships aren’t about learning new skills alone. They should also provide you with an opportunity to put your learning and existing skills into effect. You should be able to test out your skills and reflect on your performance. A cohesive work environment can be a great addition in this regard.
Your supervisor should be willing to let you work on your elements and oversee the performance for meaningful feedback. You should think of this as a test drive of your potential career choice. It's more like a trial-and-error run to check whether your preferred career choice is suitable for you in the long run or not.
Read What makes a Great Manager: Know the Qualities and Skills
Work on projects that matter
Even though it's an internship and your employment is for a short time, you should aim for internships that let you have a meaningful impact. There are instances where interns are subjected to the paperwork of the company. But that doesn’t add any real value to your resume and skills.
However, if you can work on definitive projects, it will not only help you hone your skills but also give you the opportunity to gather new experiences. Thus, an internship can be beneficial to your career course.
Read: Earn Money Online: Best ways for Students to generate income during pandemic
Bottom Line
Internships can be effective ways to grab employment opportunities in the fast-tracked corporate world. Many companies don’t have the adequate means to train fresh graduates. As a result, it becomes easier for them if they hire candidates with internship experience. It also gives the candidate clear ideas about real-life work experience. However, there are a lot of aspects to consider before taking up an internship. We hope this article will help you in that regard.
Best Ways to Lead Effective Team Meetings
Meetings can be a boring ordeal. Most of the time, it’s about going through the same stuff over and over again. Other times, it’s a boring repertoire without any real input. Meetings are supposed to be an effective outtake on the current happenings and plan of action of any business or office works. However, boring conductions and procedures will do nothing but hinder the effectiveness of the meeting. So how can you lead effective team meetings? Let's look at some of the ways.
Why is it important to lead effective team meetings?
Nearly every industry works in a clustering mechanism. This means that you will have a team that will be responsible for certain aspects of the organization. Leading a team comes with its own set of responsibilities. You have to delegate responsibilities and keep track of the progress. There is also the aspect of meeting the organizational goals.
Team meetings are a staple way to keep all these aspects in check. While it is a tool to delegate tasks and track progress, it is also a great means to communicate and create professional bonds. Moreover, it opens up new doors of insight that you might have not thought of. Leading an effective team meeting will certainly give you an upper hand on your tasks and ensure overall organizational sync.
Read:Pandemic, Remote Working & Procrastination: How to avoid procrastination when working from home?
How to lead team meetings in an effective way?
Incorporate leadership with a positive attitude
For many CEOs, meetings are as boring as it is for their employees. They inherently go through the motion in meetings without any real interest. As a result, the effectiveness of the meeting is lost and it becomes a waste of time and effort.
However, the change should start from the top. Rather than just going through the motion, a manager can initiate productive conversations between the employees. It can start with meaningful input from all the attendees. The leadership qualities of a stakeholder should show here. Start by manifesting leadership qualities to effectively lead and manage your employees.
Read Leader Vs Boss: Know the Differences
Do not delegate meeting responsibilities
CEOs and managers are busy people. They might have a lot in their cup and delegate the meeting arrangements to someone else. This should not be the case. The dissociation from a set structure only hampers the natural flow of effectiveness. A meeting will yield better value if you go in knowing what you want to accomplish rather than getting achievable on the go.
Set an agenda
A meeting agenda is like a checklist. Imagine going on grocery shopping without a shopping list. Everything becomes a second guess and you inadvertently end up missing something. Going into a meeting without an agenda is a similar thing. Identifying agendas helps to better prioritize the achievable. It also helps you keep track of the meeting outcomes and ensures that every meeting has a meaningful impact on the overall organizational process.
Read: How to Restart Your Career after a Break?
Involve the attendees
Team meetings are supposed to be a team activity. Yet oftentimes it becomes a one-man thing. The lead simply delivers a premade note or talk at length alone. This not only makes the entire ordeal boring for the attendees, but they also lose the sense of purpose and responsibility.
Citizen Group is hiring
An ISO 9001:2008 certified Group of Company, engaged in manufacturing of all types of Electric Cables, Energy Meters and electro-mechanical construction.
Established in 1993, the company was formerly owned by the Government before that period, which today is managed by a group of highly qualified Engineers.
Position Name : Sr. Executive/ Executive (Sales & Marketing)
Vacancy: Not specific
Job Responsibilities
Dealing & negotiating the sales of Electric Cables & Meter with customers & shopkeepers as per guideline.
Visit potential and existing clients to capture the market and analyze the client's needs.
Survey the under construction building & met with electricians of the area.
Collect Client & Market information in a systematic way as per company rules.
Dealing with Clients & to build a strong relationship with customers.
The candidate has to be able to handle the marketing and strong confidence to achieve the sales target.
Positive attitude. Awareness of time and data management and the ability to prioritize tasks.
Employment Status
Full-time
Educational Requirements
BBA/MBA/Dip in Engg. (Elect./ Mech.)
In case of highly experienced candidate educational requirements may be relaxed.
Experience Requirements
2 to 3 year(s)
Additional Requirements
Only males are allowed to apply
The applicants should have experience in the business area (s): Electric Cables / Electrical Goods.
2 to 3 years practical experience in related job will get preference.
Those who are interested for this job, please apply soon.
Job LocationDhaka
Salary
Negotiable
Compensation & Other Benefits
Attractive festival bonus, Gratuity and other admissible benefit as per company policy.
Apply Procedure
Send your CV to [email protected]
Application Deadline: 7 Sep 2021
Job Source
Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.
Read:Job in Akij Group
Read:Job opportunity at DBL group
Common Challenges faced by Startups in 2021
With over 150 million startups in the world, the space for standing out in a specific market is becoming more and more saturated every day. About 137,000 startups are being found daily in the world today. This begs the question of whether it really is a smooth sail all around for startups? Do all of them go on to become multi-million-dollar ventures? Surely not. In reality, a startup faces several challenges that can become daunting to overcome. In this article, we will talk about such common challenges faced by startups.
What is a startup?
According to Investopedia, a startup is a company in its first stage of development or operations. These companies are founded by entrepreneurs who want to introduce a product or service in the market based on its demand.
The initial phase of the product or service requires several trials and errors associated with R&D, marketing, business model, and cost of operation. As a result, these companies work as a high-cost- limited revenue venture in their initial stage. To compensate for the high cost, there are different stages of fundraising to ensure smooth business operations.
Read: Seed Fund Raising for Startups: Things to Know About
Top 7 common business challenges faced by the startup founders
High competition
The high number of startup competition across the globe means there are lesser and lesser opportunities for emerging startups. Most markets are already saturated. In addition to competing with existing startups, there is also competition from multi-industry conglomerates.
Whether it’s a B2B or B2C, every startup faces high competition in every phase including seed fundraising and market cap generation. As a result, they are forced to be more aggressive in the market and their strategies.
Read Angel Investment 101: Is It the Right Track for Your Startup?
Lack of Consistency
Every business venture bears a strategic goal with expectations and startups are no different. A positive growth curve shouldn’t give a false sense of expectations. It's important to set realistic goals in the initial phase of any startup.
The initial growth won't be consistent if there is no sustainability. And this is where most startups fail. They fail to maintain consistency in their effort to ensure sustainability. There is no room for complacency and consistent effort is the only deciding factor.
Read: The 7 Most Promising Tech Startups in Bangladesh
Lack of Planning
A startup needs to have a business plan which would outline the expectable and inputs. While most startups have a business plan they often don’t include all the key areas. Many first-time entrepreneurs think that they will plan things as the business progresses but that’s a wrong move.
Key details like R&D, skilled staff, sales, funding should all get equal priority while planning. While faced with an issue, the target shouldn’t be damage control, rather there should be an appropriate plan of action to tackle every issue.
Read The Emerging Logistics Tech Startups, Courier, Delivery Services in Bangladesh
The players
A startup needs manpower. You need to have a working team to run your business top to bottom. Whether it’s your employees or investors, you need to be careful about who you hire and who you get as your investor. Communication, team playing, and skills are important factors to be considered when it comes to hiring candidates. Hiring the right people can be a tricky task considering the sheer number of eligible candidates out there.
What you can do however is thoroughly assess their skillset and mentality. Cross-check whether these are the exact skills you are looking for and whether this can be a long-term partnership. Having an industry-related investor can be a huge advantage in this regard. They might be better qualified in assisting with the hiring process.
Read Digital Healthcare Startups in Bangladesh: An Overview
Financial Factors
Startups are high-cost low revenue ventures in their initial days. Needless to say, the adjustment in this disparity comes from the investors. If you compare seed funding with venture funds, the amount might be small but it still tends to be a large sum. So naturally, there arises the need for financial management.
A startup constantly requires the investment of money until it reaches the growth and scaling phase. Many startups fail to make it to this stage because of a lack of management and cash burnout. In addition to having a business plan, it's important to have a strong financial model as well. Considering the limited resources and fierce competition, financial management is a crucial make-or-break aspect.
Read:7 Local Startups Get Tk 150m Funds from Startup Bangladesh Limited
Scaling up
Suppose your startup has done everything right up until the growth phase. You can expect the customer base to increase rapidly with increased demand for the product or service. This naturally calls for scaling up. However, scaling up isn’t just about adding a few more employees.
You need to consider a lot of factors as you scale up. You need to formulate a strong HRD, look after your supply chain and product sourcing. In addition to that, there is the aspect of widening the distribution channel and revenue management.
Without proper handling, all of these might become too much to keep track of and the business would crumble even before taking off properly.
Read An Overview of Shuttle: A Promising Mass Transit Startup in Bangladesh
Time management
A startup isn’t a one-man thing. As a business grows, there will be a lot of decision-making needs that are honestly impossible for a single person to micromanage. However, many entrepreneurs think that micromanaging is the only way to ensure organizational growth. A micromanager often overlooks key decisions while focusing on lesser important ones. As a result, business growth is hampered.
As startups build teams, it's important to delegate tasks to the team. This not only enables a business to be more proficient, but the time utilization will help a business edge out its growth.
Read: The SWAP story of Bangladesh's first re-Commerce startup
Bottom Line
So far we have discussed some of the most common startup business challenges. While there might be a boom in startups in the world, managing these startups are no easy task. As an entrepreneur, you’ll have to put in a lot of effort. The room for mistakes and complacency is next to zero. Many startups fall victim to these common mistakes we outlined above. A startup should definitely focus on its priorities and end goals all the while preparing to face challenges head-on.
Job in Akij Group
Akij Group is one of the largest Bangladeshi industrial conglomerates. The industries under this conglomerate include textiles, tobacco, food & beverage, cement, ceramics, printing and packaging, pharmaceuticals, consumer products etc. Akij also provides services in healthcare, information and communication technology.
Jobs in Akij Group
Job Position: Senior Officer (Cost & Budget)
Vacancy: Not specific
Job Context
Permanent after successfully completion of probation period.
Job Responsibilities
Product cost and standard costing & Activity costing and budget
Employment Status: Full-time
Workplace: Work at office
Educational Requirements
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Accounting, CA, CC
Skills Required: 2 to 3 years’ experience in Cost and Budget
Experience Requirements: 2 to 3 year(s)
The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s):
Bakery (Cake, Biscuit, Bread), Group of Companies, Textile
Additional Requirements
Age 28 to 35 years
The applicants should have experience in the following area(s): Cost and budget
Application Deadline: 17 Aug 2021
Job Location: Manikganj, Dhaka (Tejgaon Industrial Area), Gazipur (Tongi)
Salary: Negotiable
For More Info and Apply Link: https://jobs.bdjobs.com/jobdetails.asp?id=980892&fcatId=1&ln=1
Job Source: Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.
Read:Job opportunity at DBL group
HSBC named Bangladesh's best international retail bank
HSBC Bangladesh has recently been named Bangladesh's "International Retail Bank of the Year," at the Asian Banking and Finance Retail Banking Awards 2021.
The award recognised the strengths of the bank's personal banking capabilities and the commitment to offer the best international connectivity for customers.
Read: Bangladesh holds hidden gems for investors: HSBC
It also acknowledged the innovation, resilience and unwavering focus on customer service that had been delivered during the unprecedented challenging times.
"This award is an endorsement of HSBC's continuous innovation and client-centric solutions in today's changing environment. Our global network and breadth of expertise enable us to support individuals, families, business owners, investors and entrepreneurs in Bangladesh," HSBC Bangladesh CEO Md Mahbub ur Rahman said.
Read: BGMEA-HSBC teaming up to 'Export Culture of Bangladesh'
"We at HSBC Bangladesh are ever grateful to our retail banking customers for putting their trust in us and inspiring us to reach new heights," Ahmed Saiful Islam, head of Wealth and Personal Banking of HSBC Bangladesh, said.
Seed Fund Raising for Startups: Things to Know About
Getting a startup off the floor isn’t easy. Most of the time it starts with an idea. But working with an idea and putting it into work requires funds. The question is where will you get the initial fund? This is where seed funding comes in. In this article, we will look into the details of seed funding and everything you need to secure one for your startup.
What is seed funding?
Seed funding is essentially the first cash inflow in a startup in its initial phase. A startup has several stages. The initial phase is idea generation. Based on the idea, the startup moves into the market viable product. Subsequently, the product or service sees expansion, growth, and maturity phase. While a business can easily get large-scale investment from the expansion phase, there are significant R&D and market compatibility investments that require funding.
Read The 7 Most Promising Tech Startups in Bangladesh
These investments come in the form of seed funding. A seed investor is also known as an angel investor. To know more about angel investment, you can read our comprehensive guide here.
Seed funding is unique because there is no practical proof that the startup will be profitable or scale-able. An angel investor will invest based on the uniqueness of the idea and their experience as an investor.
Almost all the large-scale startups of today had seed backup. The initial money needed to bring the startup to profitability is well beyond the means of its founders. Seed money not only ensures maintenance of business process but also makes sure there are multiple trial and error run for your product and service.
Read:7 Local Startups Get Tk 150m Funds from Startup Bangladesh Limited
Considering the market competition and overall success rate of startups in the world, it's understandable why a startup would not be a single shot thing. Rather it’s about having a tried and tested model to achieve the ultimate goal. Seed fund allows you to try out and test different approaches which would’ve otherwise been impossible.
Things to know before getting seed Funding
The basic groundwork
An angel investor or seed funding is done at the earliest stage of a startup. Most startups that apply for seed fund doesn’t even have a market viable product. To get seed funds, you need to clearly outline your idea. The entire process is nothing but making a potential investor see your vision with the startup.
During the basic groundwork, you need to show potential investors whether the product or service has market demand or not. How will it undercut your competitor? What’s the chance that people will adapt to the product rapidly and how does it solve an existing problem? This simple market research will act as the groundwork for the seed fund approach.
Read The SWAP story of Bangladesh's first re-Commerce startup
Develop Connections
Whether the startup will get the attention of a potential investor depends largely on the word-of-mouth spread of your business. Networking and connection building are equally important to having an impeccable pitch deck. Developing networking and connections will help you come in contact with potential investors and give your startup better exposure in the startup community.
What is the ideal seed amount?
Many startups make the mistake of overestimating their business. As a result, most of them fail to secure funding. Before diving into the details of how much is actually the right amount, you need to understand that there are multiple types of investment.
Read An Overview of Shuttle: A Promising Mass Transit Startup in Bangladesh
There is discounted cash flow which generates a steady inflow of investment rather than a lump sum. There is the market comparable method where the pattern of investment on a similar startup is followed. Then comes the venture capital method where an exit strategy is worked out before investment.
Regardless of the investment, you’re choosing, it’s important to have a proper valuation of your business. Every startup has several investment cycles before it hits the maturity phase. Seed funding valuation is generally less as there is no proven market strategy associated with the product.
Read: The Emerging Logistics Tech Startups, Courier, Delivery Services in Bangladesh
The essential documents
An investor would always look for how organized a startup is. And the first step of organizing starts with the preparation of all the important documents. The documents include a business plan, executive summary, presentation deck, elevator pitch, and the NDA. All these documents are necessary when it comes to securing investment. The more organized you are, the easier it becomes to present your ideas professionally.
Set milestones
Every established business has its own set of strategic and organizational goals. As a startup, you should have your own goals and milestones as well. This is one of the reasons why a strategic business plan is so important when it comes to startups. Your investors will be looking for results from their investments. You need to outline a clear set of milestones to showcase the growth trajectory of your startup. As long as you stick to the milestones, it will help your business grow uniformly and attract investors as well.
Read Truck Lagbe: Story of a Successful Digital Trucking Startup in Bangladesh
Always be ready to scale
We mentioned the cycle a startup goes through in its initial days. Truth is, the seed period of any startup is short-lived. A startup with proper planning and business model will soon be ready to scale. It always starts with a sudden boom in sales or service requests. If you aren’t ready to serve every client proficiently, you stand to lose your reputation in the process.
The increased demand will initiate increased service requirements. So be ready to scale your business with part of the seed funding in the initial stage.
Read Arogga: The Bangladeshi Medicine Delivery Startup Which Raised $200k
Understand what you’ll give up
Seed investments aren’t different from traditional investments considering you will give up a part of your stakes to get the funding. There will be multiple stages of fundraising so you have to be careful how much you are staking out in the seed stage. This will also impact how much control you hold over the startup in its growth phase.
Bottom Line
Seed funding is a necessary and intricate part of any startup. However, many startups die out in their initial phase due to a lack of funding. In this article, we tried to focus on the core aspects that will help you ensure seed funding and control over your startup.
Read: Digital Healthcare Startups in Bangladesh: An Overview
Job opportunity at DBL group
DBL Group is a family-owned business that started in 1991. The first company was named Dulal Brothers Limited. Over the years, the organization evolved into a diversified conglomerate in Bangladesh. The businesses include Apparel, Textiles, Textile Printing, Washing, Garments Accessories, Packaging, Ceramic Tiles, Pharmaceuticals, Dredging, Semiconductor Design (VLSI), ICT, and Telecommunications.
Position: Jr. Executive/ Executive - Commercial (Export Documentation)
Vacancy: 03
Job Responsibilities:
- Communicate with different forwarders/Shipping Line, C and F Agents, Transport, Factory, Merchandisers, and other concern.
- Prepare all export documents such as bill of exchange, Commercial Invoice, L/C opening, P/List, and other Buyer's required documents for Customs, Buyer, and Bank purposes.
- Need to handle all buyers especially H and M buyers for completing all export procedures independently.
- Arrange all necessary documents for cash incentive and customs audit purposes.
- Maintain all Files/Register/Statements for top management reporting purposes.
- Need to handle any other work assigned by Line Manager and Management.
Employment Status: Full-time
Educational Requirements: Masters/MBA in any discipline from a reputed University.
Experience Requirements: 2 to 5 years
Additional Requirements
Both males and females are allowed to apply
Females are highly encouraged to apply.
Job Location: Dhaka
Salary: Negotiable
For More Info and Apply Link: https://jobs.bdjobs.com/jobdetails.asp?id=981481&fcatId=3&ln=1
Job Source: Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.
Read Job Opening at Epyllion Group
Also read: Job opening at Upay