Startup
Arogga: The Bangladeshi Medicine Delivery Startup Which Raised $200k
Providing healthcare for 160 million people is always a tough task. Even if that is available, sourcing prescribed medicines is even more difficult. If that ailment is uncommon requiring special drugs, the problem is serious. Startup Arogga comes in here hoping to provide prescribed medicine right to the doorstep ensuring quality and reasonable price without the hassle of visiting a pharmacy.
Healthtech Scenario of Bangladesh
Online and remote access health care startups have taken off recently partly pushed by the Covid-19 from early last year. There was a sudden shortage of available services, and people faced restriction on movement due to lockdowns. Popular startups like Doctorola, DoctorsBD, and Rx71 moved in to fill this demand gap.
The same went for medicine supply as well. Popular delivery services like Pathao, Food Panda, and Shohoz also introduced a separate pharmaceuticals section to deliver medicines directly to homes. Arogga, formed in the early months of 2020 was able to move in and grew rapidly in a short period in this market sector.
Read Top 5 Mobile Apps for Farmers in Bangladesh
The Story of Arogga
Arogga was founded by Rosina Mazumder, an investment banker turned entrepreneur. She left investment banking to start her publishing venture, the Cake Masters. This magazine has been very successful with over 125K followers across social media platforms and millions of readership within a decade.
Rosina and her three co-founders Yawar Mehboob, Shamim Hasan and Fahad Hossain felt that the main problem in Bangladesh was the cost and availability of medicines forcing many to go without meds even. Added to that in the pandemic situation was the problem of physically procuring the meds. Arogga felt it could very much address this demand.
Read Top 7 Truck Rental Apps in Bangladesh
Building the Startup
Arogga decided to work with the pricing of medication first. Most conventional medication delivery apps source the medicines in retail from Pharmacies after getting an order. So there is no price commission but delivery charge has to be added making profits less.
What Arogga did was partner up with the leading medical manufacturers to source medicines in bulk quantity. This strategy developed from Aroggo’s own experience. When it began, Arogga was looking at a daily order of over 200 on an average. But due to the pandemic, the company failed to source products from the market forcing the company to temporarily shut down
So Arogga set up a climate-controlled warehouse, a pharmacy and a 10 member staff along with a certified pharmacist. This brought about a huge change in the business, and Arogga has seen a 60% month-on-month growth since restarting its business in late 2020.
The company even managed to secure 200K dollars of seed funding from Falcon Network which made the business expansion possible.
Finding a Place in the Market
Startups always face a sustainability challenge which Arogga did and overcame. The 60% month-on growth and over 6500 deliveries meant Arogga was finding its space in the medicine delivery market. And it doesn’t have too many challengers in the market working on its model right now.
Arogga’s big draw is its customer retention rate, almost 55%. Most of the clients are chronically ill patients which means repeat orders. Arogga has focused on this niche and done very well.
Read 20 Most Promising Education Start-Ups in Bangladesh
What Sets Arogga Apart?
Its focus on the customer-centric approach and acquiring meds directly from manufacturers has done wonders. It can provide original medicines at a cheaper rate than the pharmacies do without any extra delivery charge and it works.
The ordering process is very customer-friendly which makes it a client’s dream. Instead of typing orders online on digital forms, one can simply upload a picture of the prescription and get delivery at the desired location. The ease with which the users can navigate their app is what has prompted over 20,000 downloads on the Android platform since its inception.
Bottom Line
The health-tech sector of Bangladesh is still in its nascent stage with high growth opportunities. Bangladesh-based medicine delivery Startup Arogga is one of the first companies to make the process a digital one. The innovative approach and user-friendly service has made Arogga a success.
Read The SWAP story of Bangladesh's first reCommerce startup
The SWAP story of Bangladesh's first reCommerce startup
reCommerce may be a new term in Bangladesh, but it's not at all a new concept -- just that it's undergoing a transformation in this country. A unique retail concept, reCommerce or reverse commerce refers to the buying and selling of pre-owned goods. In Bangladesh, the buying and selling of used electronic products are very common but there aren’t many reliable platforms for the same. Even there is hardly any reliable platform for the second-hand trade of other items like furniture or bikes. This is where SWAP plugged a crucial gap. Let's look at the rise of SWAP, Bangladesh's first official reCommerce company.
What is the reCommerce model?
We are all familiar with eCommerce platforms where used products are sold. Some of the eCommerce websites offer a C2C solution where a client can advertise their used products. A reCommerce model follows the same principle except for the business or the platform itself acts as the buyer in this regard.
As a client, one would sell one's product to a reCommerce platform, which would, in turn, resell the same to its customers. In the context of Bangladesh, SWAP is the first of its kind to offer a service like this.
The story of SWAP
SWAP was founded in 2020 by Parvez Hossain. An ambitious entrepreneur having vast experience in the industry, Parvez is the acting CEO of the startup.
After graduating from the University of Dhaka, Parvez started his corporate career with British American Tobacco. He subsequently served at Rahimafrooz for a brief period before starting his first entrepreneurial venture, Livewire.
Read:20 Most Promising Education Start-Ups in Bangladesh
Livewire is an offline shop that sells different smartphones and their accessories. Currently, Livewire has more than 15 outlets across Bangladesh. The potential of a secondary electronic market where people sell their used smartphones and other gadgets is what sparked the idea for SWAP.
In addition to smartphones and accessories, Parvez created a platform where one can sell any type of used goods. From daily essentials to furniture to motorcycles, you name it, it's available on SWAP. In less than two years, SWAP has been able to build a considerable market space, thanks to its innovative strategies and unique appeal to consumers.
Read:An Overview of Shuttle: A Promising Mass Transit Startup in Bangladesh
What sets SWAP apart?
Even though SWAP is the first reCommerce website of Bangladesh, the concept of selling used goods in the online market, especially in the F-Commerce segment is not new. Instead of a C2C approach that is prevalent in F-Commerce and other similar platforms, SWAP offers a C2B approach.
This helps a client to avoid a lot of unnecessary hassle associated with selling a product. Whether it’s the unending negotiation processes or compromising personal information for product sale, none of these is involved in SWAP making it easier for clients to sell their products. The all-in-one nature of SWAP is helpful for buyers as well as they are getting the best price of a range of used products under a single domain, rather than having to scour from group to group in F-Commerce.
The current state of SWAP
The pandemic has hit businesses across sectors. As a startup, SWAP wasn’t spared. Even though the company was founded amid the pandemic in 2020, the extensive planning and preparations that went behind SWAP meant that the business would survive the pandemic. The sales and intended impact have taken a hit, however, the platform is still performing well and with backings from its angel investors, looks to be on track to break even soon.
Read: Top 7 Truck Rental Apps in Bangladesh
Parvez attributes the success to the team behind SWAP. The core team currently has 46 members. One of the angel investors to the startup, Tanvir A Mishuk, who also happens to be the managing director of Nagad, personally oversaw the selection process of the first core team that enabled SWAP to get the right people in the right position. As a startup, the margin of error is less and the right choice helps in ensuring that every move is made for the growth of the company.
Future Prospects
With a monthly GMV of over 1 million dollars, SWAP is already outperforming its initial estimate in just 14 months. The main challenge though is to maintain the core team as there have been several changes since the initiation.
SWAP is also looking past the simple C2B model where product selection won't be limited to selling or buying used goods. Rather there will be exchange opportunities as well. To that end, SWAP has partnered with OEMs such as Oneplus, Samsung, Realme, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi as their official exchange partners.
Rather than reaching out to customers through traditional marketing methods, the platform has partnered with well-known tech shops like Gadget and Gear, Shumash Tech and Rio International. In addition to the smartphones and smart gadgets segment, the company is already working on furniture exchange, with a bike exchange programme in the pipeline.
Being part of the cohort of the Accelerating Asia programme, a prominent seed grooming programme for promising startups, the business under the able leadership of Parvez is moving in the right direction. Key strategic relations and partnerships have helped the startup reach its targeted customer base and operate with an end goal in mind.
Read: Entrepreneur Vs Wantrepreneur: 8 Ways to Tell Them Apart
Bottom Line
The tech startup scene itself is still in its nascent state in Bangladesh and the concept of reCommerce wasn’t even heard of. Yet a three-year-long plan and strategy have set up SWAP as one of the most promising eCommerce platforms of Bangladesh. With its expected growth trajectory, the platform would soon emerge as one of the leading eCommerce sites in Bangladesh.
An Overview of Shuttle: A Promising Mass Transit Startup in Bangladesh
Dhaka's roads are infamous for their chaos. Reckless rickshaws, daredevil bikers, and unruly buses are a nightmare for the commuters. Three friends tried to make sense of the madness and ended up creating a mass mobility service startup three years ago, aiming to simplify transportation in the capital.
Tapping technology, the mobility startup uses fewer vehicles to move more people -- particularly women and students -- conveniently from one part of the city to another. Launched in 2018, Shuttle has since expanded broadly and added 'Shuttle for Business' and 'Rental Services'. Besides, the company has also raised funds for future expansion.
How it all started
Shuttle was founded by Reyasat Chowdhury, Jawwad Jahangir, and Shah Sufian. The journey of Shuttle started by addressing the women's daily commuting problem. The overpopulated city does not even have a safe mass transportation system for women. Addressing this problem, Jawwad and Reyasat thought of making a change to the city's transportation system, which will also make a positive impact on society.
And in 2018, Shuttle started its journey on Dhaka's roads with two microbuses on July 15. It was initially launched for ferrying university students.
Read 20 Most Promising Education Start-Ups in Bangladesh
Initial Investment
Investment is the core element to run a business or service, and it is very critical for any startup in its early stages. But Shuttle got lucky, and it received a considerable amount of investment from Robi through their r-Ventures programme.
Initially, they have started 'Shuttle for Women' service, focusing on the corporate women and university-going students. However, the company faced challenges in the first months of its service. Initially, gaining trust was highly challenging as they were working with a specific market segment. But, the founders were able to come up with a proper execution plan and that helped in establishing the brand.
Read Top 7 Truck Rental Apps in Bangladesh
Shuttle Services
Although the company started as a women-centric transportation provider, they have introduced two more services in their product line. Let's get to know each of them.
Shuttle for Women
As we have mentioned earlier, it was the primary service. Shuttle for Women currently serves seven routes in Dhaka -- Dhanmondi to Rampura, Mirpur to Bashundhara, Mirpur/Mohammadpur to Gulshan, Mohammadpur to Bashundhara, Uttara to Bashundhara, Uttara to Gulshan-1, and Dhanmondi to Bashundhara. The fare starts from Tk 80 a ride. The service starts early in the morning and runs till late at night.
Shuttle for Business
Many companies provide their own transportation for their employees. Therefore, they need to maintain a different department for that. To eliminate this need, Shuttle started 'Shuttle for Business.' It is a corporate pick-and-drop service for companies with customised routes.
Suttle for Business provides service through a special app for businesses. Moreover, the 24/7 hotline support also helps to solve any problem. The app also has a real-time dashboard for human resources. Most importantly, late-night pooling can help an organisation to drop off their employees after dark to different areas through the shared transport facility.
Read Top 5 Mobile Apps for Farmers in Bangladesh
Rental Service
This is a new addition to the service. It works like a traditional car rental service but in a digital way. You can book a car for your trip early from four different vehicle types, including Hiace, Noah, Sedan, and Coaster. The company promises to get you the best price in the town. Besides, you can make the payment online and go anywhere in Bangladesh. The trained driver ensures the safety of the tour.
How Does the Shuttle Work?
The working procedure is simple, like a piece of cake. Depending on the service, you can book your ride via the website or the app available for both Android and iPhone. For the Shuttle for Women service, you will need to select the route and choose your time for the ride from the time listed. However, if you are an organisation and looking to offer a ride to your employees, you can contact Shuttle directly and or even register through the website and get your customized route.
Currently, they have two different apps to offer their service. One app is for the registered users, and the other app is used by trip managers. Using the app, customers can book riders, track vehicles, and know the approximate time of arrival along with the trip manager's information.
Shuttle offers air-conditioned micro-buses where around 10 people can commute together. Overall, Shuttle operates on 10 routes in Dhaka city and provides service to more than 30,000 users.
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Current Situation of the Company
Shuttle is growing, and recently it has managed to raise $750,000 in a seed round. Impact Collective (The Ventures, South Korea), Robi Axiata Limited (r-ventures), and Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN) participated in the seed round. Apart from these investors, Foodpanda Bangladesh's Co-founder & Managing Director and Uber's Head of Mobility Innovation Programs also participated in the round.
Moreover, the Shuttle is also eligible to receive Impact Ready Matching Fund of up to $100,000 from Biniyog Briddhi. However, the company also raised some investment from a pre-seed round from Robi Axiata Limited -- around $1 million in total.
The future is bright for Shuttle in Bangladesh. The journey continues...
Read LPG Growth in Bangladesh: Effective Alternative to Natural Gas
The 7 Most Promising Tech Startups in Bangladesh
Startups have been around for quite a while now in Bangladesh. The success of several startups has prompted many to venture into the field and take a dig at the market. However, the success of a startup depends on the idea, effort to realize the idea, and considerable risk intake. The high risk has caused many startups to fail. Yet there are some glaring examples of startups that are defying odds to make a change in the existing market process. Let's have a look at the 7 most promising tech startups in Bangladesh.
Pathao
One of the prominent startups of Bangladesh is Pathao. Founded in 2015 by Fahim Saleh, Hussain M Elius, and Shifat Adnan, the company is a major startup that changed the ride-sharing and delivery service landscape of Bangladesh. Initially, the company started its service as a parcel delivery platform through riders.
In 2016, the company started its ride-sharing service as well. The popularity of the platform grew instantly and in 2018, the valuation of the company stood at 100 million dollars. It was also the time the company reached a million registered user mark. Currently, Pathao operates in Dhaka, Gazipur, Chittagong, Sylhet, and Kathmandu.
In its initial days, the company received funding from RC Ventures, Alter Global, Provident Growth, and other firms.
Read The Difference between a Startup and a Small Business
bKash
Another prominent startup of Bangladesh is bKash. Back in the 2000s, mobile banking platforms were getting considerable traction. Two brothers Kamal Quadir and Iqbal Quadir wanted to introduce a similar platform in Bangladesh and to that end, they started holding talks with Sir Fazle Abed of Brac Bank. In July 2011, bKash came into existence as a joint venture between BRAC bank and Money in Motion LLC of USA.
bKash has been a key player noting that over 70 percent of the people lived in the rural area of Bangladesh and most of them were unbanked. bKash tapped into this need and initially started as a money transaction platform through mobile. With time, they have established other services like bill pays mobile top-up and payment to another e-commerce platform as well.
Today, almost 22% of the adult population of Bangladesh uses bKash with daily transactions of over 4.5 million times. bKash also gained investor from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as equity hold from Ant Financial. Due to the paradigm shift created by bKash in the banking sector, the platform was awarded the most innovative invention of Bangladesh in 2018.
Read Some Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in Diverse Sectors
ME SOLshare
One of the common gripes with developmental opportunity in Bangladesh is that the majority of the people lives in a rural area. Even though Bangladesh has made considerable strides in HDI, access to basic features like electricity is still a costly affair for many. To that end, ME SOLshare Ltd. ventured out to provide an affordable solar panel for electricity solution to the rural community of Bangladesh.
The technology introduced by ME SOLshare is revolutionary considering the peer-to-peer grid system where electricity from one home can be shared to another and excess energy can be sold as well. This not only helps people to illuminate their homes but also provides them with a scope to earn from the venture.
ME SOLshare has received backing from Sangam Ventures, Social Alpha, and Free Electrons and has been able to raise over 2.8 million in funding.
Read Online Business: How to Get Started from Home?
Zantrik
Most of the successful startups that you will see aren’t limited to traditional business models. Rather the idea is to better approach the client base with a solution that disrupts the market. For most of us, we go to a mechanic for an issue with our automobiles and bikes. But what if it's not in a state to be moved by itself?
The founder of Zantrik tapped into this necessity and created a platform where the automobile mechanic will come to you. suppose if your car or bike breaks down in the road, the company can send a technician in 30 minutes. You can also make use of their partner garages to get your cars or automobiles fixed or checked. They are currently available on both iOS and Android platforms. The company has managed to raise over 72k dollars in funding from black diamond ventures.
Read Passive Income Ideas in Bangladesh in 2021
ShopUp
The boom of e-commerce platforms in Bangladesh has been remarkable in recent years. Most of these e-commerce ventures are limited to run their business through F-commerce and social media platforms with manual handling of orders. ShopUp wanted to make changes to this existing process by introducing a software solution that will enable businesses to automate the ordering and product delivery process.
The cheap availability, as well as usability of the software, made ShopUp an instant hit among that retail online merchants. Since its foundation in 2016, the company has managed to garner over 28 million dollars in funding and has been one of the leading tech startups in Bangladesh.
Read Small Business Ideas for F-commerce Startups in Bangladesh during Pandemic
Gaze Technology
Silicon valley of the US is famous for all the tech and AI-related startups. It is almost like a hub for AI development. However, Gaze technology is an AI-driven tech startup right here in Bangladesh. with access to limited resources and funding, the company has been determined to make its mark in using AI and API integration to make Bangladesh safer. The company works to develop real-time tracking, facial recognition technology as well as a vehicle tracking technology.
The company has worked with Dhaka Metropolitan Police to make traffic monitoring easier by integrating AI in the recognition system. The company aims to grab the international AI-led recognition market which is estimated to be valued at over 50 billion US dollars. Gaze raised seed money of over 830 thousand dollars to develop their AI venture.
Read Zero Investment Business Ideas to Try Amidst the Pandemic
Sheba.xyz
One of the most promising startups in the e-commerce sector has to be the Sheba.xyz venture. Whereas most of the e-commerce platform focuses on a specific niche of product or service, Sheba.xyz decided to incorporate everything under one roof.
The primary focus of Sheba is addressing the daily necessity of people. Whatever you might in your daily life, you will find it on the platform. From home shifting to the beauty salon to laundry service, everything will be brought to your doors. This not only made the life of people easier but also propelled the platform to one of the top e-commerce sites of Bangladesh with high client satisfaction and retention rate. The platform received an initial investment of 70 thousand dollars from Microsoft and Facebook.
Read Top FMCG Companies in Bangladesh: At a Glance
Bottom Line
The tech startup scene in Bangladesh is still in its nascent stage with more and more companies waiting to have their breakthrough moment. However, the ones that we mentioned here have already been successful in creating a model that would effectively make them useful for the people and grow at a profitable rate. These startups can work as inspiration for others to develop their strategies to better generate ideas and processes.
The Difference between a Startup and a Small Business
If we look around we see businesses that have seen exponential growth in a short period. Popularly termed as startups, these businesses are getting more and more popular as it works centering an idea and leveraging on the success of the efforts encompassing the idea. As the business efforts of startups keep rising, many people liken and often confuse a startup as a traditional business. But that’s not the case as there is a significant difference between a startup and a traditional small business. Let's look at them from the context of Bangladesh.
What is a Startup?
A business model that is designed to rise significantly – that is the easiest way to define a startup. However, the process is much more complicated and there are a lot of underlying factors that determine whether a business is a startup or not.
The most comprehensive way to put forward the idea of a startup would be a business model that focuses on exponential growth in a short period. The model would also have to be repeatable and scalable, that is to say, the business would sustain the initial growth and build on it as time passes. For a startup, there is no limit to the opportunities and as a result, the risk involved with startups are also very high.
Read: Digital Currency: Benefits and Risks of the Cashless Economy in Bangladesh
Notable Startups
In recent years, Bangladesh has seen a surge of startups. Some of them have been successful in making their mark and scale up their operations, but others not so much. The key driving factor remains the same here with priority in operation and execution of the plan.
Pathao is arguably the biggest startup in recent times. the company started its journey in 2015 as a ride-sharing platform. Today Pathao is one of the key players in the transportation sector of Bangladesh with the motto of “Moving Bangladesh”. one of the main characteristics of a startup is its scalability and Pathao is a prime example of how to scale up a startup. Rather than sticking to ride-sharing, the platform now offers food delivery service, parcel as well as grocery delivery service. This range of services means Pathao can effectively capture the market as well as create a disruption in the existing system.
Read Small Business Ideas for F-commerce Startups in Bangladesh during Pandemic
The story is somewhat for other successful startups as well. Bkash, a concern of Brac Bank has revolutionized the mobile transaction system and has been an important milestone in the endeavor to promote digital transactions.
The story of Shohoz and Foodpanda is similar to that of Pathao. These are effectively the same business model specializing in the service front for an increasingly online-centric client base. Other ventures like Sheba.xyz, Daraz, Chaldal has also had a significant contribution to change the overall market processes in their respective business areas. Some of these ventures operate as local startups and some are part of a foreign startup that has ventured into the Bangladeshi market.
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Renowned Startups in the Overseas Countries
For foreign startups, the case is similar to Bangladesh as well. The startups that are doing well or are scaling up their business ventures are practically the ones that focus more on the customer end features rather than initial growth. It is to be noted that customers are the key and once there is sufficient engagement within a service it becomes even easier to secure funding.
Startups like air garage that lets you share your garage space operate on a similar business model to the ride-sharing platform. Other successful ventures like Chime, Petal, Verkada, and Dispatch all work on the principle of ensuring end-user satisfaction. This is also a key difference between a startup and a small business as the scalability of the startup depends grossly on the engagement of the clients.
Read Online Business: How to Get Started from Home?
What is a Small Business?
Small business is a form of traditional business approach. Unlike startups, the intention of small businesses is not to disrupt the market or ensure quick growth by introducing a new idea. Rather the focus is to build on an existing system and grow slowly. Small businesses are often associated with entrepreneurs with limited scope and funding. You might have an idea that is not revolutionizing to be a startup, rather an idea that simplifies an existing system and can become a compliment for that market system.
Most of the successful small business eventually ventures out as conglomerates or industries. Though this is a general presumption and this is not the case always. In the context of Bangladesh, all the successful businesses of the present-day started as small businesses. With the availability of the internet and marketplace access in social media platforms, it is now easier than ever to run a small business with virtually no investment.
Read Some Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in Diverse Sectors
Difference between Startups and Small Business
We will highlight some key points of difference between startups and small businesses.
Growth Opportunity
The initial growth is the prime focus of startups. The strategy here is to capitalize on the idea to capture the market as fast as possible. This gives them better leverage over the customer and creates links with other services to scale up the business.
However, a small business focuses on building a client base over time and follows the traditional route of business advancements. A small business might never aspire for growth to the level of startups and that is completely acceptable due to the nature of the operation.
Business Strategy
The business strategy of a startup is growth-oriented. The main idea here is to generate growth at the fastest pace possible.
This is not the case with small businesses. As a traditional business model, the requirement here is not to break into a completely new market to create disruption, rather find a suitable customer base and cater to their needs.
Read: Graphic Designer Salaries: How Much Can You Earn from Graphic Design?
Final Goal and Risk Involved
The end goal of a startup is to make sure the business can be scaled up multiple times. in the process, the business strategy might shift gears multiple times until the desired model is achieved. As a startup continues to build on the model, it eventually unveils itself as a company or a corporation. Due to changing strategies, the risk involved is also very high with startups.
For a small business, the case is completely different. Here the end goal is neither to scale up nor to become a company. It can be something as simple as passing the business down to an heir or changing ownership. The need for scalability doesn’t concern a small business and as a result, the risk involved with small business is also very minimal.
Bottom Line
To sum up things, startups and small business both have their limitations and prospects. Though the growth opportunity of startups may seem lucrative for many, it is not easy to come up with such an idea to be scaled drastically to ensure easy profit. However, small business holds much better prospects if you are willing to put in the effort and see it pan out over a long course of time as the risk involved is minimal.
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Online Business: How to Get Started from Home?
With the rapid digitization in the country, connecting with people has become easier than ever. And the increased connectivity and digitization of processes, have opened a host of opportunities for small and large scale businesses. But not just the SMEs, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have made it possible for people to start a business right from the comfort of their home. For some, it can be a source of side income and for others, it can be a full-scale earning source. However, there are some essential steps that you need to follow to make sure your business kicks off on the right note. So, how to start your online business from home? Let's take a look.
How to start an online business from home
Identifying the Business Idea
The first and foremost thing to be considered is the business idea. As a business that is effectively going to be run from home, what business would be most feasible? Not just home, it also depends on other factors like what you are an expert in. For example, if you have no experience in cooking but want to run a food business, that would not be very fruitful.
In the context of Bangladesh, the most profitable business ideas are dropshipping and home cooking. There is a huge demand for online-based products that can be easily availed as home delivery instead of scouring physical marketplaces. Part of the increased interest in online shopping is attributed to the pandemic situation. However, you can play on your expertise and comfort zone and come up with a business idea depending on the demand and size of the online market.
Read: Top Insurance Companies in Bangladesh in 2021
Setting up a Platform
This stage of the business needs to be accomplished in two steps. The first one is using the existing platforms and the second is setting up a personal platform. As a home business, the priority should be to minimize the cost associated with business operation. The existing platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be used to showcase the product as well as sell them. The number of users on these platforms in Bangladesh is comparatively higher. So this can be a good starting ground for your home-based business.
In the later stage, after your business has gained sufficient traction, you can set up a personal website to better interact with your customer base as well as address their queries.
Read Small Business Ideas for F-commerce Startups in Bangladesh during Pandemic
Formulate the Business Plan
The next step is formulating the business plan. A business plan is essentially an outline of operations that goes behind running the business. Depending on your business idea, the business plan will differ.
The business plan should include a detailed overview of the product or service you are offering, a detailed analysis of the market and competitors, identifying the advantages and disadvantages of your business model, a financing module for your business as well a customer retention strategy. These might feel a bit too much to get started, but they will ensure that you have a clear vision of your business and won’t run into issues down the line.
Read Passive Income Ideas in Bangladesh in 2021
Registering the Business
The next step is a legal requirement. I need to come up with a name that embodies your ideas as well as your business. You will also need to register your business with the local authorities to make sure that you do not run into any legal trouble. For a home-based business, the business entity should be a sole proprietorship. This Will provide you with considerable control and flexibility over your business processes and rebates when it comes to taxes.
Separate Personal and Business Finances
As a home-based business, the initial growth will take some time to take off. You will need to reinvest your profits as well as source additional financing for your business. That all depends on the nature of the business. But the right approach is to ensure that personal finance and business finance are separated.
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You can set up a separate account for your business and handle the finances on that account. Separating personal finances from business finance will help to better track business progress and financial gains. It will also help to better assess how much additional investment would be required to finance the business.
Engage Your Customer Base
Another prominent aspect that should be taken into consideration is engaging the customer base. Naturally, as a home-based business, the reach and the brand image would be minimal while starting. To counter this, widespread promotional activities including discounts should be undertaken. Customers should be encouraged to share their thoughts on their social media. That way it would be possible to spread the business brand through word of mouth. In the end, it's all about maintaining quality as well as customer satisfaction.
Read Ways of Affiliate Marketing while Staying in Bangladesh
Review the Business Strategy
The thing about the market is that it is constantly changing. What might be in demand today might not be in demand tomorrow. As a home-based growing business, you need to understand the changing dynamics and adapt your business to face the change.
The right thing to do in this aspect is to review the business strategy to make sure the product or the service stays relevant to the customer. If you run a B2C business strategy, try and understand what your customer shows interest in. Change your product line up to better address the customer needs.
As a home-based business owner, you need to stay up-to-date with the changing trends. Introducing innovative products at a competitive price will surely give you an upper hand among the startups.
Read Zero Investment Business Ideas to Try Amidst the Pandemic
Final Words
The current landscape of the digital market in Bangladesh is expanding rapidly. More and more people are getting into online business and trying to make a profit out of it. The pandemic even forced some reputed businesses to implement online business strategies. Thanks to the widespread use of social media, showcasing your product and growing your business is now easier than ever. With that said, we tried to outline the key aspects that make or break a starting home-based business. With proper planning and conviction, it is easily possible to grow your business to a large scale and initiate substantial profit from it.
Read Top FMCG Companies in Bangladesh: At a Glance
A Bangladesh startup that aims at saving the world!
The year was 2018, when Mahbub Sumon decided to do his bit for the environment. Along with his three friends, this young climate activist from Bangladesh founded Shalbrikhkho, a Bangladeshi startup that aims at helping people reuse, reduce and recycle daily-use products.
Two of Mahbub's projects -- BONKAGOJ and plastic from potatoes (POLKA) -- have already caught the attention of thousands across social media platforms. Mahbub opened up about his work in an interview with UNB.
Q. What motivated you to work on renewable energy and eco-friendly alternatives?
While doing some basic research on the alternative power sector and renewable energy prospects, I figured out climate change as the biggest crisis for the human race.
For environmental sustainability, I soon started working on a couple of ideas like natural agriculture for cities and alternative sources of energy. Soon I focussed on developing eco-friendly alternatives to various plastic products.
I experimented with permaculture using BONKAGOJ and succeeded. The principle was -- since paper is made from trees, we can use that paper to grow a tree again. I also developed POLKA (plastics from potatoes) as an alternative to polyethene.
I am also experimenting with different innovative projects in the renewable energy sector and alternative eco-friendly lifestyle changes.
Read Jute: The Greenest Alternative to Plastic Bags
Q. What is BONKAGOJ?
BONKAGOJ, a biodegradable product, is made from recycled paper and embedded with different plant seeds. It's a handmade paper that can be used like any other ordinary paper. But after its use, if anyone puts the paper in a soggy pot, a flower garden will sprout from it within weeks.
Worldwide billions of trees are chopped down every year, many for producing paper. Single-use paper and paper products pollute cities. So, I harped on the idea of turning waste papers into a flower garden to save the environment.
Read BUILD explores producing paper pulp from whole jute plant
Bangladeshis dominate Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021 list
Nine Bangladeshi youths are in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021 list released on Monday featuring 30 young entrepreneurs, leaders and trailblazers across Asia, all under the age of 30, who are braving the challenging environment brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and finding new opportunities amidst the new normal.
For the first time, so many Bangladeshi youths got their places in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. They are incorporated in the list under three categories -- enterprise technology, social impact and retail & e-commerce.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2021 features bright and innovative millennial and Gen Z leaders who have persevered and thrived despite global uncertainty, with 30 honorees selected for each of the 10 categories, said a press release.
Also read: Forbes Asia's 100 Digital Stars features Bangladeshi actress ...
Three Bangladeshis under enterprise technology:
Shehzad Noor Taus Priyo (24), Motasim Bir Rahman (26), cofounders, Gaze
Serial entrepreneurs and inventors Priyo and Rahman in 2018 launched Singapore and Bangladesh-based AI startup Gaze, which offers visual recognition technologies for online transactions. The company has raised about $1 million in funding, and its customers include Dhaka Metropolitan Police. It won the Startup World Cup Bangladesh in 2020 and Bangladesh Business Innovation Award for Best Startup in 2019. Priyo filed his first patent with IBM Research at age 21 while Rahman built Bangladesh's second-most popular social networking platform called NogorBalok at age 14.
Read 3 Bangladeshi companies on Forbes list
Mir Sakib (28), Founder, Cramstack
Mir Sakib founded Cramstack, a startup that uses AI to automate extraction of information from unstructured data to provide insights for businesses. Sakib got the idea to build a search platform that would allow users to search enterprise data sources as easily as a Google search while working at a pharmaceutical company where he struggled to find such data. Cramstack also offers tools extract and process data from PDFs and images. It has clients in power, finance, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors including the government of Bangladesh, BCG, UNDP and National Bank. During the pandemic it provided government data from healthcare workers and immigration officials to help track, and curb, the spread of the coronavirus. It has raised over $1 million from Rockstart (Netherlands), Grameenphone (unit of Telenor) and angel investors.
Also read:COVID-19: Hasina's efforts lauded in Forbes article
Five Bangladeshi youths under social impact category:
Rijve Arefin (26), Shomy Chowdhury (26), cofounders, Awareness 360
Rijve Arefin and Shomy Chowdhury cofounded Awareness 360 to bring together young people wanting to improve the lives of people. After losing her mother in 2014 due to complications from severe diarrhea, Chowdhury took action to raise awareness about clean water, sanitation and hygiene. She and Arefin, who Chowdhury met later that year, cofounded Awareness 360. The Kuala Lumpur-based NGO now has 1,500 volunteers in 23 countries who hold talks and workshops on handwashing, water-filtration methods and personal hygiene, among other environmental initiatives. So far, their campaigns have involved over 150,000 people. The duo's work has been recognized by the UN Development Programme, among other international groups.
Read 23 Bangladeshi changemakers selected for Acumen Fellowship Program
Rizvana Hredita (28), Md Zahin Rohan Razeen (22), cofounders, Hydroquo+
Hydroquo+ is a Dhaka-based startup that uses AI to improve water management. Founded in 2018, Hydroquo+ has developed systems and technology to detect anomalies in water and analyze water quality. The company also consults for government agencies and NGOs on water-quality modeling. In September, Razeen, CEO of Hydroquo+, was named one of the United Nations' 17 Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals who are leading efforts to combat the world's most pressing issues.
Read Funds crisis main challenge to creating entrepreneurs amid Corona
Ahmed Imtiaz Jami (27), Founder, Obhizatrik Foundation
Jami founded Bangladesh-based Obhizatrik Foundation in 2010 to work on poverty elimination, education, health and nutrition, human rights and the environment. In the past decade it has supported more than 1 million people and provided free education to 500 underprivileged children in three schools, empowered 550 families in seven districts, and provided free treatment for 10,000 patients. It runs a free school and also has a grants program to help poor families set up a business that can be their source of income for the long term. During the pandemic it donated free vegetables to 200,000 individuals, as well as free groceries to 65,000 families and free meals to 90,000 families.
Read Need joint efforts for SME sector: Minister
The Bangladeshi youth who is in the Forbes’ list under Retail & Ecommerce category is Morin Talukder (27), cofounder of Pickaboo.
Five years ago Talukder cofounded the Dhaka-based online store that sells everything from mobile phones to home appliances, apparel and makeup. Pickaboo was one of the first online retailers in Bangladesh to introduce a monthly installment payment plan, same-day delivery and a customer membership program, and it now plans to open 150 physical stores across the country by the end of 2021. It has raised over $6 million from investors in Bangladesh and India. Previously Talukder set up the e-commerce site ehaatbazaar.com, which he sold to his cofounder in 2016.
Seven other categories are the Arts; Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Media, Marketing & Advertising; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Healthcare & Science and Consumer Technology.
Earlier one Bangladeshi was in the list in 2020, two Bangladeshis each in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Read F-commerce entrepreneurs rising significantly: Palak
F-commerce entrepreneurs rising significantly: Palak
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Sunday said the participation of young entrepreneurs in F-commerce (Facebook commerce) is on the rise significantly.
“At least 400,000 new entrepreneurs are engaged in F-commerce. Bangladesh Bank is going to arrange small loans at 4 percent interest for the entrepreneurs who are engaged in F-commerce and Startup business,” he said at a virtual conference.
Also read: Govt planning to formulate data privacy protection law: Palak
The e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) arranged the virtual conference on Rural to Global E-commerce Policy Conference. LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Tazul Islam inaugurated the event.
Palak also highlighted different initiatives taken by the government for e-commerce and its entrepreneurs in the first session of the conference.
The LGRD minister said people are choosing e-commerce to sell and purchase goods, from food to luxurious products. “Though it (e-commerce) began small, now a sort of dependency (on e-commerce) has been created,” he said.
Also read: Palak unveils software to bridge jobseekers with disabilities ...
Addressing the function, Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Dr Jafar Uddin said the commerce ministry has formed a digital commerce cell to implement the digital commerce policy.
“The work is on to finalise the digital commerce operation guidelines 2021. We keep the matter of inclusion of social media commerce entrepreneurs in the guideline under the consideration of the Commerce Ministry,” he said.
Chief executive officer of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) Obaidul Azam, deputy governor of Bangladesh Abu Farah Md Nasser and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Syed Almas Kabir, among others, spoke at the conference presided over by e-CAB president Shomi Kaiser, said a press release.
Read Startup Bangladesh Ltd to invest Tk 100 crore for 50 startups marking birth centennial of Bangabandhu and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh
Startup Bangladesh Ltd to invest Tk 100 crore for 50 startups marking birth centennial of Bangabandhu and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh
Startup Bangladesh Ltd. signified the birth centennial of Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh by investing Tk. 100 crore for 50 startups for the current (2021) year.
Marking the occasions, Startup Bangladesh Ltd. at a programme at ICT Division at Agargaon in the capital on Wednesday (March 31, 2021) launched "ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha" to invest Tk. 15 crore for seven startups as part of its first series of investments.
Startup Bangladesh Limited is the flagship venture capital fund of the ICT Ministry.
Read Bangladeshi startup Dataful joins Startup Istanbul’s portfolio.
Under the visionary guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Startup Bangladesh - the first and only venture capital fund sponsored by the Bangladesh government, started its journey in March, 2020 with an allocated capital of Tk. 500 crores.
The seven startups that today received Tk. 15 crore ( 1.75 million) as part of first series of the investments are Pathao (ride-sharing/logistics), Dhaka Cast (health-tech), Moner Bondhu (mental health and Wellbeing), Chaldal ( e-commerce), Eduhive (education-tech), Sheba.xyz (domestic services and SME) and Intelligent Machines (software services).
The event was told that the startups received this fund to scale up their production, improve the quality of goods and services and develop the supply chain & marketing strategies.
Also read: There's a woman behind many successful startups in Bangladesh
Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, State Minister of the ICT Division, was present as chief guest at the event.
Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury MP, Deputy Minister of Education, and Principal Coordinator, SDG Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office Zuena Aziz were special guests.
N M Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary, ICT Division and Chairman, board of directors of Startup Bangladesh Ltd., was the guest of honour.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak officially launched the "ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha” and declared the investment of this venture capital fund.
Also read: The stress of starting a startup: 'Funding remains the biggest challenge'
Through this initiative, he said, the government created a national entrepreneurship platform to support the startup ecosystem.
“Startups could play a crucial role in addressing the market needs, which will serve as the foundation for far-reaching consequences in the GDP’s overall growth. The tech-solutions provided by startups could support the nation’s achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” said Palak.
Senior Secretary, ICT Division and Chairman, board of directors of Startup Bangladesh Ltd., N M Zeaul Alam PAA, commented that the organization would develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem and connect entrepreneurs and startups to foster collaboration with all the stakeholders.
Also read: Survey underway to identify challenges for startups
Speaking as a guest speaker, Ki-Hak Sung, Chairman, and CEO at Youngone Corp, said, “I have been associated with Bangladesh for the past 36 years and am excited to be in this growth journey ahead”. The company is eyeing to invest USD 1 Billion over the next few years in Bangladesh.
In his address, Chris Burry, the Co CEO of US Market Access Inc., wished for Startup Bangladesh Limited all the success in the coming days.
Mustafa Usman Turan, Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh, said his country is keen to develop partnerships in the information technology (IT) and e-commerce sectors of Bangladesh.
Tina F. Jabeen, Managing Director & CEO, Startup Bangladesh Ltd, said, “Among all frontier markets, Bangladesh holds the most promising opportunity for venture capital and private equity investments.
Read Japan to make more investment in Bangladesh after end of pandemic: Naoki