In last 10 years there has been a lots of changed in every sector in Bangladesh. Industries like technology, agriculture, education has been developed so much in the country. As of May 2019, Bangladesh has now 16 crore mobile subscribers according to BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission). Bangladesh reaches to a milestone by reaching total 9 crore internet subscribers that 50% of the total population of the country. Lots of possibilities are emerging in every corner of the country. Country is moving forward and already been rewarded as one of the fastest growing economy. There are lots of profitable business in Bangladesh in every sector and in every industry.
What is profitable & non-profitable business?
Neither every business is profitable nor non-profitable. There isn’t any rules or convention that will make a business profitable. To make any business profitable you must have to do lots of hard work and it mostly depends on your effective and efficient business plan. In other hand, non-profitable business meaning you or with any group from your society is trying to do something for the people without any intention of profit. People make little donation or investment without profit in your charity and you run some business to help people. So in this article, I will only write for the opportunity of most profitable business in Bangladesh.
Profitable businesses in Bangladesh
As I told you before in this article, profit never comes from any shortcut in Business. Yes, I know there are lots of shortcuts business concept in Bangladesh but most of them are not legal and you shouldn’t depend on those shortcut. Because profit for one day is not your target, with your hard work certainly you make your business profitable for long term. I am a software engineer and spent my childhood in my hometown as a home-grown boy.
But later, to pursue my career I came to the capital city Dhaka and started exploring my life, professional career. And I got some experience running small and mid level businesses in Bangladesh. In the meantime I also find, studied and researched on a lots of success stories, failed stories by people in Bangladesh. And I learned some lesson as well as figure out some business ideas which have a potential business sectors in Bangladesh. I have prepared this articles because lots of people asked me about new business ideas in Bangladesh, future business in Bangladesh, etc. So I have prepared a list of 10 profitable business in Bangladesh. Here it is –
1. E-Commerce business in Bangladesh
One of the fastest growing business trends is e-commerce in Bangladesh. It’s one of the highest profitable businesses in Bangladesh. I am involved in tech industry in Bangladesh and I have seen as well as involved with lots of e-commerce business startups in Dhaka and most of them are now making fair amount of profit from their low investment business ideas in Bangladesh.
E-Commerce industry is booming. Every day there are average 50 new e-commerce businesses starting their e-commerce business. I have prepared this number based on some statistics. But not all of them can sustain. May be 1-3% among those 50 daily e-commerce startup can sustain. Believe me I saw them very closely. But why you will think about failure in your business plan. E-Commerce is a very good business in Bangladesh and the industry just became matured now. So you don’t need to re-define the industry. The industry is there, you just find out your niche items or products make a plan and start your e-commerce business. To start an e-commerce business you need –
- A professional website to showcase your products or services
- A trade license
- Sustainable business plan
- Find a reliable partner who can also struggle with you in the startup stage. If you can’t go all by yourself alone
- Find a left or right hand employee. In the beginning tell him about profit/loss and risk involved in early stage. You need an employee because in e-commerce you need to operate and he/she needs to perform and do the tasks.
- Prepare marketing plan for Facebook (most engaged digital ad platform for Bangladeshi people)
2. IT Business – low investment business in Bangladesh
As Bangladesh is going through a mission “Digital Bangladesh” it’s obvious that the IT industry of Bangladesh is the most promising business sector in Bangladesh. Mostly young people in the country after starting their university education want to start IT business. But due to proper business plan and investment most of those business lost their spirit. But it’s one of the highest profitable business ideas in Bangladesh specially now and in future. You can start any IT business with low capital and low operational cost.
It can be ideal business for you if you –
- have enough experience in IT sector
- are eager to learn current technology trends
- have capacity to invest in the beginning or in case any short period struggle in the middle of business
3. Educational Institutions – highest profitable business in Bangladesh
According to world bank, there are 16.47 crore population in Bangladesh. Also the primary education rate gone higher since couple years. As per the economy of Bangladesh people now can spend money for their children for higher education. According to University Grant Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, there are 45 public universities, 103 private universities, 3 international universities enlisted. Most of the universities are owned by top level business person in the country from various industry. Also few branded companies have heavily invested in their university business. i.e: Daffodil group is behind the Daffodil International University, Hamdard is behind the Hamdard university, etc.
So earning level increase for the people in Bangladesh and parents can avail their child’s higher studies in private universities no matter what’s the cost. Any kinds of educational institution is a very good business in Bangladesh. Although, to get approved by UGC is tough but you can get it done somehow because of political liaison. Top educational institution types that are profitable in Bangladesh are –
- Technical training institutions
- Private university for under-graduation and post graduation
- University branch for reputed foreign university
4. Private Banks – profitable business model in Bangladesh
There are lots of doubts about to make a private bank as a successful business entity due to recent loan defaulters data and how the wealthy person in the society are misusing financial institutions to increase their assets. Lack of liquidation of the Banks, most of the banks in the country are going through a rough period. Although govt. already taken initiatives to overcome this scenario.
But you can’t judge a business idea with the current situation. For long term business plan, opening or investing on a private bank in Bangladesh is another good idea. For the sake of bureaucracy and political impact you should be a political person or you have to get endorsed by any political party to get your private banks approval. I am sharing this from my personal point of view and a conscious citizen of Bangladesh. But still now private banks are still in a good position to make a successful business ventures
5. Fin-Tech Business opportunities in Bangladesh
It’s now the time to rise fin-tech industry in Bangladesh. Technology in financial sector is just getting warmed up here in the country. By the rising of mobile payment system, general public consciousness about to use mobile financial service it’s now one of the great grounds in South Asia to invest and start a fin-Tech venture in Bangladesh. I also wrote an interesting articles on how Bangladesh is moving to cashless economy earlier.
According to Bangladesh Bank MFS (mobile financial system) data as of April 2019, 16 banks are now currently providing fin-tech services. Although few businesses already started here who has no affiliation with any financial institutions. Besides bKash, Rocket, T-Cash other banks started introducing their mobile financial service for the people. Also iPay who has no affiliation with any financial institutions started their business. But this situation will change due to the willingness of foreign investment by government. Many international investment firms and venture capitalists are thinking to make their hand dirty in this industry. So it is a good time to start any kinds of finTech business in Bangladesh. And there are lots of possibilities to get the investment from foreign investors. But you need to act first. You can start with the following ideas –
- Virtual prepaid/debit visa/master card
- Mobile banking system
- Digital wallet
6. Logistics & Delivery System for entire Bangladesh
Lots of modern businesses in Bangladesh still facing trouble in logistics & delivery facility. While the e-commerce trends are going up, food delivery businesses are getting warmed up in the field most profitable industry would be logistics & delivery in coming year. So many people are afraid to start their business because of the complexity in transportation facility in Bangladesh. Here are few rough ideas you can start research on –
- Delivery app
- Warehouse facility
- Courier/transport/delivery app or human resource facility
7. Online News Portal in Bangladesh
From my personal point of view there has been a large gap in this industry. Only few players are doing well in online news distribution and publishing industry. There are lots of people who already started online news portal but most of them are unprofessional. Due to lack of experience in journalism those online news portal seems just a waste. In that case only few old print media started their online journey besides very few online news portal. You can see all the Bangladeshi newspapers who has online edition from here.
Traditional print media is migrating their focus in online because of their loss in revenue. It’s tough to get advertisements now a days for print media while businesses are looking for flexibility like running ad campaign on online (Facebook & Google). Also earning revenue in online news portal seems easy. If you can get a fair amount of traffic, then you will start getting money in your pocket so easily by various online ad platform.
8. Ride Sharing Business in Bangladesh
Business opportunities for ride-sharing business in Bangladesh is already proven. After Uber started their operation in Bangladesh, this trends just went up from the ground. And now other businesses started to see their success in ride sharing business. It’s a very profitable business model but it requires reliability and trust by the general public. And that’s why the initial investment can be little bit higher to focus on promotion.
Pathao is another one of the leading ride-sharing service in Bangladesh who already got investment from foreign venture capital firms. Shohoj, Obhai is also in growing stage. You can start one by yourself. Initial investment on starting operation is low but marketing expense should be high. If you can manage the hassle of logistics and operational procedures with human resources then you can easily start to make your foot dirty in this game. It’s still young.
9. Food delivery business in Bangladeshi city area
Once FoodPanda started their operation in Bangladesh, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs has started thinking about this potential sector. Now UberEats also started recently. So of course if there was no benefit by getting their foot in this market they won’t chose this.
This market is not matured enough yet but few mid-level and high level players are still thinking to be a part of this game. Either you start your own food delivery platform or start bringing any foreign party in the market. Before starting this business go to popular restaurants in the city and talk with them. If you can convince them to become your partner, your tasks will be much more easier. But there is a lacking here. FoodPanda and UberEats are now only operating in Dhaka city. So if you can think differently, it would be great to start your own business model in your own city.
10. Digital Advertisement agency in Bangladesh
Time has been changed and now people more likely to start their marketing campaign (ads) on online media rather than print media. In Bangladesh, there are lots of digital marketing agency but all are doing old school model business. So if you can get a group of experienced and smart people and can bring unique service for digital promotion for general people, it would be a great opportunity.
Now a days people from mostly every city has their business and they need to promote that on Facebook, Google & YouTube. But due to lack of experienced professional in this industry in Bangladesh, bad actors are making money and general people are losing their trust on this. So starting a digital advertising agency can be a great idea for your next venture.
Interactive presentation on Profitable Businesses in Bangladesh
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Preparing this article I took almost couple days and I came up with the above business ideas for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. I personally think that these can be the most profitable business in Bangladesh. But profit completely depends on your own plan. If you have also anything on your mind, please write down that on comment box so I can add that in this article. If you think this article is worth sharing, please share this with your friends and on your social media.