I had to start working from a very young age to support my family. I completed my HSC and soon started working for small jobs here and there. Then one day I was asked to start working on one of the brickfields in our locality in Bogura. I needed money, so I agreed to the deal. I worked there for three years but I realized the money was not enough to support my family and bear the expenses. I left the job and started a business of my own by selling fish.

It was the year 1996 when I started my business. I was very young and had very little knowledge of the business. And I had no one to guide me through the process. So I had to learn by trial and error. Initially, I invested my years of savings of around one and a half lacs taka on my venture. But due to losses, I lost all my money and went completely broke. It was difficult for me to gather the courage to continue my business. The future started to look very uncertain. But I knew in my heart that I was not going to quit.

I mortgaged my father’s land for 2 lacs taka and invested again in my business. But this time, I had more knowledge and confidence after learning from my initial mistakes. I was doing well, but the growth was not substantial. And I was not able to figure out how I could increase my profit. Luckily, one day I got to know about the Upazila Fisheries Council. The people there were providing training to many fishermen like me to help them conduct more profitable businesses. I reached out to learn more about the fisheries business and I desperately wanted to improve my condition. They were the only ray of hope for me at that time. They gave us training on various aspects of the business from selling to marketing the products. They also taught us how to select the right species of fish and take care of them.

The learning that I had at the Upazila Fisheries Council was a turning point for my business. I was able to identify where I was going wrong and could work on them to increase profitability. Now I have annual revenue of 12 lacs taka. From there I got to know about WorldFish and became a part of their IDEA project which gave me access to a lot of new information that I was not aware of before. I was also a part of LightCastle partners’ accelerator program. All of these have contributed to the exponential growth of my business.

Even a few years ago, I would not be able to believe that I will be where I am today. I started from nothing, I was completely broke when I started. I lost all my life’s savings due to my misguided investment decisions. But now I can confidently say that I am a happy person. I am able to run a profitable business. Besides, with a son, a daughter, and my wife, I lead a very happy and peaceful life. And I am ready to spend the rest of my life that way.