From a young age, I had a knack for learning about the market and doing business. I was what you would call a ‘street smart’ boy who was more interested in opening his shop than spending hours in a boring classroom. This didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy education; it’s just that my way of learning was quite different from the rote memorization path followed by the teachers.

While my peers spent their free time indulging in watching TV and playing video games, I chose to work in various part-time jobs. I wanted an early start in the business world so that by the time I am in my 20s, I will already be a well-seasoned entrepreneur. Because of this aspiration, I was never depressed when my parents couldn’t afford to pay for my schooling anymore. I just took it as divine guidance to solely focus on my entrepreneurial journey.

And so, instead of stewing in any negative emotions, I promptly took up employment in a small tools manufacturing firm operating in the light engineering sector. Even though the starting salary was relatively low compared to the industry average, I had ample opportunities to learn all the trade tricks. Clients and suppliers often had to come to the factory to negotiate orders. I utilized the opportunity to observe and converse with them to glean valuable business information and build my network. As years went by,  I became more skilled and moved on to better work prospects in the industry, ensuring that for every paycheck, I saved a large chunk of money for my future company.

I sought my parents’ blessings when I felt stable and capable enough to do something independently. I was well prepared to handle any form of resistance or rebuttal from them. And so, it was pretty astonishing when they wholeheartedly agreed with the decision and even offered to support my venture financially. They have seen how I have developed and grown over time and had complete faith in my capability as an entrepreneur.

In 2018 I established Arafat Engineering with considerable support from my family and friends. At first, it was tough to gain market share amongst several well-known workshops in Nilphamari. However, I wasn’t someone to back down from challenges that easily. And with some timely strategies, such as targeting the market segments these big players were ignoring and focusing on quality over quantity, I was soon able to propel my small factory into one of the highly sought-after manufacturing plants in the area. With increasing popularity, I started offering other items along with my usual range of machinery like GI wires.

In the long term, I envision further expanding my business and capturing a large share of the customer base in Bangladesh by setting up multiple workshops across several regions in my country. In the next two years, I want to concentrate on increasing my factory capacity for greater production. To achieve this objective, I would need an additional BDT 5-7 lacs above my funds for purchasing more advanced facilities and machinery.

When LightCastle Partners approached me with offers for business development and marketing support, I knew it was another sign from the Almighty to take my business to the next level. Over the following months, I attended several meetings and participated in the B-SkillFUL training programs. Since then, I have learned ways to improve my business strategies and increase the workforce’s efficiency. After implementing these techniques, I have seen tremendous improvement in profit margins and operations after implementing these techniques. Therefore, I am highly optimistic that with their help, I will surely achieve my dreams of expanding Arafat Engineering Workshop.