It has been 17 years since the inception of Raja Foundry and Distribution. I started way back in early 2005 and have been diligently committed to my business ever since. Before stepping into this industry, I used to be in the wholesale business of my own. I had 6 to 7 trucks which I would rent out to companies. I developed a close relationship with all of them. So one day, they suggested I should opt for a different path, a path that does not require too much laborious work. Upon their advice, I am now where I am for almost two decades.
To start any business, one requires investment money and if there’s another person involved with you, I guess it makes things easier and convenient. For me, that person was my elder brother. We started Raja Foundry and Distribution together as partners. It was going great at first, however, we decided to go our separate ways a few years later. He got into the business of manufacturing steel rods, while I started my business of light engineering. During its initial days, I faced quite a few obstacles since I was completely new to this sector. I faced issues in figuring out how to make dice and other similar products; its shapes and what techniques could be used. Soon, I found some technicians who were very kind and supportive. In a way, we helped and learnt a lot from one another.
Nevertheless, there were times where I genuinely felt like giving up. This was 6 to 7 years back when times had gotten extremely difficult and exhausting. I was forced to take out an SME loan from IDLC Finance Ltd. of about 50 lacs, from which 10 is due to this day. To add more stress to it, I took out a second loan from IDLC when the pandemic hit our country. Since, 10 lacs was already due to IDLC Finance, they provided 40 lacs the second time. We established a good relationship over the years and the people at IDLC were very considerate of my situation. They understood that I was in deep trouble and that I had no choice. Because of covid-19, my business was shut down for about a month as per government restriction. During this month, my business deteriorated by a lot. I could not even pay the full salary amount to my employees. This is why I had to take out the second loan.
Having said that, things were turning out to be good soon after. I got acquainted with LightCastle Partners. People came from Dhaka to my factory for field visits and slowly gained our trust. During that same time, I also got to know about the B-SkillFUL project. They made us aware of the nooks and crannies of conducting a business successfully. Overall, it was a good experience working with them, and it was visible when my business started having positive outcomes. At this age of 55, I see no new future plans for my business. I don’t want to start anything new and take on added responsibilities and of course, stress. At the moment, I am content with how my business is running and would like to continue for as long as I can. I do have a son and a daughter who just finished HSC and SSC exams respectively. In the future, my only hope is for my son to take over my business and continue the legacy.