The highest academic degree that I was able to acquire was SSC. I wanted to study further but life had its plans for me. Since 1988, I have been working in the furniture industry. So you can imagine the extensive experience I gathered over the last 3 decades. I became a skilled craftsman in a short amount of time and became quite skilled in carpentry as well as in setting up furniture. Since this became my profession, I knew I had to establish my own business. And so began my unwavering journey with Shetu Furniture. 

To establish my business, I had no support from my family. No one understood my passion and my drive to become a well-established entrepreneur. They did not even provide me with any financial support to get my business off the ground. But I was determined and ambitious. I used to set up furniture pieces before starting Shetu Furniture. So, one time, upon completion of an order, I received over BDT 1 lac. I kept this money on the side, without using a penny of it for over 1 year. And in this 1 year time, I worked tirelessly day and night and saved over BDT 1.5 lac. With the saved-up money, I single-handedly launched Shetu Furniture in Bogura. 

To tell you the truth, I consider myself extremely lucky. Because when I started my business, there was already a wide demand for furniture in the market. From day 1 till just over a month and a half, I had to face a lot of difficulties. For instance, in the areas of Northern Bengal, like Naogaon, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, and Rangpur, and also in areas of Southern Bengal, I would promote my products all by visiting door to door. I provided my visiting cards to all of the interested parties and after some time, I heard back from them. I started getting orders and have been receiving them since then. Presently, I have the most clients in the aforementioned regions. 

The most struggling times I endured were during the pandemic. I incurred huge losses as I had to keep providing my employees with their monthly salaries regardless of having no sales. Moreover, my factory was shut down and I still had to pay the rent, utility bills, and other unforeseen costs for around 2 years. But I understand that losses like these are inevitable. I paved my way through the pandemic and I believe I came out as an even better entrepreneur. 

I previously mentioned how no one from my family had shown any support while I was just starting my business. They were satisfied with how little I earned but I was not ready to accept that for the rest of my life. However, now that Shetu Furniture has received a lot of traction and recognition, my parents regret not supporting me beforehand. They now praise me and applaud me for taking on this risk. Since 1988, I persevered through life until I was able to launch Shetu Furniture, and not one person helped me or supported me during that time. They did not even care if I had money to buy one meal. And now, people give up their seats when they see me coming and it’s only because I am now a well-established entrepreneur. To be honest, when you have money, everyone pays you respect. 

My plan with Shetu Furniture is to expand it to other regions of Bangladesh. I am in no rush of doing so as I like to take baby steps on my road to success. My advice for those wishing to become entrepreneurs themselves is this: if you are good at something, and love doing it, make that into a profession. It’s better to pursue something that you are most familiar with. So do more introspection to find your passion, and spare no effort into ensuring you become the best at it. Take me for an example. I started from nothing and now, because of my relentless efforts and boundless dedication, my children could receive a quality education from a private institute in Bogura. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that their future is not uncertain.