Md. Alamin Sheikh, Khulna
Story of A Ninth-Grader Turning Into A Successful Entrepreneur
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I was in high school when I started my own business. I dropped out of school after finishing ninth grade. And then I fully focused on growing my cattle business. I was very young compared to other entrepreneurs playing in this sector. But that never deterred me from accomplishing my dreams. I knew at an early age that I want to have my own business instead of working for someone else. And my belief in myself kept me going. 

By the grace of God, I did not face much criticism from my parents or others. On the contrary, my parents have been very supportive of me. I learned the basics of business from my father. He was an entrepreneur himself and he used to let me accompany him when he worked. I learned the skills of negotiation and selling by watching him. Without even noticing from a very young age, I had developed an entrepreneurial mindset which helped me later in my life.

Apart from my father’s guidance, one other thing that really inspired me was a training session that I attended organized by Oxfam. It was after that training, that I told my parents that I am going to start my cattle business. I also got to know about LightCastle Partners from them. LightCastle Partners taught a lot of things about business management and bookkeeping which was very beneficial for a young entrepreneur like me. Besides, I did not have any formal education where I would be taught these technical skills. So, both the training sessions were life-changing for me.

I own ten cows currently but I want to expand my business. I believe that with an investment of  3 lacs taka, I can achieve my goals. But the pandemic has been an obstacle on my way to growth. I had to incur heavy losses last year. Besides, I also could not feed my cows enough due to a lack of cattle food supply. Apart from the pandemic situation, I also had to face the consequences of the cyclone Amphan which hit Bangladesh in the middle of May 2020. Especially, because of the lack of veterinarians in my locality, the situation was way more challenging for me to deal with.

This journey of 4 years has been nothing short of an adventure to me. I have seen many ups and downs in my business. And all of those have helped me grow as a more mature individual who’s able to take on the challenges of life. I believe that my decision of becoming an entrepreneur has been one of the best decisions of my life. And I envision a future where I can help my country more by adding value through my services.