Hapi Islam Talukder, while doing her dual jobs as a makeup artist and schoolteacher at a Jatrabari school in Dhaka city, gradually realised that neither of her jobs was offering her the satisfaction she looked for.
Still wondering what would make her happy as a professional woman, Hapi, 42, seized an opportunity to participate in an entrepreneurship training arranged by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation in 2024.
She found that the training on making and selling jute products aroused the entrepreneur in her.
Soon she set up a tiny production unit and named it Shwapno Joyee (winner of dreams) and leaving her school job, she concentrated on the business.
As just a year goes by now, Hapi鈥檚 Shwapno Joyee produces 200鈥�300 kilograms of jute products every day at its Jatrabari factory.
鈥業 started with just 3kg of production daily,鈥� she said, looking a year back, 鈥業 used to make jute bags, showpieces, and home decoration items and sold them from home.鈥�
鈥楴ow seven women work at my factory,鈥� said a proud Hapi when 抖阴精品 talked to her at BSCIC Autumn Fair 2025 on October 15.
Mainly producer of home d茅cor items, Hapi said that most of her products were bought by the Ministry of Jute and Jute Diversification Promotion Centre.
Also some of her products now go abroad as some expatriates, when they come to Bangladesh, buy her products and take them to their country of residence to sell there.
Like Hapi, for many women raising their own enterprises is more about fulfilling their passion, but for many others business is livelihood providing for their families.
BSCIC officials say that women鈥檚 participation in small and cottage industries has seen strong growth since the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the 2024鈥�25 fiscal year, they trained 19,314 people across the country, including 7,560 women. 聽
While some experts say that the country now has several lakh women-led micro, cottage, small and medium enterprises, there is a dearth of recent data in this regard, although both awareness and support for women entrepreneurs have somewhat increased at the policy level in the recent years.
Training and loan support from the BSCIC are some of those support as deputy director Irtiza Ahmed Salman said, 鈥榃e offer women entrepreneurs up to Tk 2 lakh in loans at 5 per cent simple interest and also provide plots for their factories.鈥�
BSCIC divisional headquarters also act as display centres to promote women鈥檚 products, he also said.
Runa Begum, 44, started her business much earlier than Hapi鈥攈er enterprise named Nakshi Kantha was established in 2008.
Winner of the Best Stall award at a recent Sylhet BSCIC Fair, Runa shared her story of starting with a tiny unit that now had grown into a business engaging 300 workers, all women, in its factory.
鈥楶eople don鈥檛 like women doing business. My husband didn鈥檛 support me at first. Now he fully supports me as he has witnessed my success first hand,鈥� Runa said.
Although she participated in the Dhaka BSCIC fair, her business is mainly concentrated in Sylhet where Nakshi Kantha鈥檚 products are supplied to around 50 stores there.
Runa said that she preferred direct supply because it helped build both-way trust among suppliers and clients.
鈥楤SCIC should build permanent display centres to promote women entrepreneurs鈥� products,鈥� she suggested.
Leather product manufacturer Fatema Akter, 33, who also attended the BSCIC fair with her Famo Leather comes with a responsible business owner鈥檚 approach as she plans to open a daycare centre in her factory to enable mothers with small children to work without tension while keeping their little ones at the daycare.
Fatema left her bank job to start her export-oriented leather item business which she set up after taking BSCIC training.
She started with Tk聽10 lakh capital and 8鈥�10 workers and just within a month got orders from big brands.
Now she supplies products as a wholesaler to various prominent brands.
Tasnuva Ahmed Isha, 34, a fashion designer, who worked for prominent clothing brands, including Curious and Poter Bibi, started her brand 鈥楤ong Fuse鈥� about a year and a half ago.
She left her job after having a child and began selling her own designed two-piece and three-piece dresses online, she added.
Sanjida Akter Nipa, 34, owner of Nipa Jute Products, supplies goods mainly to corporate buyers and also exports to the United Kingdom.
鈥業f the government supports us, our small and cottage industries will have further growth,鈥� she said.
Some of them have specific suggestions, such as, jute product manufacturers like Hapi and Sanjida said that the government should make arrangements for small producers to buy raw materials in small quantities. Currently, they have to buy the raw materials from wholesalers who sell in tonnes.
Doing business is never easy for women as they have to break many barriers and overcome many challenges, women entrepreneurs participating in the fair observe.
But success, besides earning them money, makes all the struggles less heavy, they say.
Selima Ahmed, president of the Women鈥檚 Chambers of Commerce, told 抖阴精品 that the government must support existing women entrepreneurs, beside the newcomers.
She pointed out that several years ago Tk 100 crore was allocated in the national budget for women entrepreneurs, but that allocation was not repeated.
Urging for restarting the allocation in the coming budget, Selima Ahmed also called on the SME Foundation and development organisations to take effective action to promote women-led businesses.
