On
March 8, 2015, the original news titled “শূন্য হাতে শুরু, এখন সফল উদ্যোক্তা” was published in
the daily Prothom Alo in Bengali
language. After reading the news, I felt motivated and immediately decided to
translate it into English language. If you want to read the original one then
click the link given at the end of this article.
The
event took place 31 years ago. A young woman took a job in a garments factory
to earn her bread. She began as a supervisor with a monthly salary of Tk. 800.
Few days after she joined the work, she felt the urge of a change in her mind-
it cannot go on like this. She must learn the job of sewing to progress. Taking
permission from the authority, she started sewing. She kept getting promoted in
her job because of her efficiency in work. Now, she moved to another dream.
Having been more organized and experienced, she once left the job to set up her
own business. She started empty-handed, but now she is a successful
entrepreneur. She is Baby Hasan, the owner of a buying house named BS Apparels.
With
her hard work and talent, Baby Hasan has become one of the successful
entrepreneurs. Almost fifty female workers are now working under her. Her
organization exports apparels in many countries of the world and its yearly
transaction is worth Tk. five crores.
She
did not start her career with the aim of becoming a successful business woman.
Like others, she also started working for life’s sake. In 1981, with her
parents’ decision, she got married after passing SSC examination. One year
after her marriage, she gave birth to a baby girl. Her husband’s financial
condition was not that much good. So, she took the decision of doing a job to
bring some relief in the family. At the beginning, her family members did not
give her much encouragement, but they accepted it later on. Till 1991, Baby
Hasan worked in the garments factory. Then she was promoted to the production
manager’s post.
Recalling
memories of that time, she turned determined in her face. She said, “I would
work 14 hours a day. Work would start at 8 o’clock in the morning and I
returned home at 10 o’clock at night. I never neglected my work. In the
beginning, I did not have the aim to go such a long distance, but once I loved
my work, I decided to reach a certain level.”
In
the middle of 90s, she joined a buying house after leaving her job at the
garments factory. Alongside, she also started a small business related to her
profession. In 2000, she became a member of an organization of small and cottage
industries. She did not have that much money in hand, so he went to bank. She
opened a boutique shop named Bitonu at the K Block in Halishahar upon taking
Tk. two lakhs on loan. That year, an organization for women named Women
Entrepreneurs’ Association (WEA) was established in Chittagong. She also became
member of that organization. Almost 20 members took part in a handicraft fair
in Kolkata from that organization towards the end of 2000. The fair has opened
her eyes. She said, “In that fair, I have come to know many things about
business. It was that day the idea of business, I don’t know how, got
conceptualized in my head. I became determined that I have to be successful in
business.”
I
started to establish a buying house in partnership in 2002. Then in 2009, she
established another buying house in the name of BS Apparels. The size of this
organization is increasing every year. Her son, Salahuddin Chawhuri, has
recently joined the business along with Baby Hasan.
She
wants to give credit to two other women for coming from zero to today’s
position. One is her mother, Farida Khatun, and another is business leader
Monowara Hakim Ali. Baby Hasan’s mother died in 1998 after suffering from
illness. She is still struck by the pain that her mother couldn’t see her
ultimate success. Though her home district is in Nangalkot of Comilla district,
she was born and brought up in Chittagong.
Baby
had to manage her family alongside her job. So, she did not have any leisure
time. But she has no regret for that. She said, “It did not seem to me that job
or business was tough for women. If women try, they can become successful in
business or in their work.” While she was speaking, there was a smile of
gratification on her face for the success she achieved in her life. She said,
“When girls I know want to do job, I encourage them to get involved in
business, because creating job, rather than doing job, is our main target.
Source:
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