Problems and Prospects of Startups in Bangladesh

Abstract

The overall objectives of this research project are to determine the problem the startups of Bangladesh are facing in the current scenario and the possible problem they will face in near future. On the other side, the opportunities of the startups they are getting to run the business in Bangladesh. It has been found that most young entrepreneurs are likely to open their startups. The startup ecosystem started its journey in Bangladesh in 2010. In the past few years, 1000 thousand startups founded in Bangladesh. People are more focused on developing tech startups because of the potential of the tech market. Above 62% of people of Bangladesh are now dependent on tech directly or indirectly. 98% of people have a cellphone for digital communication. 45 million social media users. The number of audiences is huge for this market. On the other side, the government is encouraging young entrepreneurs to be more focused on tech business. Startup Bangladesh Limited, run by the ICT division has been invested 500 cr in 7 startups of Bangladesh, and this is encouraging the youths. On the other side, some potential startups already achieved seed funds from foreign investment. The majority of young entrepreneurs are now in search of problems as they know the solution will be a business anyway. In the populated city Dhaka, regularly facing new challenges from the starting of the day to the end of the night. New businesses are trying to figure out the solution. As people are more tech-oriented, that’s why companies are figuring out the solution through technology. Every traditional section is an opportunity for startups. Who thought to have classes on an online platform! Now there is tech startup like 10 minutes school, Edu hive, shikho. Healthcare statups like doctor koi, private health, digital healh, maya. The transportation problem is omitting the traditional problem. 60% of users in Dhaka are using a ride-sharing app like pathao, shohoz, uber. This is happening all because of the startups, and they are providing the solution through technology. Still, doing business in Bangladesh is not easy at all. People are more likely to go with trends, not in their own way. Startups are here to figure out the solution but whenever someone is coming with the solution, other people starting doing the same model of business, which is creating problems as the customer number is fixed. Too many same service providers cannot gain benefits from the market at all. This me-too-type idea is creating a bad impact in the ecosystem of startups. Foreign companies are likely to invest in Bangladeshi startups but few startups could establish them in a good way. People are entering the market with our proper research, knowledge and best technology. On the other side, not all founders have connections with global investors. This is quite challenging for startups. Due to having small fund in startup business, founders usually get nervous and starts focusing on getting profit over revenue. However, the startup's business model doesn’t allow getting revenue in the early stage as the company needs to educate the audience first. From all the startups only 8% of the companies are maintaining startup things.