Suppose you ask a student in Bangladesh what they want to be when they graduate. In that case, they will inevitably answer any one of the following: an engineer, a doctor, a government official or a corporate worker. Why wouldn’t they? Those choices are the ones that most people are familiar with, the career counsellors know about and the options that parents always instil at a young age. More importantly, the pathway to these is pretty clear-cut. Want to be an engineer? You want to get admitted to BUET or any of the engineering schools across Bangladesh. Doctor? You’ll need to beeline to Dhaka Medical College or its ilk. If you’re interested in the corporate ladder, you’ll have to get yourself into a business school or join IBA (any variant will do).

For the most popular option, there are hundreds and thousands of books, courses and coaching centres catering to the huge demand of thousands of students who want to ace the government entrance exams.

All these options have a clearly defined pathway with a start and stop point, a measurable set of metrics to achieve and people to guide students along.

Most people who ever wanted to start their own business or own their venture often have little to no guidance on where to start. They might have really good ideas and a lot of energy and understand that business is tough but they are equipped with the skillsets which they need to pursue a career in entrepreneurship.

That’s where this project that I am working on comes in: we try to equip participants across universities in Bangladesh with the skills and tools they need to start and succeed in business.  From validating their ideas, coming up with a coherent business plan and being sensible with their finances, this project gives participants the experience they need to enter the market with a reasonable chance at success.

Business is extremely difficult to survive in, most companies go bust in the first 2 years and often you are at the mercy of elements beyond your control. However, it still is one of the most exhilarating and liberating professions to engage in. Of course, you can get ridiculously rich, which is a pretty good outcome.

If we manage to execute this project, hit our targets and create a self-sustaining ecosystem, it will be a good 2 years spent.