Bangladesh is quickly growing as a small business center. There’s plenty of small and micro business opportunities. Setting up and running a business is full of challenges, but opportunities always welcome those who are ready to take challenges.Below is a list of manageable business ideas.1- Grocery Store with Delivery Service: Something that saves time of busy people has great business potential. Starting a small grocery store with delivery option can be a very good business.2- Tea & Breakfast Corner: Tea being most popular drink everywhere in Bangladesh has a huge business potential in cities like Dhaka. With breakfast and snacks to supplement you can set up a small scale yet profitable business. You can be different from other uneducated tea seller by cleaner and better looking tea cups. Your tea stall should have a touch of creativity.3- Fast Food Spot: Fast food is as popular in Dhaka as in any other city in Bangladesh. A small food cart with an initial investment of TK.10,000-Tk.25,000 can have a good scope in just any busy location.4- Fresh Juice Kiosk: It’s one of the low cost business idea that can be established within TK. 5,000 – 7,000. However, success depends on the product you offer and you must have the business set up on right location.5- Organic Food Production & Delivery: Since a large population in Dhaka is most concerned about their health, they love buying organic. If you own a small or large area for cultivation, or you can rent one, starting organic gardening is one of the profitable ideas. You can grow one on your roof-top.You can grow and deliver at doorstep for their best experience and your profits.6- Small Bakery: Let it be a small town or a large metropolis, Bakery is bought everyday by people making it an evergreen business. You may find a lot of them already operating, however with a twist you can enter in the market and grab your share, by offering custom cakes, fast delivery, taking large orders, partnering with corporate for bulk orders and so on!7- Home Cooked Food Delivered on Doorstep: Desiring for freshly cooked homemade food during lunchtime is common among working class and there’s a large population in Bangladesh that would love the idea!8- Catering Business: Let it be a business, religious or personal event, they all need the best catering. Starting one will surely need investment, but it’s not that high!9- Bed & Breakfast: If you are owner of a big property and have many extra rooms in your house then consider letting them out to the tourists. This will help you to earn quick cash for your unused space. This is more apt in case the property is located in cultural heritages lush landscapes, airport and places of tourist interests.10- Everything Tk. 1-99 Gift Shop: Everyone loves to give and receive gifts but often budget constraints do not allow. With a budget gift shop you allow more people to enjoy the occasions and so you get more profits!11- Tailoring: Though it’s more of ladies tailoring, a huge male population also wants the services. Starting such a business with a partner whereby one is specialist in ladies tailoring while other is best at men’s clothing can be profitable!12- Photography & Videography: Showcase your photography skills with quick portfolio or do some voluntarily photography at various wedding and corporate events to get noticed.13- Home Based Gym: If you’ve a spare room in your house and can invest in some machines, it’s one profitable business idea, however your training shall be class apart.14- Tutoring: Let it be tutoring primary classes or college students, the potential is always there if you are good at explaining the concepts!15- Mobile Phones/Gadgets Repair: A large section of people who do not buy new device or gadget till the time they have a working device in their hand would love this service Though there’re too many existing already, why not to promote your business online, get reviews and become an authentic repair company!16. Website Business: You can start a web development business. All you need is a desktop or a laptop and a quite place to unleash your creativity. Of course, you need to attain the necessary skills to be a web developer. It can be a very profitable business without investing much.17- Tech/Gadgets Shop: There is a big market for tech and gadgets at every place throughout the world and thus opening a business which sells tech products is a smart choices. Irrespective of the type of business, it will require PCs and its accessories.18- Online Retailing: Buying products from a wholesale market and then selling the same online is good money making proposition. You can take use of ads to find new customers. You just need to brainstorm what people may be looking for.19- Webpreneur: Becoming one in a city like Dhaka is none too difficult, because it has all the technology and infrastructure to let you explore the web and build up your own empire online. Let it be a local information website, city deals website or just anything that creates value for locals or for a broader community, bring it on!20- Software Firm: Dhaka is the most fertile ground for software companies to grow. If you’re a good programmer and or have a couple of more experts with you, you can actually setup a fast growing software company in Bangladesh.21- Small Scale Cloth Shop: People in Bangladesh do buy readymade clothes, but a huge population prefers buying the material to get it stitched according to their specifications. This is why the cloth shops are more popular than readymade garments. It can be quite profitable if you start small and target a specific economic group!22- Readymade Garments: Well, this one will need a good investment to start, however, the profitability is in finding the cost effective supplier and cheap transportation.23- Photo Copier: The service is much needed in the commercial hubs or else nearby educations institutes. And, all these places do have such services already, but still you can find some hotspots near public courts, government offices etc.24- Computer Repairing Service: If you have knowledge and skill, you don’t just need any investment, but yes do spend a little amount on getting your business card and start meeting more and more people who can be your potential customers!25- Digital Studio: Though smartphone cameras do a lot, people prefer professional photographers to shoot their events. Much of households and businesses require services of a digital studio, and so it can be highly profitable if you have the skill. However, you need an initial investment of at least Tk. 100,000 to set up the computer, UPS, photo quality printer and of course a good digital camera.26- Online Trading Business: You can buy long life items from wholesale and sell them online, i.e. jewelry, cosmetics, accessories, cloth materials, T shirts and whatever else you can find from your research on local market!27- Blogging: All you need to have is good writing skills and subject knowledge and blogging can prove to be a great business. Though it suits almost everyone, stay at home mommies/housewives and students can make better use of it!
Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions
Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:
An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.
If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.
Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.
After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:
Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.
A Case Study
Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.
Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.
Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.
I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.
There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.
According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?
As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.
When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.
While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.
So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:
The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.
Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.
If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.
When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.
And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.
Real Estate Auctions – The New Land Rush
On a sunny afternoon in Florida, an energetic crowd gathers on the lawn of a high end luxury estate. A loud and eager banter between an auctioneer, a group of bidders and bidder assistants fills the air. For several minutes the auctioneer asks for the next highest bid and the bidders respond. Suddenly the bidders grow silent. The high bidder holds his breath in anticipation of winning the auction. The auctioneer calls for one more bid. In a loud clear voice which rolls over the audience he says, “Fair warning, last chance” the auctioneer pauses, “SOLD!” And in less than 10 minutes another multimillion dollar estate has changed owners.
Successful real estate auctions like the one above are happening all over North America and the Caribbean. Recently real estate auctions have been on the rise, the increase in popularity is partly driven by growing inventories and fading buyer confidence. Properties that were selling in weeks using traditional methods are now languishing on the market unable to attract buyers even as seller’s lower prices. Many say the real estate boom is over but savvy buyers and sellers are profiting from real estate auctions.
Real Estate Auctions Work in Up or Down Markets.
Regardless of trends or market cycles, real estate auctions provide an open and transparent process for buyers and sellers. Properly conducted real estate auctions attract ready and willing buyers and motivate them to act now.
The auction method removes the “wait and see” attitude which serves to further depress real estate values. Buyers are always concerned about overpaying. Buyers gain confidence with their purchases at real estate auctions because they can see what others are willing to pay.
When market demand is high and inventories low, real estate auctions can deliver selling prices well above what a willing seller would have accepted in a negotiated private treaty sale. In good selling climates many property owners using traditional real estate methods; negotiating with one buyer at a time, leave thousands of dollars of equity on the table. During up markets real estate auctions are the best way to establish top market price.
Evaluating Your Real Estate for Auction
Not every property or seller for that matter makes a good candidate for auction. First of all sellers must be ready to sell now and for the current market value. Also a real estate auction will not fix problems caused by a downturn in market value of your property, if you owe more than a willing buyer will pay, be prepared to come to closing with your check book.
Properties that do well in real estate auctions have a high uniqueness factor. Ask your self, “What makes my property different from most others?” Maybe you own a resort property or high end luxury home, commercial properties and land do very well at auction. Real estate auctions thrive on uniqueness. If your property is like everyone else’s, the best thing you can do is offer the most competitive price.
Most importantly sellers must be reasonable about setting a minimum bid. A seller must look at the lowest, most current comps and price below that to generate the interest and urgency necessary for a successful real estate auction. Once the auction begins and qualified bidders start competing against one another you can watch the selling price increase.
Locate a Qualified Real Estate Auctioneer
Start by checking with the National Auctioneers Association, the best real estate auctioneers belong to this organization. These real estate auctioneers are well trained and adhere to a standard of practice and a code of ethics. Many attend the annual International Auctioneers Conference where the latest techniques and innovations in the real estate auction industry are presented.
Find out if the company you are interviewing is a full time real estate auction firm. Many real estate agents are getting auction licenses yet have no experience with the auction method of marketing. Conducting a successful real estate auction is nothing like (private treaty) traditional real estate sales. Go with a real estate auction pro.
You’re probably better of with an auction house that specializes in real estate auctions. There are many qualified auctioneers who have generations of experience selling personal property; furniture, dishes, lawn equipment and the occasional rare painting. Selling real estate at auction is a complex matter that should only be attempted by full time experienced real estate auction professionals.
Commissions and fees may vary, sellers must pay all marketing expenses up front and buyers typically pay 10% of the sales price to the auctioneer of which a share goes to participating real estate agents.
Types of Real Estate Auctions
Auctions are effective because they create a seller’s market. Professionally conducted real estate auctions create urgency, a reason to buy today and competition for the property. Terms and conditions of sale are established ahead of the auction. Real estate auctions will follow one of these three approaches:
Absolute Auction
The property is sold to the highest bidder regardless of price- using this process often returns the highest sale price.
Minimum Bid Auction
Seller agrees to sell at or above a published minimum bid price – this method is useful for internet auctions.
Seller Confirmation or Reserve Auction
With a reserve auction, the seller “reserves” the right to accept or decline any bids usually within 48 hours of the auction. Reserve auctions are used when there is a lien on the property from a lender or a court ordered sale with a minimum selling price.