Beautiful Bangladesh is a small country in South Asia & that’s where I am from.
Being an only child in a broken family doesn’t help – but I have had an awesome life and things turned out pretty okay.
I was born on Jan 27th, 1993 (though all my certs say its 1995). I went to a decent school called Udayan, then joined a college called Dhaka College & then did my BBA in Marketing from North South University. I lived with my mom for the entirety who loves me to death.
Being an only child – I received all the love I could from my immediate and extended family which made me soft & vulnerable but If I had to do it all over again, I don’t think I would have changed anything.
I had a lot of friends when I was in school – and if given a chance, those are the days I would want back. Playing cricket without a bit of worry all day, reading storybooks in the dark damaging your eyes, good old days.
I was entrepreneurial from the school days – the first business, as I remember was renting books to friends for pocket money which I started with a friend.
There’s a saying – How come you don’t know you are in the good old days, when you are in the good old days.
I am getting old, nostalgic and I think about that every day now.
I had an idea back in 2011!
What if we sell pet food, toys and accessories online to pet parents in Bangladesh?
I know, it sounds silly and it doesn’t sound like an amazing idea when you think about it now. However, I am talking about 2010 when smartphone just arrived and buying from internet wasn’t a thing in Bangladesh.
Facebook was getting popular and I thought, let’s start a FB page and see where it goes.
& That’s what I did.
I had 5000 BDT saved up from freelance work and I bought some unique collars & ties for cats along with some dog whistles from Ebay. It took 3 months to arrive in Bangladesh. I launched the page with all the photos and hah! There it was.
I became an entrepreneur.
I won’t bore you with the details. Being the first e-pet accessories store in Bangladesh, we did nice revenue numbers (around 50,000 BDT/month). and I eventually ended up selling the business for a 4X multiple.
Do I miss the days when I used to personally deliver products to customers’ houses?
I don’t.
But I loved every bit of it.
I was doing my BSc in Marketing from North South University around 2013. I was also working as a freelance writer on a marketplace called Odesk (now known as Upwork). Getting $1 for every 500 words was a dream and I was achieving my dream, life was good. And then I slowly got into SEO – search engine optimization.
I started working as an SEO expert and things got a little better from the $1/500 word days. And eventually, I came across people like Patt Flynn, Spencer Haws and saw that you could build website, fill it up with content, rank it and make money.
I started doing that (my background in content and SEO helped)
I sold my first website for $4500 in 2016 and I never looked back. Digital became my thing.
I then went on and got my MSc in Digital Marketing, became one of the top rated freelancers in world when it comes to SEO & started my agencies – which are now doing over 1M USD/year in revenue.
I now live in Dublin, Ireland. I initially came here in 2017 to do my MSc with Trinity College Dublin and have been living here since.
I try to spend 2 months in Bangladesh every year, I also try to travel as much as possible. You know what I am talking about if you follow me on Instagram (watch out for those Insta stories)
Dublin is cold, its soggy, but people are nice and I have built a home here. I got a cat.
I am not a fan of Guinness though – sorry about that if you are Irish.
I spend most of my time now building businesses, creating content, managing a team of extremely talented people & thinking about the future.
My income comes from the agencies I run, the content I create, my book royalty, investments I have, the course I sell, freelance consultancy about marketing & sponsorship on my videos.
I am constantly trying to diversify and add more revenue streams in my balance sheet. Not because I need it, but because I love the game.
I often ask myself this very question.
Why am I doing what I am doing?
Is it because of the money?
– Well, I got enough to live a lifetime (I am not a super materialistic person and I can’t spend money, nor do I like doing it)
Is it because of the legacy?
– Do you know the name of your great great grandfather? You don’t. Unless you help build a country, run a revolution or do something extra ordinary like Musk sending people to Mars – I think you will be irrelevant within a few generations.
The Bezos of the world, the Zuckerberg – most people will probably not remember them in 300 years time.
What’s the point then?
Why work? Why create content? Why run an agency? Why do anything at all? ……
Honestly, I don’t know….. I wish I did.
I just like the game of building businesses, creation and distribution of wealth and most of it, I like to make people empowered and install vision in them that they never knew they needed.
If any of my content, course, video, podcast, blog – anything at all has helped you even 1% to improve your career, get a job or start a business – I call it a success.
The biggest joy is when you know your work is helping someone put food on the table.
The 2nd biggest joy is to have Bhelpuri (a traditional Bangladeshi street food).