Suma Saha
Heera Bij Bhandar, Rangpur
Purnota Manager, SME Division
"I always dreamt of making this business big, and IDLC Purnota has been a trusted friend in our journey."
- Suma Saha
Suma Saha co-owns Heera Bij Bhandar in Taraganj, Rangpur with her husband-who is an agriculturist. Her shop is a popular option in Taraganj bazar amongst the local famers. When it comes to agro products such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticide; Suma and her husband provides quality seeds and other agro-products to the local farmers alongside pro-bono basic agro-advice.
Ten years ago, while setting up Heera Bij Bhandar, as a young graduate of accounting, Suma started by helping her husband with maintaining the business accounts. Soon, with time, Suma gradually got more involved in the business as her husband got busier with his full-time job. Ten years later, Suma now runs all the business operations for Heera Bij Bhandar- largest seeds and agro-products wholesaler and retailer in Taraganj Bazaar and manages dealership for 20 leading manufacturers.
RESILIENT TURN AROUND OF SMES FROM THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF COVID-19
Recovery of the SME Sector: An Essential for Ensuring Economy’s Overall Survival
Like in most other nations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented and shook the Bangladeshi economy. One of Bangladesh’s most prominent industries, the fisheries and livestock industry, employing about 70% of the individuals in the rural areas was struck hard. The dairy farmers also lost around BDT 189 million daily during the lockdown. The disruption of activities in the transportation industry, broke down the supply chain of the construction industry as shipments were delayed. Traders could not operate for two months, causing the price of construction materials fell significantly. Similarly, the fixtures and furniture industry, which employs the second highest number of workers in the country after the RMG industry, lost 70% of its business due to the pandemic, causing 0.60 million worker to be laid off. The non-allopathic or alternative medicine industry on the other hand is one of the few industries to make profit from the pandemic as people turned to Ayurvedic products, Naturopathy and Yoga to boost their immunity. At the same time the demand for Homeopathy medicine saw a sharp rise as people visited Homeopathic practitioners to treat any symptom related to COVID-19.
On the other hand, disruption of activities in the food and food processing industry, resulted in decreased sales for super shops and local vendors, while online sales saw a huge surge. At the same time the price of important staples rose by 15-20%. The local textiles industry faced losses due to an increase in price of raw materials. The light engineering sector, like most other sector also suffered a huge loss as 90% of the workshops were forced to shut down. The situation improved for most business once the lockdown was lifted, with many business recording higher profits than the previous years. The government’s stimulus package worth BDT 5000 crore also fastened the recovery process.
Sushmita Saha
Assistant Manager
IDLC Finance Limited