DHAKA, March 19, 2024 (BSS) - School teacher Farzana Akhter is now a successful woman entrepreneur and becomes as the inspiration for many others in her locality. After taking admission in college, she started a small online business.
 
From there, through many ups and downs, Farzana created her own jewelry brand, popularly known to her customers as “Safa’s Angina (Yard of Safa).”
 
“I am working with different types of jewelries such as original pearl jewelry, gold plate and silver plate jewelry. Pearl jewelry has given my venture the most exposure, helping me to be self-reliant apart from my teaching profession,” Farzana told BSS recently.
 
Farzana Akhter is teaching at Sterling School and College in capital’s Pallabi area for almost a decade. Side by side, she started the jewelry business in 2020 when the whole world was struggling with COVID-19 at the advice of colleagues and near ones. When everyone was staying at home, Farzana was also thinking about what she should to do.
 
 “Suddenly, I came across a women entrepreneurship group through Facebook. I came to know that they provide training to entrepreneurs, and I decided to take training from them,” Farzana said.
 
Farzana continued: “I bought some materials for only Taka 2,500 and made some jewelry with my own hands. Subsequently it was highly appreciated by the people close to me. This is how I was inspired to start the journey . . .”
 
She is now a successful woman entrepreneur with ‘Safas Angina’. Seeing her, many women in her area started small scale business exposing them as entrepreneurs.
 
Referring to the initial days, Farzana said, there were several challenges in the outset of my initiative as many things including procurement of raw materials, packaging, delivery and marketing of the finished products were uncertain.
 
“But I didn't give up. I visited different areas of the city for collecting the raw materials. I had to struggle a lot to make the product according to the customer's choice.  But now I am able to do it perfectly,” she said.
 
About the quality products, this woman entrepreneur said, “I’m cent percent confident about the quality products as our own artisans make the jewelry. I even make jewelry myself.”
 
Farzana said her products wooed all kinds of customers from middle class to upper class. Her willpower and hardworking mentality have brought her to this position while customers’ good feedback acted as inspiration for her.
 
Talking about future plan, Farzana said “Safa's Angina” has already become a popular name online. In the future, it will be known as a jewelry brand at home and abroad, she hoped.
 
“I want to deliver the native jewelry to foreign soil through my ‘Safa's Angina’ and I always nourish a dream that this brand will have its own showroom,” she added.
 
She urged the government to provide all possible necessary support for exporting their products abroad without any hindrance and low price saying this would help promotion of Bangladeshi products outside the country and bringing economic benefit for the country.
 
Minister for industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said the government is trying to provide all kinds of support to the new entrepreneurs. Small and cottage industries are saving our rural economy; he said adding that during Covid-19 pandemic small entrepreneurs have saved our rural economy.