Starting with 30 thousand, RK Hannan's business is now worth half a crore

RK Hannan used to sell various leather products on an e-commerce website in addition to his studies while his classmates were busy studying in the university. He used to collect leather products from different places and sell them online. While doing this work, he once started making leather jackets with his own factory. The venture started with a capital of only 30 thousand rupees has now turned into a business of nearly half a million rupees.

RK Hannan's company is called Raven. Recently, I had a first meeting with him at a Raven sales center in Mirpur of the capital. In the conversation, he highlighted various stories, challenges and future plans of entrepreneurial life.

RK Hannan said that he wanted to do business since childhood. For this, he wanted to study only such subjects where he could get work-oriented education. Although the parents wanted the son to do government service. Anyway, at the end of high school, he was admitted to Leather Technology Institute of Dhaka University. Basically, his life changed through this.

He created an e-commerce website in 2010 during his second year in university. After that, he used to bring various leather products from Hazaribagh area of ​​the capital and sell them through the website. Get good response from buyers for these products online. Many buyers also wanted customized products, that is, according to their special needs or preferences. Hannan used to make them from the leather factory of Hazaribagh. This went on for three years. Hannan graduated in 2014. This time he started thinking of making leather products himself. But the task was not easy at all. Because at least 5 lakh rupees were needed to make a factory of fair quality. But it was difficult for him to raise so much money. So he planned to start working on a small scale.

Initially hired an artisan from Hazaribagh area who is skilled in making leather jackets. He took an assistant with him. There was a contract with them - if you sell you get paid, if you don't you don't. After borrowing only 30,000 taka from a close relative, he started manufacturing products in a small rented shop in Lalkuthi area of ​​the capital. Hannan invested Tk 5 lakh within a year as the demand for the product increased.

There is also a story behind the name of the organization 'Raven'. RK Hannan said he studied Greek mythology. There is a character named Raven. Raven means raven. Edgar Allen Poe also has a poem called 'Raven'. These two characters really pulled Hannan. In fact, Set became the name of his company.

Meanwhile, demand for Raven's jackets continued to grow. But there was no place to produce the goods accordingly. So in 2016, this entrepreneur moved the factory from Lalkuthi to a village in Singair of Manikganj. But what will happen if the factory is enlarged, where will you find skilled workers in the village? He got into trouble with this. Then he trained about 20 women of that village for one year. From 2017, production started there in full swing. From then on, he never looked back.

Hannan said that in 2017, he first rented a showroom or sales center at Mirpur-1 junction. It was a big challenge for him. Because he had to get up to speed with employee salaries, customer acquisition, sales and marketing strategies. Hannan said, 'From then on, the main challenge of my business journey began. But whatever the situation, my business motto was — transparency.'

This entrepreneur said that the business did not grow much in the first two-three years of opening the showroom. In the meantime, the infection of the coronavirus began. Then sales went down. However, from 2021, he turned back to business. That year he opened a second sales center in Chittagong's Khulshi area. After that, he opened a sales center in Uttara, Dhaka.

Currently, apart from leather jackets, Raven manufactures various types of leather bags, such as office bags, gym bags, wallets, gloves, etc. Hannan said that the price of leather jackets made by his company is sold between 11,500 and 23,000 taka. However, they make some products that are more expensive than this. Currently there are 20 regular employees in the company. Some other workers work on temporary basis. So far the company has invested about 50 lakh rupees. He said that his company has an average annual income of 65 lakh taka.

Hannan said that the price of the dollar has increased a lot compared to before. The price of imported raw materials has also increased significantly. In total, the cost of doing business has increased by 30-35 percent in two years. On the other hand, consumers are also suffering due to overall inflation in the country. They have to take these into consideration.

RK Hannan said the leather jacket market in the country is still very small, but has potential. The scope of this sector will also increase with the economic development of the country. However, for this it is necessary to provide financing and policy support to the leather industry.