Mornings in most homes of Koigari Purbapara, Bogura, begin with the familiar rhythm of everyday life. But at Masuma Akter’s home, the morning tells a different story. Meat is being cut in one corner, while spices are measured in another. Some workers are filling glass jars with freshly prepared pickles, while others are busy packaging them. Meanwhile, new orders keep coming in over the phone and Facebook. At the centre of all these activities is 32-year-old Masuma Akter, a resilient entrepreneur with big dreams. Starting with just Tk 300, she has taken her meat pickle business to 19 countries in only six years, including the United States, Canada, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Today, she produces and sells around 600 kilograms of meat pickle every month, more than half of which goes to overseas markets. Her monthly profit is around Tk 350,000. But the story behind this success began very differently.

Six years ago, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Masuma’s husband lost his job. With two children to support, the family suddenly faced an uncertain future. Masuma decided that she had to do something. But where would she find the money to start a business? The answer came from her daughter’s clay savings bank. When she broke it open, she found Tk 350 inside. She gave Tk 50 back to her daughter and kept the remaining Tk 300. That small amount became the starting capital for her journey as an entrepreneur.

Masuma began by making potato chips and selling them online. But the business did not go very far. She then tried selling clothes with Tk 10,000 given by her mother. That business did not do well either. Still, she refused to give up. She kept looking for new business ideas.

Then she remembered a beef pickle recipe she had learnt from her mother-in-law. In the days when refrigerators were not common, families used to preserve extra meat after Eid-ul-Azha by making pickles. Masuma decided to give this traditional recipe a new life. She prepared her first batch of pickle with just two kilograms of beef and posted photos on Facebook. Orders started coming in. She had finally found a new direction. This marked the beginning of RM Food Corner, a small online shop she launched through a Facebook page to sell her homemade products.

Orders continued to grow, and more people began to know about her products. What started in a home kitchen in Bogura gradually reached customers across Bangladesh. Eventually, Masuma’s products crossed national borders. But growth brought new challenges. Making delicious pickles was no longer enough. She needed better packaging, modern production methods, quality certification and stronger market connections. Masuma realised that turning her home-based business into a recognised brand would require more support.