Mousumi Naznin: My name is Mousumi Naznin. I am the owner of a small business called Try Dry Fish. I am a small entrepreneur. My office is my home. My factory is my kitchen. I started this journey for a simple reason. I wanted to use my potential. I am a homemaker. I manage my family and my house. But I felt I had more to give. I had skills that were sitting idle. I wanted to create something of my own. So I started my business alongside my household duties.
I work with processed dry fish. In our local language, we call this “shutki.” Specifically, I make a product called Balachao. This is a very popular food item in our region. It is a mix of crispy dry fish, fried onions, garlic, and spices. It is dry and crunchy. I currently produce three specific flavors. The first one is Shrimp, or Chingri. The second is Kachki, which is a very small river fish. The third is Loitta, a famous sea fish. These three have distinct tastes. My job is to process them into a ready-to-eat format.
The situation of my business in Bangladesh is quite good. There is a strong market for what I make. The reason is simple. Food lovers are always looking for something extra. My product is a taste enhancer. It is not just a snack. It improves the taste of other foods. You can mix it with many things.
Think about a simple meal. Maybe you are having plain white rice and lentils, or dal. If you add a spoonful of my Balachao, the taste changes completely. It becomes spicy and crunchy. It becomes a rich meal. You can add it to mixed vegetables. You can sprinkle it on salad. You can eat it with any kind of mashed vegetables, which we call “bhorta.” It is very versatile. This versatility creates a steady demand. People buy it to keep in their pantry. It turns a boring lunch into an exciting one.
I see a very bright future for this line of work. Right now, I am working on a small scale. I work from inside my house. But the potential is huge. The demand is not just inside Bangladesh. There is a massive demand outside the country. Many Bangladeshis live abroad. They live in Europe, America, and the Middle East. They miss the taste of home. They miss the strong flavor of dry fish.
However, eating dry fish abroad is difficult. Cooking it is a hassle. Raw dry fish has a very strong smell. In apartments abroad, you cannot cook it easily. The neighbors might complain about the smell. Preparing it takes time. You have to clean it and sort it. It is a messy process.
My product solves all these problems. Balachao is ready to eat. You do not need to cook it. You do not need to clean anything. You just open the jar or the packet. You serve it immediately. There is no bad smell during preparation because the preparation is already done. This convenience is my biggest selling point.
Because of this, the export potential is high. People take it with them when they travel. They send it to their relatives. If I can expand, the business will grow many times over.
I dream of moving beyond my home kitchen. I want to set up a proper factory. I want to bring in automation. Machines can process the fish faster. They can fry the onions evenly. They can pack the jars quickly. If I can move to automated factory production, the volume will increase.
This expansion will have another great benefit. It will create jobs. A factory needs workers. It needs people to operate machines. It needs people to manage the inventory. It needs packaging staff. So, this small home business has the potential to employ many people in the future. The prospect for job creation is real.
I am often asked if young people should join this profession. My answer is a solid yes. The youth should definitely be interested in food production. They should look at the processed food sector seriously. There is a logic behind this.
Look at how the world is changing. People are getting busier every day. In the past, people spent hours in the kitchen. They ground spices by hand. They cleaned fish for hours. Those days are fading. Now, both men and women work. Students are busy with their studies. No one has extra time. But everyone still needs to eat. Everyone still wants tasty food.
This creates a gap in the market. There is a need for “ready-to-eat” food. People want a jar they can open and eat. They want a packet they can heat and serve. This trend is global. It is happening in Bangladesh too.
Young people can see this trend. They understand the modern lifestyle. They can bring new ideas to this sector. Maybe they can invent new flavors. Maybe they can improve the packaging. Maybe they can find new ways to sell online. The market for convenient food will only grow. It will not shrink.
Entering this field is a smart move. It is a safe business because people must eat. If you provide quality and convenience, you will find customers. The youth have the energy to build these businesses. They can take local products like dry fish and make them global brands.
I started with a simple idea. I wanted to be productive. Now I see the bigger picture. I see a product that connects people to their roots. I see a product that fits the busy modern life. Balachao is traditional, but my method is modern.
My work involves strict quality control. Since I work from home, I watch everything. I ensure the oil is good. I ensure the fish is clean. I ensure the spices are balanced. This builds trust. In the food business, trust is everything. Once a customer trusts your brand, they stay with you. They tell their friends. This is how a small business grows.
The flavors I chose—Shrimp, Kachki, and Loitta—are the favorites of our people. Shrimp is loved by almost everyone. It has a rich taste. Kachki is crunchy and small. It is fun to eat. Loitta has a distinct, strong flavor that dry fish lovers adore. Offering these choices helps me reach different customers
I am proud of what I do. I am proud to be a woman entrepreneur. I am contributing to my family. I am contributing to the economy, even in a small way. But I am not stopping here. I want Try Dry Fish to be a household name. I want it to be on the dining tables of Bangladeshis all over the world.
To the young generation, I say: do not wait for a desk job. Look at the resources around you. Look at our traditional foods. There is gold hidden in them. You just need to process it and present it well. The world is hungry for new tastes. The world is hungry for convenience. You can provide that.
My journey from a homemaker to a business owner was not overnight. It took effort. It took planning. But it is possible. If I can do it from my home, you can do it too. The field of food processing is wide open. The demand is waiting. You just need to take the first step. Start small if you have to. But start. The future of food business in Bangladesh is bright, and there is room for everyone.

– Author is the Owner, Try Dry Fish