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AyRojgar

Notebook making

Cutting, folding and binding paper into exercise books. A 300-page khata sells online at Tk 169 and a 120-page one at Tk 75, while a packet of paper costs Tk 100-150 more than a year ago.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Starting capital
৳1,50,000 – ৳7,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
3 – 15 people
First sale
15 – 45 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
12 – 18 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Workshop · Medium difficulty

What the business is

Buy paper, cut it to size, fold it, rule it, put on a cover and stitch or staple it: a small khata workshop needs only a few people and a few machines. The work is not hard; the arithmetic is. The price of a khata is more or less fixed by the market while the price of paper rises every year. In the Sylhet wholesale market on 26 August 2026 a packet of 65 gsm offset paper was Tk 330, 80 gsm Tk 400 and 100 gsm Tk 540, each Tk 100-150 more than a year earlier, and even the official rate for white writing paper is Tk 34-40 a dista. On the selling side, on 16 September 2026 a 300-page khata was Tk 169 online, a 300-page register Tk 179, a 200-page spiral khata Tk 120 and a 120-page one Tk 75 - between 56 and 63 paisa a page. The thin exercise book that used to sell at Tk 15 is now Tk 30-35 in Sylhet. The money arrives in a few weeks of the year: everything sells between October and January before the new school year, and for the rest of the months the workshop is nearly idle. So when you buy paper and how much you hold is the decision that makes or loses the year. The shop takes the khata before the season and pays after admissions are over, and without the money to carry that credit this business cannot be run.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳33,000 – ৳81,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳75 – ৳179 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳28 – ৳75 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin58% – 63%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue15 – 45 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time12 – 18 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle30 – 120 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss4% – 8%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity300 – 2,500Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • A paper cutting machine, a way to rule lines, a stitching or stapling machine, folding tables and a weighing scale. Prices for these could not be quoted from a named supplier.Equipment
  • Offset or writing paper, cover board, glue, wire or thread. In the Sylhet wholesale market on 26 August 2026 offset paper was Tk 330 a packet at 65 gsm, Tk 400 at 80 gsm and Tk 540 at 100 gsm, and TCB prices white writing paper at Tk 34-40 a dista.Starting stock
  • BSCIC small-industry registration and an NBR TIN. Check with your district BSCIC office and tax circle which of these is compulsory at your size of workshop; the fees and conditions could not be verified for this page.Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, normally issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
  • Cutting to size with little waste. Whatever falls off the cutter comes straight out of the profit.Skill
  • A wholesale paper trader, a press to print covers, and a list of stationery shops outside schools and colleges.Supplier
  • A dry, ventilated room with space to stack paper and room to load and unload. A damp floor or a leaking roof ruins the paper.Workspace

How the work runs

  1. 1Take a room where paper stays dry and a van or rickshaw can come to the door. Wet paper means the whole consignment is finished.
  2. 2Get the trade licence, and ask your district BSCIC office whether a small-industry registration and a TIN are needed for a workshop.
  3. 3Go to the wholesale paper market, take packet rates from at least three traders, and have the sheet count per packet written down.
  4. 4Decide which khatas you will make before you buy: thin exercise books, 120 or 200 page notebooks, or 300 page registers. Each takes different paper and a different cover.
  5. 5Install a cutting machine, a way to rule the lines, and a stitching or stapling machine. If you buy second-hand, see it running before you pay.
  6. 6Make one khata and weigh it: how much paper went in, and how much was thrown away after cutting. Without those two numbers you cannot price a khata.
  7. 7Get covers printed and put your own name on them. A shopkeeper reorders only when the same quality comes back every time.
  8. 8Finish production between October and December. Once classes start in January, buyers for new khata thin out.
  9. 9When you deliver to a shop, write down the pieces, the rate and the payment date, and have both of you sign it.
  10. 10After the season, work out what is outstanding with which shop. A shop that did not pay last time gets cash terms this time.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunLow
  7. JulLow
  8. AugHigh
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctHigh
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it fits

  • Strong fitChattogram · A large city with many stationery shops, and imported paper arrives straight from the port.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The biggest wholesale paper market and the densest concentration of schools and colleges, so raw material and buyers are in the same city.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · Inside the paper and packaging manufacturing belt, with Dhaka's wholesale market within reach.
  • PossibleBogura · The northern wholesale hub, where stationery shops from several surrounding districts buy their stock.
  • PossibleCumilla · A large market beside the highway, with paper easy and cheap to bring from Dhaka.
  • PossibleKhulna · A divisional city and a convenient distribution point for several south-western districts.
  • PossibleMymensingh · Many educational institutions, with paper coming up the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A university and college city with steady demand for khata and registers.
  • PossibleSylhet · Offset paper rates are openly quoted in its wholesale market (Tk 330 for 65 gsm, Tk 540 for 100 gsm) and it has many schools and coaching centres.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: Paper prices rise and khata prices cannot easily follow. Offset paper went up Tk 100-150 a packet in a year, to Tk 330 for 65 gsm and Tk 540 for 100 gsm. Paper bought dear before the season cannot be recovered from the shopkeeper, because the khata rate was quoted earlier.
  • HighDemand: The year's sales happen in a few weeks, October to January before the new school year, and what does not move then sits. Khata does not rot, but stock that sits ties up money, covers go stale, and next season the shopkeeper wants a new design.
  • HighLate payment: The shopkeeper takes khata on credit before the season and pays after admissions are over, by which time you have already settled the paper bill, the wages and the rent. Money stuck with two or three shops leaves nothing to buy next season's paper.
  • MediumDependency: The whole business stands on one raw material whose price you do not set. Sylhet traders describe education materials rising quietly across the board - a five-taka pen now costs seven wholesale. When paper supply tightens, the small workshop is the first to be cut off.

Sources

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