2022

Interview

Entrepreneurial
Case
Submitted to: Shabab Absarul Islam (SAI2)

Conducted by
Safwan Shams
ID #1912434630
MGT368.6

Entrepreneur Syed Manjurul Hasan (CEO)

 Business name KhelaHobe
Location Mirpur-13, Block-B, Avenue-1, House-2,
Dhaka
Website khelahobe.club
Year of startup 2021
Industry Sports

“ 
Khelahobe is a networking platform which gives people from corporations,
government and non-government organizations and schools, access to outdoor
sporting events. The CEO describes the application of the business as the only sports
community app in the country to avail fans of sports day to day outdoor activities.
Through the app people with similar interests can connect to residents living across
Dhaka city to make teammates, organize sporting events and enjoy through outdoor
activities.

”
Date 15 August, 2022

Time 11:00 AM

Interview medium Facebook Messenger

Interview 
Q. Good afternoon bhai. How are you today? 

Good afternoon Shams. Alhamdulillah I am doing great. 

Q. How did you come up with the idea of KhelaHobe? 

We started thinking about the startup from 2020. My elder brother rand I have
started the business together. We grew up in a big family with my cousins and
neighborhood friends. Outdoor sport was the only source of entertainment in our life. Since
a lot has changed in the last 10 years, our urge to play on the field with friends and cousins
has remained the same. Since there is a growing problem of reduced number of fields to
play on and teammates to play with we came up with the idea of connecting people for
sporting events through the use of technology. 

Q. Who are your clients or consumers? 

Sindabad.com has been a client for us. We have a team from bkash who regularly
play through our services who like to play during holidays for team chemistry building and
recreational purposes. There are IT firms who come and play on our fields. We also have
provided services to a large group of people who are SSC batch mates from 1997-98. 

Q. How much trouble did the Covid19 pandemic put your business? 
 Since we have launched in
2021, we did not face heavy
quarantine issues from authorities as
most people were vaccinated by
then. However, we faced slight
decrease in profitability like instead
of Tk.100000 we made Tk 75000 as
profit which is not a significant
damage for a startup.  

Q. Why do consumers comeback to

Khelahobe? 

There is a problem with the

availability of fields to play on; in addition people nowadays have busy life which makes it
difficult for them to cope with work life balance. So they look for something organized that
will save time for only recreation, corporations and firms try to look for the same
requirements for outdoor recreation and team play sports. KhelaHobe has made it easier to
book fields online and play offline just like old times. 

Q. KhelaHobe has had events on proper fields! How does KhelaHobe book fields and where
are they located? 

KhelaHobe does not own any fields in Dhaka city so we targeted the government
fields to use in return for a payment. For example, out Futsal and Cricket ground is the
Police Staff College playground. So, through commercialization the college can benefit from
events, enable them to come and play and we also make good profit for the business.

Q. It has turned out to be successful so far. What are the major achievements? 

I have learned to deal with people, negotiate for the deals and also managed to learn
developing websites and understand the economy on a micro scale better than ever before.
Practical usage of communication, technological and administrative skills has been my best
teachers so far to do business. I have also learned how to acquire customers, marketing,
legal works through building the business. I prize the network that I have been able to
create so far which is harder to do in a short period of time through a job.
Q. There are always problems for a startup. What are the major problems that KhelaHobe
has faced so far? 

Initially there were financial, technical and operational issues. Since my brother and I
were both service holders and we come from a middle-class family we had financial issues.
Finding the right investors and acquiring partners are still an issue since we need money to
grow. While developing an application and website shortly after we started the business,
we went through hard times to find experienced IT professionals for web design and app
developing with our limited resources.  

Q. Tell me about the major challenges you have faced so far. 

Even though our business partners are government fields and locations we have not
yet been able to make swift arrangements due to the existing bureaucracy in the
administration. Other than that, we had technological issues as both my brother and I are
from business background. We have to go through a lot of scrutiny by the political bodies in
control of a particular area which all in all makes the process of using the ground for events
more challenging.  

However, we thank the ICT Ministry of Bangladesh for providing the grant of TK 10
lacs in addition to their internal support for which the business is running smoothly and the
challenges are overcome eventually.  

Q. If you had the chance to redo all of it again what would you do differently? 

We made the website and application earlier on after the startup which was not the
correct move as we used up a lot of resources which could be used for operations instead. I
would focus more strongly to capture the market share since there is a niche market for the
sports industry.  

Q. Hasan bhai what advice would you like to give to people who want to be an
entrepreneur like you? 

Make sure you believe in your idea and you are determined to accomplish what you
dream. If you believe that it will help people no matter what one day people will
understand the value you provide through your business and then you will accelerate to
success. Be kind and hardworking, if you are right then everything will work out fine. 

Q. Thank you so much for you valuable time, it was a great learning experience talking to a
young entrepreneur like you Hasan bhai and an inspiration to learn from a big brother from
North South University. 

Safwan, it is always a pleasure to talk to people who are ready to learn from anyone,
anywhere through anyways. I am glad that we had such a long meaningful conversation.
Thank you for taking my interview considering my business KhelaHobe.  
Testimonials

Partners