Haat Bazar, a day-long business and entrepreneurship simulation by Career & Placement Centre and the Department of Management of North South University, was successfully held on the 25th November for the fourth time since fall 2014 by Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES!), the business club of North South University. The goal of the event was for the students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship course to gain exposure on being a real-life entrepreneur for a day, frosting it with a first-hand experience of the problems a real business could face.

33 teams with students in groups of four are primed from a month in advance, with each group assigned a budget of BDT 20,000 of their own moneyto set up a stall to sell their products and services to the students of NSU. The teams are educated by respective faculty members on how to make their stalls stand out and where to save an arm and a leg or two.

Stalls with striking names such as Jog-a Khichuri, Ei Dike Bhai, Utt-er Dol and many more were selling a variety of cuisines as well as cosmetic and clothing products, some with quirky product names like Kalo Jongol and so on.

Interesting additions to the simulation are real-world factors that entrepreneurs may face. Students from the organising club NSU YES! act as goons trying to tax the stores, as well as a quality control body or Mobile Court, who examine the stalls for hygiene and quality and are able to confiscate products if any issues arise.

Performances of the teams are evaluated by the course instructors throughout the day on multiple factors, such as leadership abilities, customer satisfaction, innovation, publicity and promotion, operational management, etc; with the objective of the simulation being to prepare the students for the real world business hardships they might face in the years to come.