Lovedesh founder: ‘Bootstrapping’ makes you creative and focused

Choudhury founded Lovedesh, which offers escorted tours in 2012, though she says at the time she did not know where the firm was going.

“I’ve been on a really arduous journey,” Choudhury told delegates at TTG’s very first Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders Conference, explaining how as a one-man band she has directed a promotional video over Skype using volunteers, diversified the business - introducing elements of retail and food - and added a charitable arm to the company, the Amcariza Foundation, all while working as a single mother.

But the difficulties she has faced have only fuelled the fire, she said. “Bootstrapping [starting with minimal financial resources] leads you to be creative; it really helps your focus and helps you become a better driver of your business. Your best friend becomes the mirror.”

Choudhury added: “Passion stems from different circumstances - passion can come from frustration, poverty, a sense of injustice, putting right something that’s gone terribly wrong.” Talking about the death of her Bangladeshi father in 2004, Choudhury added: “For me, passion comes from grief.”

While Lovedesh’s overarching aim is to encourage consumers to visit more developing countries, Bangladesh is the focus of her business. “I’m trying to smash that perception that there’s not much to Bangladesh,” she said. “I’m trying to redress the balance.”