My first break in direct exporting came many years ago when I participated for the first time in a regional exhibit held at Paskuhan Village in San Fernando, Pampanga.
One of the foreign visitors approached my booth and carefully looked over my woodcraft items. I welcomed him eagerly and took him around my display area. He then introduced himself as a Japanese exporter looking for a supplier.
He liked my baker’s rack and planter, he said, but preferred certain changes. He wondered whether I could produce samples to his specifications before he left for Japan.
I asked him when he was leaving. “In two days,” he replied. When I told him I would finish the samples before his departure, he asked: “Are you sure?” I nodded, adding: “Yes, even if I don’t sleep tonight.”
Rushing back home to Apalit that same afternoon, my designer and I immediately worked on the specs.
The next evening, I was at the lobby of the Japanese businessman’s hotel with the finished samples. I prayed as I waited for him to come down. When he appeared, he examined the products and then asked for my price quotation.
I was caught by surprise and then made mental computations in a hurry.
When I blurted out my prices, the Japanese smiled and asked whether I was sure of the amounts. Nervous, I admitted I had not figured out my prices as this was my first time to export.
The kind buyer understood my predicament and gave me more time to consider my costs. Looking back, I would have lost a lot of money if I didn’t do my math again, this time more carefully.
In the end I booked US $ 8000 worth of orders from him for that first transaction. He was a regular customer for a long, long time.
— Linda Guese, Degame Enterprises, Apalit Pampanga