u/abhiinow

I was watching a few interviews of CXOs of billion-dollar companies on YT & they actually say this stuff pretty openly.

They’re always evaluating suppliers.

Always looking for new ones.

Always replacing some.

Around the same time, I had just managed to crack one of my first very serious clients, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Not saying this to brag, just sharing context.

Even the best suppliers don’t last forever. They get rotated, replaced, or paused. Which means there’s always space.

But instead of chasing buyers randomly, I started asking:

• Where do these companies actually find suppliers?

• Who are they currently buying from, and how did those suppliers get in, what are the filters?

• When they need something slightly different, customisations, tweaks, changes, where do they go?

You stop looking at exports as “find a buyer → send emails”.

Instead you start seeing is a food chain.

Where:

• suppliers keep entering and exiting

• procurement teams keep scanning

• and opportunities are always circulating

Most people miss it because it feels obvious.

But once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Every business already sits somewhere in that chain.

You just have to look closely, understand it properly, find your spot, and take it.

10 Export activities that feel like productivity… but don’t make you money. My 10 posts, capsuled into one..

1. Finding more buyers:

Reached out to 200, nothing converted.

2. Sending samples without a clear next step:

Samples are sent it feels like yey, but later there is silence on the other side.

It happens more often than people admit.

3. Adjusting pricing every deal:

Different price for different buyer. To be "flexible".

Mostly there's a lack of control.

4. Responding to every inquiry:

Quick replies, full attention without buyer qualification.

You end up spending time where nothing was going to happen anyway.

5. Same pitch for everyone:

Same everything, same everywhere.

Different buyers, but you sound identical everywhere.

6. Depending on one person:

One person handles exports is too much dependency. If they leave everything slows down all at once.

7. Looking at activity instead of outcomes:

More calls, more emails, more follow-ups. Still not clear what’s actually working.

8. Taking every order:

You say yes because you need the business.

Then you are stuck with terms you wouldn’t choose again.

9. Blaming the market

“Market slow hai.”, “Too much competition.”

Maybe, you’re still figuring out how buyers actually decide.

10. Assuming it’s a reach problem:

Generally it is not.

Be mindful, who you’re choosing to spend time with.

PS:- Want sharp feedback in a blunt way, because it will help your business? DM me your LinkedIn, I'll give you solutions too.

PPS- It's only for serious, active exporters or atleast the ambitious with ample capital runway.