To Galypso International CEO Joaquin Galan, luck is the exact moment when opportunity meets preparation. For him, that preparation took more than 20 years and cost him four failed businesses. Out of the ashes of those failed business ideas and amid a sea of credit card debt, however, Galan started an export company with his family's last $1,000. Today, the Mexico City native runs six-year-old Galypso International (No. 3,020 on the 2007 Inc. 5,000), a $13 million export company with his wife, Crystin McCormick-Galan, out of their home in San Antonio, Texas.

I was born in Mexico City. My father was an entrepreneur renting commercial properties; he [also] was a Kodak dealer when Kodak first entered the Mexican market.

My first business was selling candy in my elementary school yard when I was eight. I was not too successful -- simply because I gave most of the candy to my friends.

When I was 15, my father passed away and I took the reigns of the family. Unfortunately, when the Mexican government nationalized, all currency was converted from the dollar to the peso. Virtually overnight we went from upper middle class to middle lower class. I worked odd jobs to help support the family. For almost a year I worked in a screw factory, cleaning the bathrooms and the machines.

In 1994, I applied and was selected by the then-third-largest American automotive supplier, Dana Corporation, to help them sell products to Mexico and Central and South America. This was a dream come true because I always wanted to study in America and bring whatever I learned back to Mexico. Furthermore, Dana agreed to pay for half of my master's degree.

When I finished my MBA program with Indiana Wesleyan University, the political and economic climate in Mexico City was too dangerous for my young family and me. I accepted a sales representative position with Dekko, an industrial manufacturing company and moved to El Paso, Texas.

On a weekend trip to Guadalajara, I, on a whim, brought back a truckload of furniture and Mexican art, and decided to open a furniture store in Chicago, where my sister lived. Unfortunately, after the first year, we had lost all of our savings and had huge credit card debit from trying to keep the business afloat. After one year, we boarded up the doors.

Despite my lack of success, I realized I had developed a keen sense for finding solutions for my sales customers, and I began looking for advancements in the Mexican market that U.S. companies were not taking advantage of.

A problem with many U.S. companies interested in doing business in Central and South America is an inability to understand the culture. A lot of companies trying to do business with Hispanic countries know Spanish but few understand the culture. Companies almost must have a "sub-department" -- a department within a major department responsible for making sure the company understands the culture -- to sell internationally.

In 2001, I went home to visit Mexico City, and I ran into a purchasing manager who was looking for a lower cost part for his $100 million air conditioning business, a lower cost part that would help reduce the amount of corrosion on his air conditioners. I offered him a solution: I knew a small U.S. manufacturer who made the part. The gentleman accepted. This was the birth of Galypso. I used our last $1,000 to fill the first order of 1,000 special air condition screws.

Our first line of business credit was from Wells Fargo for $6,000. Because our personal credit was shot, we lived on this money. Despite pennies coming in from our new business and having a six-month-old baby, after two months of operations, I quit my job and did Galypso full-time.

You do not need a full marketing team to be successful with Mexican or South American companies. Our marketing was door-to-door sales and cold-calling companies, soliciting their business.

In 2001, we began doing business with independently owned Coca-Cola subsidiaries in Queretaro, Mexico, exporting machine repair tools.

We were challenged in the early stages of working with Coca-Cola because they were reluctant to work with a two-person company, conducting business out of their home. But, we blew them away, and they in turn passed the word around.

It is not surprising that many U.S. companies stay away from doing business with Central or South American businesses. Either because the demand volume does not justify the expenses or because of the heightened risk. Many U.S. companies are concerned about the economic ramifications involved with doing business internationally; we serve as a domestic partner paying the American vendors in their terms and in turn receive payment from the Central and South American companies.

As a two-person team and with two babies, we have done over $13 million in sales over the six years and conduct business in over six countries, and we just hired our first employee -- an administrative assistant to help with bookkeeping data entry.

The greatest satisfaction for me is knowing that I am helping entrepreneurs in both Mexico and the U.S. Currently the U.S. is operating at a negative trade balance: the number of imports is more than the number of exports. On average, we account for $5.5 million in trades to the U.S. On the other side of the coin, we provide Mexican companies with a cost effective solution and help them communicate their needs.

I am living my dream of helping my country. Despite the economic pleasure attached to owning a business, for me, it's more about adding value.