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1.3 Diagnosing your export capacity

It is not enough that your product is exportable: your company must be able to produce, finance and deliver. Learn to measure seven areas, calculate your exportable capacity and decide whether to go ahead, adjust or wait.

Module 1: Is your product exportable? · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Calculate your export capacity and the working capital of an order, and rate seven areas to decide whether to go ahead, adjust or wait.

That your product is exportable does not mean your company is ready to export it. Export capacity is what your company can do, repeatedly, to deliver to a buyer abroad: produce the volume, keep the quality, finance the order, manage the sale and deliver on time. The diagnosis is the exercise of measuring that capacity honestly before you promise anything. In module 2 you will do the full diagnosis of the company; here you do the quick filter to decide whether to go ahead.

Assess seven areas. Production: how much you can produce per month and how much of that is free. Quality: whether you have standards, batch records and control. Finance: whether you have working capital, that is, the money to operate while you are not yet paid. Management: who leads export sales and whether that person can respond on time in the buyer's language. Market: whether you know buyers, prices and competitors. Logistics and documents: packaging, transport and paperwork. Formalization: active RUC with “habido” (located) status, invoices and permits up to date.

Rate each area 0 (you do not meet it), 1 (you partly meet it) or 2 (you meet it). With seven areas, the maximum is 14. This score is not an official standard: it is a tool from this course to organize your decision. From 0 to 5, you are not ready yet; from 6 to 10, you are almost ready and must close gaps; from 11 to 14, you can move ahead. The finance and quality areas often weigh more, because they are the ones that make a first order fail. Write down the evidence for each score: a document, a record or a figure.

Two calculations clear up a lot. The first is your exportable capacity: your maximum capacity, minus a safety margin (for example, between 10% and 20%), minus what you already sell in Peru. If the result is lower than the order, do not promise that lead time. The second is the working capital needed: what you will spend from the moment you produce until you get paid, minus the buyer's advance payments. If your cash is not enough, you have a gap that you can close with advances, credit or smaller orders. Payment methods and financing are covered in the course on Finance, Costs and Payment Methods.

If your capacity is small, do not wait to grow before you start. You can test the market with small shipments, for example with Serpost's Exporta Fácil service, designed for micro and small entrepreneurs. And if the diagnosis shows gaps, turn them into tasks with an owner and a date. A diagnosis that ends in “we need to improve” is useless; one that ends in “Ana will do this before 30/11” is useful.

Key ideas

An exportable product does not guarantee a ready company: measure production, quality, finance, management, market, logistics and formalization.
Rate each area 0, 1 or 2 and keep the evidence. The course score is a guide for deciding, not an official standard.
Exportable capacity = maximum capacity minus safety margin minus your current sales. If it is lower than the order, do not promise the lead time.
Calculate working capital: you spend before you get paid, so your cash must cover the order minus advances.
Turn each gap into a task with an owner and a date; if you are small, test the market with small shipments such as Exporta Fácil.

Area	Key question	Evidence you review	Warning sign
Production	How much can I deliver per month without neglecting my current customers?	Installed capacity and current sales	The order exceeds your exportable capacity
Quality	Can I repeat the same quality batch after batch?	Technical sheets, batch records, tests	Every batch comes out different
Finance	Can I hold out until I get paid?	Cash flow and the buyer's advances	Cash does not cover the order
Management	Is there someone responsible who answers quickly and in the buyer's language?	Designated person and response times	Everything depends on one person who has no time
Market	Do I know buyers, prices and competitors?	List of contacts and reference prices	No buyer identified
Logistics and documents	Do I know how my product will reach the buyer?	Tested packaging and contact with a freight forwarder or customs agent	Packaging never tested
Formalization	Am I up to date with my obligations?	Active RUC with “habido” (located) status, invoices, permits	RUC with “no habido” (not located) status

Worked example

Tejidos Altiplano measures its capacity for an order of 960 scarves

Tejidos Altiplano E.I.R.L., from Puno, weaves alpaca scarves. A shop in Denver orders 960 scarves at US$ 28.00 each, FOB. The company produces at most 1,200 scarves a month and sells 700 in shops and fairs in Peru. Before accepting, it measures its capacity.
Exportable capacity: take a safety margin of 15%. Safe capacity: 1,200 × 0.85 = 1,020 scarves. Subtract the sales in Peru: 1,020 − 700 = 320 scarves free per month. For 960 it needs 960 ÷ 320 = 3 months. It cannot promise delivery in 30 days.
Margin: the sale adds up to 960 × US$ 28.00 = US$ 26,880.00. The cost delivered at the port or airport is US$ 19.50 per scarf, that is, 960 × 19.50 = US$ 18,720.00. The profit is US$ 8,160.00, a margin of 8,160 ÷ 26,880 = 30.4% on the sale.
Working capital: the buyer offers a 30% advance, which is US$ 8,064.00. The company must put in 18,720.00 − 8,064.00 = US$ 10,656.00 from its own cash. It has US$ 7,000.00 available, so there is a gap of 10,656.00 − 7,000.00 = US$ 3,656.00.
Other areas: quality is controlled by eye, with no technical sheet or batch record (1 point). Only the owner deals with buyers and she speaks basic English (1 point). She has never worked with a freight forwarder (1 point). She already has a buyer and a price (2 points) and her RUC is active and “habido” (2 points).
Score: production 1, quality 1, finance 0, management 1, market 2, logistics and documents 1, formalization 2. Total: 1 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 8 out of 14. It is in the range of 6 to 10: almost ready, with gaps to close.
Plan: negotiate a 50% advance, which is US$ 13,440.00, so the company puts in 18,720.00 − 13,440.00 = US$ 5,280.00 and its US$ 7,000.00 is enough. In addition, prepare the technical sheet and batch record within two weeks, assign someone to support the owner with emails, and ask a freight forwarder for a quotation. Owners and dates are put in writing.

Result: Tejidos Altiplano is almost ready to export. The margin is enough, but it must ask for a three-month lead time, negotiate a larger advance and put quality and management in order before accepting the order.

Real cases

Thousands of Peruvian companies already export

12/2024

The PROMPERÚ monthly report for December 2024 states that 9,750 Peruvian companies exported in 2024, of which 8,312 sold non-traditional products. Total exports for the year came to US$ 74,664 million. Exporting is an activity of thousands of companies, not of a few.

Exporting is not only for large companies: what matters is to measure your capacity and close your gaps.

Source: PROMPERÚ – Informe mensual de las exportaciones, diciembre 2024

In the textile sector, most companies export less than US$ 100 thousand

12/2024

In the same PROMPERÚ report, the textile sector appears with 1,823 exporting companies. Of these, 1,195 are in the range of less than US$ 100 thousand and 468 between US$ 100 thousand and US$ 1 million. That is, about two out of three (65.6%) export less than US$ 100 thousand.

You can start with small volumes, as long as each order fits your exportable capacity.

Source: PROMPERÚ – Informe mensual de las exportaciones, diciembre 2024

Exporta Fácil: a first step for micro and small entrepreneurs

2026

SUNAT presents Exporta Fácil as an export promotion mechanism for micro and small entrepreneurs, which allows them to export through Serpost. The value of the goods cannot exceed US$ 7,500 or 30 kg in weight. Individuals or companies with an active RUC that do not have “no hallado” (not found) or “no habido” (not located) status can use it.

If your capacity is small, test the market with shipments within that limit and confirm the current conditions on the SUNAT portal.

Source: SUNAT – Orientación aduanera: Exporta Fácil

Common mistakes

Measuring capacity by the plant's maximum output. Avoid it: subtract a safety margin and what you already sell in Peru before promising a volume.
Forgetting that you spend before you get paid. Avoid it: calculate working capital from the purchase of inputs to payment, and subtract the buyer's advances.
Diagnosing only production and leaving out management, documents and formalization. Avoid it: review all seven areas, because any one of them can stop the order.
Accepting a lead time or a volume you cannot meet so as not to lose the sale. Avoid it: offer what you can actually deliver; a failure to deliver can close the door with that buyer.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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