Stan Falk and his father Russell inside TreeHawk Trading Co. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Some people dream of travel to exotic places. Stan Falk turned dreams into reality, and then figured out how to make his travel passion pay for itself.

        After graduating from Marquette University, the New Richmond resident decided to indulge his wanderlust. After hitting the usual destinations in western Europe, Mr. Falk visited eastern Europe and North Africa. From there, he went to southeast Asia. He found these less-traveled regions fascinating as well as wallet-friendly.

        How to finance his travel habit and build on his affinity for the unusual?

        “I've always been kind of entrepreneurial,” Mr. Falk said. “I got the idea that there must be something over there that I could buy and sell over here.”

        When the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997, Mr. Falk saw opportunity. For economic reasons the young man's father, Russell, encouraged him to focus on Indonesia.

        “My father saw a lot of potential in that country,” he explained. “The U.S. dollar is strongest in Indonesia. I went back over there and investigated possible products, from die-cast toys to scrap metal to after-market auto parts.”

IMPORT/EXPORT 101

A few basic tips can make success in exporting more likely, said Stan Falk. Here are some pointers:   1. Take a class. Mr. Falk found a course online that taught the fundamentals of exporting.   2. Know your product inside and out.   3. Learn about the business culture of the country in which you are operating, and learn to function within that culture.   4. Hire a customs agent, who can save you money in the long run by preventing misunderstanding (and even disaster).   5. Learn from others in the field.   6. Assess your competition. Mr. Falk checked out the teak outdoor furniture being sold at much higher prices through upscale catalog companies and feels confident his products are as good or better.   7. Use your promotional dollars wisely.   Treehawk Trading is a public radio underwriter and cultivates potential customers at the Home and Garden Show as well as the Cincinnati Flower Show.   Treehawk Trading Co. is at 11430 Montgomery Road and can be reached at 469-0123.

        About that time, a family friend expressed an interest in importing outdoor teak furniture to Cincinnati.

        So Mr. Falk learned everything he could about teak, from its natural water-repellent qualities to its hardiness and beauty. He visited the plantations on which it is grown and the factories where the furniture is made.

        “The exportation of teak furniture is one of Indonesia's largest industries,” explained Marcia Falk, Stan Falk's mother. “There's no danger of deforestation; wood is grown specifically for export and is regulated by the government to make sure the supply of teak will be sustainable.”

        Mrs. Falk, who says she's learned a lot from her son, added that the Indonesian government requires all teak exported be in the form of a finished product.

        “This approach maximizes the amount of hard currency entering the country and provides many badly needed jobs for the local people,” she said.

        The family kept in touch through e-mailwhile Stan Falk was in Indonesia to supervise the entire manufacturing process.

        “He actually sits and watches wood taken from the "A' stack, then watches the furniture being built, and then watches it being loaded into the container,” said Russell Falk.

        It was a good thing that Stan Falk's parents shared his enthusiasm for his export venture, because they ended up being part of it. As their son was in Indonesia supervising the production of his first lot of furniture, his contact in Cincinnati fell through. Russell Falk advised him to ship the furniture anyway, and sell it himself. He and Marcia got on the telephone to see if they could set up a tent in a shopping center and sell from there.

        “The shopping centers didn't want to talk to us,” she said. “They acted like we were a bunch of gypsies.”

        Russell found a small retail space at Harper's Crossing on Montgomery Road and secured a short lease. He came up with the name Treehawk Trading Co. And he began getting the word out that his son would soon offer outdoor teak furniture at factory-direct prices.

        A few other family members were uncertain that the public would believe in the quality of teak furniture that was priced hundreds of dollars under the competition, but Stan Falk stood his ground.

        “He likes the idea that he can get something at a good price and sell it at a good price,” his mother explained.

        A year of successful sales has validated his philosophy.

        “The store opened on June 6, 2000,” Marcia Falk recounted. “Stan knew he must be on to something when people started buying as the furniture was being unloaded. Since nothing was priced and the credit card machine wasn't online, things got fairly chaotic.”

        Since its opening, Treehawk Trading Co. has developed a steady clientele and shown that there is a market for outdoor furniture, one that begins in early spring and lasts until the onset of winter. Stan Falk is adjusting his inventory to the Cincinnati market.

        “I started with table sets and loungers,” he said. “But there's been a huge demand for benches, especially 4-foot benches. I wish I had known.”

        Stan Falk has learned more about his market through conversations with customers and feedback from those who visited his booth at this year's Home and Garden and Cincinnati Flower shows. He renewed his lease at Harper's Crossing and is looking for a second location, probably in Hyde Park. He is developing a sense of where to spend his promotional dollars.

        And he's still traveling, mostly to Indonesia, where he has developed personal friendships as well as business contacts.

        “I speak Indonesian pretty well for a kid from New Richmond, and I understand the culture,” he said. “If you speak their language and eat their food, it dispels the impression of Western arrogance.”

        “For Stan, that's part of the fun of it,” his mother explained.
       

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