"To kill two birds with one stone.

Back in the day, I was the sole distributor for Singapore Singtel’s pfingo calling system in Myanmar. Initially, the official representative for Myanmar was a man named Mr. Kumar, based at Peninsula Plaza. When I first entered the industry and contacted Singtel directly, they wouldn't accept me; they instructed me to work under Kumar instead. So, I had to purchase from him.

However, a problem arose: I was the one handling the wire transfers to Singapore and resolving all the airport import issues, yet he was the one holding the title of 'Sole Distributor.' This situation became increasingly frustrating for me. Once I had captured about 70% of the market through pfingo sales, I launched my own internet-based calling system (VOIP) called Ko Ko Talk, alongside Skype.

I offered free trials of Ko Ko Talk to customers who came to buy pfingo, selling it at a much lower price. Thanks to the persuasiveness of our sales team and our distribution network in regional towns, it became a success. Eventually, I stopped selling pfingo altogether and advised all incoming customers to purchase either Skype or Ko Ko Talk instead.

I purchased bulk calling minutes from two telecommunications companies—one in the Marshall Islands and another in a UK-owned territory near Europe. By buying in large volumes, the cost per minute was extremely low. I bought the VOIP CLI on a 'price-per-second' basis but resold it to customers on a 'per-minute' basis.

So, where did my profits come from?

1. Bulk Purchasing: I secured the calling time at very low wholesale prices.

2. Billing Increments: By selling to customers in minutes, if a customer spoke for 1 minute and 3 seconds, they were charged for 2 minutes. This rounding-up created a significant margin.

3. Breakage: I sold calling cards in $10, $20, and $50 denominations. Customers often lost their cards or simply didn't use the full balance—about 30% of sales went unused within a month. This was pure profit.

4. Exchange Rate Gains: Finally, since I purchased the airtime in USD and resold it based on daily exchange rates—and the dollar rate in Myanmar was almost always rising—I gained significantly from the currency fluctuation.

Essentially, for every $1,000 in sales, it felt like I was making a 50% profit.