Risky Business?

Names and ages: Michael Howarth, 47, (pictured on the left) and Henry Mohrschladt, 54

Company name and description: Cabo Yachts Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of sportfishing boats.

Honorable mention: In June, Cabo won the SBA's 1998 Exporter of the Year award, thanks to implementing creative overseas marketing plans, overcoming exporting glitches, developing solid trading partners and quickly increasing export profits.

Based: Adelanto, California

Founded: 1991

Start-up costs: $710,000

1997 sales: $20 million (approximately $4 million of which was from international business)

1998 projections: $25 million

Setting sail: Cabo's first export was to Japan in 1994, after an intense year-long ad campaign to generate interest from customers and dealers. The company realized its first profits that same year.

International waters: Cabo currently exports to 13 countries, including Ecuador, Greece, Italy, Kenya and Saipan. "Wherever there is warm, deep, clear water and fish, there are people enthusiastic about offshore sportfishing," says Mohrschladt.

Global interest: Mohrschladt says most of the world is still untouched by Cabo, and export revenues increase every year by about $1.9 million.

This article was originally published in the October 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Risky Business?.