Using a boilerplate to start a module will help with your problems with exportation and ultimate truth.

The trick to using such templates is to make them congenial; make your own. Avoid building a template which is more comprehensive than you will be willing to alter.

Here is what I'm currently using, minus pod.

package XXX_name;

use 5.008004;
use strict;
use warnings;

require Exporter;

our $VERSION = '0.01';

use Carp;

use vars ( 'XXX_exported', '@EXPORT' );  ## no critic
use base qw/ Exporter /;

@EXPORT = qw/ XXX_exported /;

XXX_code_here

1;
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Be well,
rir