Barter is a way of conducting business by utilizing trades instead of cash. It’s nothing new…. been around for centuries. Any savvy businessperson would always have a barter option available in their business plan. It’s the most elemental concept in business and I can’t stress enough how long it has been in practice.
Granted, we live in an electronic age of emails, shopping on the web, debit cards and smart phones. That doesn’t mean we can’t barter! The act of barter is the same; we just have to track it electronically instead of in paper ledger books as 100 years ago. And, I belie that most businesses are cutting themselves short by ignoring this basic business option. Just because it’s “old” doesn’t mean it’s broken!
The recession has proved to be staggering by the numbers…number of business laying off employees, number of businesses closing, number of brainstorming sessions to try and save a struggling business. Why not count the number of trades your business makes each week to save cash flow? How about the number of man-hours saved by utilizing trade? How about the number of vendor orders you had to place because of inventory turn over from barter?
Barter has survived the ages for several reasons. The biggest reason is…because it works! Add it to your business plan, utilize the advantages it gives your business and watch your business thrive.
