• You get additional business that otherwise you wouldn’t get.
• You can move your excess or old stock of goods.
•  You can exchange your goods during your slow period for services/goods that you need.
• If you have cash flow problems or limited capital, you can use bartering as a strategic tool to acquire needed services.
• You can buy media exposure (ads on TV, radio, Internet, etc.) by exchanging your goods and services to pay for your ads in the media. This has the potential to dramatically increase your sales.

Most bartering companies, or exchanges as they are also known, organise regular networking events that help you make local contacts and help promote your business. It usually will cost you a few hundred dollars to join a barter exchange. You should return that investments in 3 months if you plan your involvement in a bartering network well.

You can find bartering companies searching on the Net or you can find a few in the Yellow Pages. These are some of the things to remember when you are looking for a bartering company:

•  Make sure that the bartering exchange offers a lot of products and services you are prepared to exchange your goods/services for.
• That the barter exchange has a lot of companies willing to accept 100% barter for each transaction.
• That there is a time and money equivalency between your products/services and the other parties’ goods/services. This means that both parties have to compare the money value of the goods they want to exchange, and they will have to match fairly well in terms of their value for the barter to be a win-win situation for all parties included.
• Make sure that your bartering exchange has a fully computerised system for tracking transactions.
• Make sure your bartering partner is not in financial trouble or seeks bankruptcy, or otherwise you may have problems receiving the goods or services promised to you. You can always check your barter’s partner credit rating on Baycorp.
• You have to account for tax purposes each barter transaction. Bartering is considered a sale for tax purposes. Check with your accountant for more details about the tax implications of bartering.
• Find relevant bartering partners. The good thing about being in the hospitality business is that almost any other type of business can do with your services (catering, hosting events and conferences, business lunches and dinners, etc) or your goods (coffee, food, wine, beer, etc.).
•  Barter exchanges are profit driven companies, so make sure that you shop around for the best benefits and membership fees. Make sure you complete due diligence and company searches with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (or the Better Business Bureau if you are in the United States or Canada).
• You shouldn’t pay more than 6% service charge for each barter transaction.

For more resources on bartering click here Bartering