Trading goes back to the Stone Age when Fred hunted foxes, and Barney made stone axes. Fred offered to trade a fox skin to Barney in return for a stone axe, and the first business deal was consummated.
That was a long time ago, but business operates pretty much the same way today. However, instead of just Fred and Barney, we now have Wilma, Betty, Pebbles, Bam Bam, and millions of others. And we buy our stone axes with cash instead of fox skins.
Cash Flow or No Go
It’s one of the fundamental business axioms. You can be sitting at the top of the heap in terms of market share and gross revenue. But if income isn’t coming in as quickly as expenses go out, your cash flow is eventually going to create a crisis that can threaten the very life of your business.
Maintaining a healthy cash flow means managing your business so that you take advantage of every opportunity to increase revenue or decrease expenses. In times like these, that is a challenge, because fewer opportunities exist. To overcome that challenge, you first need to make sure your basics are sound. But can the Stone Age concept of trading help improve cash flow?
The answer, surprisingly, is yes.
Let’s say John has a company that refills ink cartridges used in small printers. Most of his customers use his cartridges in their home offices. He’d like to advertise to increase his sales, but mass media advertising is expensive, and he’s short of ready cash during the current downturn.
Maggie owns a home business that delivers fresh-baked cookies directly to her customers’ homes. Every week Maggie sends her customers an email telling them what kind of cookie she will be offering.
So, John makes a deal with Maggie – he’ll supply her office printer with ink cartridges. In return, Maggie will recommend John’s ink cartridges in her emails to customers.
Result: many of Maggie’s customers order ink from John, which increases his revenue and cash flow. And Maggie gets cartridges for her office printer, which increases her cash flow.
There’s a place right here in Calgary where you can find almost 300 businesspeople like John and Mary who are ready, willing, and able to make those kinds of deals.
It’s called the Exmerce Exchange Network, and it’s a nexus for trading.
Here’s how it works: a network member buys from you using exclusive Exmerce Dollars as currency. You then use those Exmerce Dollars to purchase products or services from hundreds of other members.
It’s easy, and it works. Find out more by visiting exmerce.ca/how-bartering-works/ today.
