10 ways to improve your business
TRANSCRIPT
10 ways
to improve
your business
1300 BARTER
1300 227 837
bartercard.com.au/10ebook
Action is the foundational key to all success.
Pablo Picasso
Those who succeed with Bartercard understand the benefits that Bartercard can offer and have mastered and put into
action a number of business techniques. Firstly…
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Build your business potential with Bartercard
What is Bartercard? Bartercard is a trading system where you can barter your goods and services within the Bartercard business network.
Put simply, the network (of over 20,000 members in Australia) is designed to assist businesses to improve cash flow and reduce cash expenses through the use of modern bartering. Gone are the days of swapping a cow for a pig or a chicken for a goat. The power of modern bartering is that you can improve your profits using our virtual currency that allows you to swap goods or services indirectly with any business within the network. This quick guide to bartering will show you the power of the Bartercard trade dollar and how businesses use Bartercard to take action and achieve their business potential. Let’s get started…
10 ways to improve your business with Bartercard…
1. Gain more customers
Most businesses employ sales people, advertise, reduce prices or offer incentives to gain more customers. By using
Bartercard you gain more customers by promoting your business directly to the membership base through the many
sales channels including the online directory, Mobile phone app, auction site, online store, local eNewsletter and by
building relationships at the networking events. It’s like having an extra marketing arm in your business and this directly
results in increasing your sales opportunities and creating cash referral business.
“Bartercard has helped me to gain more customers, which has helped me to fill some of the downtime in our business
and the Bartercard members are always willing to recommend my service. I find that after doing a job for a Bartercard
member I generally get a cash referral job too. Basically I am expanding my client base without trying too hard”
Barry van Peppen, Peppers Entertainment
Could you use more customers in your business?
2. The power of Bartercard trade dollars
The true essence and power of Bartercard is the “purchasing power” of your product or service. When you purchase in
Bartercard, you are effectively spending with your excess product and/ or service. Therefore, your purchasing discount is
inbuilt into your margin.
Therefore if it costs you 35c in the dollar to provide your product or service, then for every $100 trade you spend it really only costs you $35. So you are in fact buying at a 65% discount!
Wouldn’t you prefer to purchase business or lifestyle items at 65% discount?
That is a lot of extra cash to re-invest into your business each year.
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3. Reduce your cash expenses
The way to maximise your purchasing discount is to look at all the current expenses that you have in your business such
as advertising, bookkeeping, legal, printing, graphic designers, business lunches etc. By using business members within
the Bartercard network you can pay for these expenses with trade dollars instead of cash.
To give you a snapshot - Bartercard currently has 500 advertising/media companies like radio and magazines,188
bookkeepers, 294 printers, 1,570 restaurants and cafes and 216 graphic designers! The spending options for your
business are enormous; therefore your cash savings are also enormous.
“I took action and sat down to work out what my business expenses were and then started to search for Bartercard
suppliers who could help. About 50% of my business expenses I now pay using Bartercard, this is a huge cash
saving!”
Murray Barnes, Webtrix Technologies
Would you like to reduce the cash expenses within your business without sacrificing quality?
4. Sell excess stock
In order to sell excess stock, a business will typically discount stock, run dealer promotions or sadly write it off. By using
Bartercard, you sell excess stock at the normal selling price avoiding the need to reduce your profit margins. You can
promote your excess stock on the Bartercard auction site, online store, hold an open day at your business for Bartercard
members, promote your goods in the eNewsletter or book a stand at a trade show.
“The Bartercard system guarantees enough sales to be able to clear out any excess stock. That’s not just good in
terms of sales and income; it also helps the business run smoothly and with less hassle.”
Roger Amir, Mitronics Would you like to gain a better price for your excess or discontinued stock?
5. Capture lost revenue
Most businesses have a certain amount of downtime, be it on certain days or at certain times of the year with the flux of
seasonal trends. Bartercard’s goal is to assist you to gain additional customers to utilise business downtime. For
example, hairdressers may fill empty spots in their diaries, restaurateurs may fill empty tables, hotels may fill empty
rooms, and professionals may fill empty appointments with additional Bartercard customers. By filling downtime you are
effectively gaining revenue that you would otherwise have lost or missed out on.
“Our business has the capacity to build eight websites a week which we were not achieving so we joined
Bartercard to fill the downtime. We were paying our staff anyway but now we are gaining extra income and can
use the trade dollars to purchase hardware and then depreciate it as a capital expense.”
Steve Donald & Trevor Kenny, Directors – Webarena
How much downtime do you have in your business?
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6. Interest free line of credit
Bartercard members receive an interest free line of credit ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 trade dollars which allows them
to make purchases immediately upon joining the Bartercard network. This interest free line of credit allows you to
continue to grow your business even during times when your cash flow has slowed, and without incurring crippling
interest rates.
“Using the interest free line of credit, we have been able to make some great improvements to our restaurant. We
have bought a new stove, new deep fryer, two new wood heaters and put on a new shop front, we couldn’t have
done this without the Bartercard interest free line of credit”
Gary Webb, Restaurant owner
Would an interest free line of credit assist your business?
7. Increase your marketing budget to gain a competitive edge
Due to the state of the economy many businesses have had to cut their marketing budgets. Members of Bartercard are at
an advantage as they are able to use their trade dollars to pay for advertising, promotional items, sponsorships, public
relations and more. By using trade dollars for advertising and promotions you effectively have the power to make your
business stand out from the competition.
“We spend a lot of our trade dollars on radio and print advertising as this brings us a lot of cash business!”
Gabriele Saccardo, La Scala Italian Restaurant
What advertising and promotions could you do within your business?
8 Build business networks
Bartercard is a membership based network that hosts many local and national networking events. They are designed to
provide introductions for you. Through new contacts business is constantly being conducted and additional new cash
referral business is gained as a result of new connections.
“Networking is important and I find the best business ideas come from talking to other Bartercard members. They
think big and do things differently. My advice is to take the opportunity to meet other business owners at the various
networking events. You’ll learn a great deal about Bartercard and also about running a successful business.”
Wayne Manfield, Maverick Partnership Have you considered the benefits that networking would offer you and your business?
9. Improve your lifestyle
Let’s face it; being in business has a lot to do with achieving a better lifestyle for you and your family. The great thing
about Bartercard is that we can help you to achieve your lifestyle goals. You can choose to use your trade dollars, along
with your interest free line of credit, to pay for lifestyle expenses, such as a much needed holiday, dining out, clothing,
entertainment, gym memberships, massages, and many more lifestyle items.
“Bartercard works for our business and also gives us a better quality of life. We can do things we wouldn’t normally be
able to do. We dine out once a week and take all our holidays on Bartercard. The kids love it!”
Rose Mastro, AJM Electrics
Is now the time to take that much needed holiday to Fiji or book your next weekend away?
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10. Build wealth with real estate
Bartercard members have the added benefit of purchasing property with trade dollars. It is an effective way to build an
investment portfolio, increase your wealth and ultimately, convert trade dollars into cash upon the sale of a property.
Real estate through Bartercard is listed at the same price as the cash market, but with a trade dollar component of
20-30 percent. This represents a huge cash saving, not to mention the interest saved.
To view current listings visit: www.bartercard.com.au/real-estate.
“We have bought three properties through Bartercard, two residential and one commercial. All are held in
superannuation, and being “in the business of financial planning”, we have followed the wealth-creation advice we often
give to clients as this will secure our financial future.”
Howard Pelquest-Hunt, Business -2-business financial planner
Is building an investment portfolio part of your long term goal?
Bartercard is a great way to push your business forward.
You just have to trust it and trade.
Tom Hardy, Thomas Hardy Wines
Congratulations on reading our guide: 10 ways to improve your business.
We hope that we have inspired you to take action in your business by providing you with more information
about the benefits of Bartercard.
To talk to our friendly staff please call 1300 BARTER (1300 227 837) or visit
www.bartercard.com.au/10ebook to complete our enquiry form.
We would love the opportunity to help you to achieve your business and lifestyle goals and look forward to
speaking with you soon.
1300 BARTER
bartercard.com.au/10ebook