The Case for Business Bartering

Being a small business owner has always been tough, but it certainly seems tougher in today's economic climate. Most businesses seem to fail during the first year and most aren't considered "legitimate" by the banking industry until you have at least 2 years under your belt. When you consider all of the hats that the small business owner must wear (if only for a short time each day) it is no wonder some things always seem to fall through the proverbial cracks.

I often get asked about mundane tasks such as web site maintenance, daily bookkeeping, marketing, social networking chores and simple IT chores like backup, anti-virus recommendations, etc. If you happen to be a long-time hardcore geek like myself most of these things seem like second nature to you (except for the bookkeeping chores).

Occasionally a small business owner (often in some IT-related field) will ask me about making simple changes to their web site. My response is usually, "Oh, it's not too bad, just make a change to the HTML". This answer usually provokes the head-tilting most usually seen with young puppies when asked why they did something on the rug. I have to remind myself that not every business owner actually PREFERS to do their own web site, create their own marketing, spend hours creating press releases, handouts, etc.

How do we fix this problem? I'm advocating a call for "business bartering". Now, I'm not talking about giving away lots of hard work for free. Bartering is as old as business itself so I'm certainly not breaking any new ground here. There are lots of bartering associations around the country that have very formal rules for participation and I'm sure they work very well. However, I'm advocating a much more laid back approach. In my world, small business owners would trade "favors" and help each other out. If I needed a simple change to my web site I might get help from a web designer who might need help installing a tape drive and backup software.

This informal bartering system will only work when the following conditions are met:

1. Small business owners admit they need help with a specific issue.
2. These same small business owners are willing to help out other small business owners with tasks in which they have expertise.

Could it work, sure. If you have any interest in participating in such a bartering system in the Richmond area, drop me a line.