BRX Pro Tip: How To Do Barter Right
Stone Payton : [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I know there’s a lot of talks, and I’ve seen some activity here in my area with small business people, in particular, entering into barter arrangements and bartering services. What are your thoughts on barter?
Lee Kantor: [00:00:19] Well, a lot of folks, especially when they’re just starting out, when you have more time than money, barter seems like a good plan. It kind of creates a win-win that everybody’s working together. But in order to do it right, in order to create that really win-win, you got to have some ground rules and really hold each other accountable to it.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] So when you decide to partner with another business person as a barter, rather than each of you financially buying each other’s services, it’s super important to do this one thing at the beginning, or else you’re going to have trouble down the road. And that one thing is to set clear expectations about how each of you will benefit from each other’s services.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] For example, at Business RadioX, you know, when we were starting out, sometimes we would let partners leverage our platform to build their network. In exchange for that, we ask that as they are building their network, they use their network to help us grow the number of sponsors we have. And we would create regular check-ins to make sure that each of our efforts is bearing fruit. And if they’re not, we either adjust it or we discontinue the barter.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:22] I mean, it has to work for both people. It’s important to create the expectations and the guidelines and what is required from each of you. And if it gets out of whack, then don’t be afraid to end it and then move on. You know, it doesn’t have to be some big confrontation or big – or somebody’s doing something evil. It’s just not working out. And you can still be friends. But it’s important to have those clear expectations, have some accountability check-ins, and then adjust accordingly.
