In today’s economy, business owners face much more than the usual challenges.  In addition to keeping their own costs in check, they face an unstable economy filled with buyers who have tightened purse strings to acquire only the essentials.

To maintain a healthy bottom line, business owners have gotten creative.

Enter Missoula’s We Trade Network. 

Founded in 2000 by Karen Welch, and three partners, the We Trade Network is comprised of approximately 300 members who trade goods and services with one another in order to market their businesses, and keep the cost of doing business low.

“Business owners open an account, and we then advertise the goods and services they will offer as part of the trade network,” says Welch.  “They pay for the products and services they need with their own products and services.”

Business-to-business barter is nothing new.  The concept sprung up in the 1960s as a way for businesses to maintain lean ledger sheets while still affording the goods and services that might otherwise require out-of-pocket expense. 

Whether it’s the advice of a certified public accountant, a Web designer, a computer technician, or the aid of janitorial services, We Trade enables business owners to afford things that help them run a better business. 

“Many of our members use trade dollars to acquire the expertise of a specialist that might otherwise be a splurge, such as a social media expert,” says Welch.  

In this way, she says, they are gaining a business edge without breaking the bank or assuming unnecessary risks. 

“Cash is down, but the need to find more creative ways to do business is always present - especially now,” she says.

Trading is dollar for dollar.  A business owner accumulates a dollar for each dollar of merchandise or service they sell.   

“We just ask that everyone offer their goods and services the same as cash,” Welch says. “They do not, however, have to offer sale-price on a trade.”

The obvious benefit for businesses that practice keystone markup on products (an item purchased for $50 and sold for $100) is the built-in discount on everything purchased with We Trade dollars.

Trades are managed electronically, making it a seamless accounting for Internal Revenue Service reporting.   Welch says the system automatically generates a 1099 tax form for each business. 

We Trade dollars help defray the cost of doing business, but they also allow owners to pass dollars off as employee benefits.

Several businesses in the network have set up sub-accounts for employees to reward good, or long-standing, work.   

 

When Betty’s Divine owner Aimee McQuilkin opened her retail clothing, shoe, and accessory emporium on Missoula’s Hip Strip five years ago, she immediately loved the idea of business-to-business bartering because she saw its potential for  marketing her store to a broader audience.  

She also saw it as a way to retain employees in a fickle retail climate.   

“The marketing value of We Trade is something you really cannot buy,” says McQuilkin.  “But it’s also a way to reward employees for their hard work.” 

The perky retailer bounties employees with quarterly We Trade dollar bonuses of around 5 percent of earnings.

She says it’s a good way for her to say ‘thank you’ to employees, and keep them happy - oftentimes a challenge in retail.

“You figure, they are the face of your business, so you want it to be a happy face,” she says.

 

According to Welch, one local We Trade member offers her product to the membership, then takes the income from product sales to fund a wellness program for her employees.  

“It’s a benefit to all of her staff that she uses trade to reinvest in them,” she says. 

It could be as simple as a trip to the Children’s museum with the kids, a new haircut, or a slew of vitamins.

But many businesses use We Trade dollars to make travel arrangements to market goods and services to a broader audience.

Huckleberry People acquire new business through attendance at food and gift trade shows.  During the height of their six-month selling season, business travel can send teams of employees out of town for two weeks out of each month.

Through the National Association of Trade Exchanges, they are able to step outside the home network, and offer their products in trade for hotel rooms, food, and other business-related travel expenses.

“It’s another stable currency that was developed just to deal with other barter companies,” says Welch.  It’s the same as local member-to-member trading, she says, but it’s barter-to-barter trading.

Daily emails sent out to members announce the goods and services that business owners are trying to sell - not only in the 300 member network, but across the nation with other NATE members. 

 

McQuilkin uses We Trade dollars to take quarterly buying trips to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but she just returned from a personal getaway to San Francisco, with a stay at a tony Union Square hotel. 

We Trade dollars help enhance her time out of the store too, she says.   

“We’ve gotten tickets to shows in Vegas, a hot tub for the backyard., and we’re renting a ski boat for the July fourth weekend,” she says.  

Welch says The International Reciprocal Trade Association has the potential to transcend national barter boundaries. With 11 new trade exchanges on board, the IRTA offers members things beyond their wildest dreams, and certainly beyond their own backyard.   

 

“We just sent someone to New Zealand for a vacation farm stay,” she says. “Those are the things about trade that are fun to talk about.” 

Welch says her priority is serving local membership, but with years of experience in other networks, she is now involved in helping NATE set benchmarks among trade and barter networks nationwide.  

“My focus is on setting standards so (networks) are all doing the same thing, and it is seamless,” she says. 

Lori Grannis may be reached at 360-8788 or llgrannis@gmail.com .