What do you do when you have a service that somebody wants and they offer to exchange their services for it? Maybe you want their services, maybe you don’t, but you just aren’t quite sure what to say, so you agree. Or perhaps you were the one to initiate it?
If you were to be brutally honest, did both parties to the transaction actually really want / need the service, or was the agreement entered into because one of you didn’t have the courage to say “no” and wanted to be nice or liked by the other person?
Just because the government thinks bartering is a taxable transaction (oh yes they do!!!! ) doesn’t mean it’s an appropriate business practice.
While bartering certainly had its place thousands of years ago, people exchanged things like salt, cattle, furs, shells and even human skulls for other goods and services, these forms of payment were eventually replaced by coins and other forms of currency to speed up transactions and today we live in a cash based society (or electronic funds is probably more accurate).
This system allows us to put a firm and value on our services using a standard unit of measure, and then exchange it for dollars it’s a fair trade. It is then up to us to decide if we want to exchange those dollars for other goods and services or to save them. Bartering doesn’t really give you the same choices or compensation.
If you are bartering right now, stop and ask yourself why aren’t you paying each other? After all if it is simply a fair and equitable exchange of goods and services paying each other should simply be a matter of bookkeeping.
Oh wait!!! What? The trade isn’t even?
Usually in barter transactions one party usually comes up short, it is rarely ever a fair trade. Whether it’s more experience, different services with completely different value, or one of the parties to the transaction not even really wanting or needing the services of the other, and feeling somehow cheated.
Often times in a barter there is no contractual agreement, so with the lack of agreement and the lack of money exchange, the parties don’t take the arrangement as seriously as if they paid for it. So in addition to the trade imbalance, you may find that one party doesn’t pull their weight in delivering their services and also most likely doesn’t show up fully as a client. Really, it’s a disservice to both of you.
But it works for me!
If you are the one on the “receiving” end – meaning you are happy to barter because you feel you are getting more than you are giving, I’m going to challenge you a bit further. Are you really? You may even find yourself saying thing like “This really worked out well for me, as all I had to do was – fill in the blank – it was nothing!”
Hold on. Are you saying your services don’t have value?
Ah yes, it is amazing to me how many entrepreneurs undervalue themselves (which is a topic for a whole other article) and think what they do is “nothing” or “so simple”. Nothing could be further from the truth, if what you do was truly nothing to the other person, they could easily do it themselves or they wouldn’t even want it. But that is not the case, is it? They need you to provide the service and that has value.
If you are serious about building a thriving and profitable business, you need to start making decisions as if you are already there, and that includes decisions that are in your business’s financial best interest. This means pricing and valuing your services so that they reflect the results you create for your clients.
Bartering will not allow you to make the impact the world needs from you, nor will it provide you with the lifestyle, freedom and growth you want to achieve from your business.
Even if by chance the trade is somewhat equitable (and this would be an exception for sure) energetically when you barter you put the message out that money somehow doesn’t fully belong in your world. And this will keep your business small and your impact minimal.
Remember, if someone wants and needs your services and truly values it, they will pay for it (even if they originally tried to barter), if they don’t want to pay for it, it means they don’t want it bad enough, and do you honestly want a client who isn’t fully committed?
If you are in a bartering arrangement, please I encourage you to stop, now.
It’s actually easier than you think, and it will be a great breakthrough for you in your business. Once you start to value yourself and your expertise and set proper and healthy boundaries, you will find others do as well!
ChristinaGlazar
Fantastic article Nafissa. I agree a 100%. With the exception of exchanging coaching with my peers I do not barter my services at all. And you are so right …. bartering really can devalue the services we offer. After all we are business owners and as that have to think and act like business owner.
Can’t wait for your next article. There is almost always a little nugget of wisdom in it for me and what I do.
Nafissa
Thank you Christina.
I’m glad you enjoy them !
Even with my peers, I don’t barter my coaching services. :). I pay for all my coaching either directly to the coach or through group masterminds to the group coordinator. And I also charge for all my expertise, even to colleagues.
It can be a stretch, but one I strongly encourage!