For Companies, Barter Means Business

(NewsUSA) - For businesses, surviving today's tough market might require a look back in time.

Before the Chinese assigned value to seashells, the Romans stamped bronze coins, and America embraced the gold standard, a simpler economic system -; barter -; proved the norm.

In barter, people trade goods or services for other goods and services, not money. If a café were to operate through barter, people wouldn't spend cash on espresso but would trade fresh muffins or labor for their morning latte.

But don't expect to see baked goods become national currency anytime soon. Barter has come a long way since farmers exchanged wheat for cloth at local markets.

Modern-day barter uses sophisticated business-to-business networks. When business owners join a barter network, they convert their product or service into "trade dollars," the barter networks' currency. Businesses can then use their trade dollars to buy the things that they need. So, if the café doesn't want to take muffins as payment, they can still make the trade because the trade dollars they receive instead, allow them to buy what they do need.

The larger the barter network, the more flexible and valuable the trade dollar becomes. International Monetary Systems (IMS), one of the world's largest barter systems, serves more than 18,000 business and service professionals. It consolidates barter networks across the U.S. and into Canada.

"Our strategy is to acquire strong and reputable barter exchanges, implement the best practices and grow our dynamic network deep and wide with products and services," says IMS CEO Don Mardak.

IMS (www.imsbarter.com) features an online platform for members to access their accounts, enter barter transactions, and search for products and services to purchase with their trade dollars.

Take that café. Its owner needs machine repairs, so she finds a repair company in her barter network. She pays for the repairs not in cash, but in trade dollars. The repair service then uses its new trade dollars to barter with other companies in the network (say, an advertising service or a truck manufacturer). Later, when a bookstore in the network needs coffee for an event, they can use trade dollars to purchase what they need from the café.

Bartering allows small businesses to get the goods and services that they need, while keeping their costs down -; something that can only be good for consumers.