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“Some may be sceptical but there are so many ways you can spend your trade dollars. My business has been a Bartercard member for 10 years and during that time we’ve used trade dollars to help build the business by saving cash (which we can then set aside for cash only expenses – IRD, rent, rates, insurance etc). We spend our trade dollars on rubbish collections, computer R&M, we get the studio lawns mowed, we have fresh flowers weekly for our reception area, we advertise in the local free newspaper. Our stationery is printed using trade, we make charitable donations, we take drawings using trade and provide staff incentives. All our studio promotions are done using trade dollars – if it can’t be purchased on trade, there is no promotion!
The biggest area of success is we’ve been able to branch out from NZ to conduct beauty therapy training in Rarotonga three times a year! We use the trade dollars to cover expenses such as accommodation, car rental and dining which saves us cash which we invest back into the business to build up the contacts and courses. We have also partnered with a resort spa in Raro who is also a Bartercard member and they purchase products from us. This is a win-win.
Being a part of the network is great for advertising. We can quickly get promos out to the members to help us fill available appointments or last-minute cancellations. We also find the trade shows are beneficial in enabling us to turn over our stock and promote the business out to a wider market.”
Margaret FraserAllure Nails
“Having joined in October 2016, wow what an awesome experience I've had so far. Within a week of becoming a member, I'd received my first order, and within two weeks I'd received an order for a thousand dollars' worth of product - it certainly blew my expectations out of the water as well as that of my Trade Broker! The Trade Show I attended in December was hugely beneficial. My Trade Broker worked hard for me and my products, ensuring everyone went away with something! And now with the Trade Dollars I've made; I've enjoyed a few luxuries for myself as well as spending them on business expenses such as advertising in Verve magazine. I've met some really interesting and exciting people via the Bartercard network who have already helped me grow my business beyond what I thought it would be when I started. It's great encouragement when you have a network such as Bartercard supporting you, particularly when you work for yourself, and something I would recommend to any small business owner. It's almost like having a small team of cheerleaders calling me saying "how you going?!" and taking me for lunch! Just being really enthusiastic about my business which is really exciting. Thank you so much Bartercard!”
Joanna LehndorfLoveSkin Ltd, Auckland
