Perhaps We Barter Instead of Borrow?
Now, I know that might sound strange coming from a fella who sells wallets for a living; after all, wallets are little devices that contain your credit cards and carry your cocaine covered cash. But last night over dinner with me lovely gal B, I got to thinking (and I got to wondering) what society might be like if we exchanged tangible and valuable services with one another rather than always just exchanging virtual/hard currency? Everything is always about money! To frame the context of this discussion a bit, consider how we’ve shifted our focus from each other and onto money during the decades 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and aughts - the globe has changed all around in doing so.
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In our interaction with others on both the personal and business front:
Perhaps We Barter Instead of Borrow?
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By way of example: during said dinner conversation with B, I pulled from my wallet a $30 Gift Certificate that I had received as a thank you gift from a fashion design college student that I met with for an interview last week - I casually talked to her about all of the Business Development steps I’d recommend she take as she exits college and enters the world of entrepreneurship. I simply told her the story of db clay and what I have learned along the way. I simply shared what I know and what I don’t know and she appreciated it. And though I surely didn’t expect it ($30 in return for my thoughts that is) - it was nice because it went a long way in buying dinner and wine for B and me! This then sparked a bartering-minded conversation and we discussed a few analogous scenarios. B is a photographer and she is shooting her friend’s wedding in September. In return, her friend and her friend’s husband are coming over with their pickup truck and they are going to help B move out of her apartment - exchanging photo taking for help with moving - a novel idea?
Other examples: A web developer friend of mine recently built a blog for an artist named Mona, and in return for building her a website, she gave him a piece of her art to hang proudly in his apartment. Or how about my other friend who asked me to help him and his family move (rather than hiring a moving company) and in exchange, he wrote me a rain check for helping me move the next time I do. I scratched his back, he will scratch mine someday, though that is not the point as we both would do it just to do it regardless of reciprocation. Or how about the landscaper who tends to their accountant’s lawn once a month in exchange for help in managing their small business’s books? How about the SEO whiz who drives traffic to their local coffee shop in exchange for a cup or two a week? Or how about the city dwelling architect who helps draft up some building plans for a cabin being built by his friend in the woods - maybe the architect is awarded some time shares in exchange for his drafting expertise? The list of bartering-minded examples such as this is/could be long.
In conclusion: I am an amateur small business consultant and I helped a student out recently. In return, I was treated to dinner for two. But rather than stop there, and to take it a step further, what if the college student designed a promotional flyer for the restaurateur rather than paying $30 cash for the gift certificate she just got me? Bartering is/could be a circle all the way around if we simply started up dialogue and opened ourselves up the possibility of making money our second priority, rather than our first.
