By Bob Meyer

An incredible 53% of last year’s business startups opened their doors with $15,000 or less in capital, underscoring the fact that under-capitalization is the norm for the new business owner.

For the knowledgeable entrepreneur, whether new or experienced, the use of trade dollars (earned when one belongs to a barter exchange) to fund either a startup or an expansion effort is a tremendous asset to plug in to.

That’s why membership in a barter exchange is a valuable tool. It provides an all-important competitive edge over rival business owners who are seeking the use of cash through the usual means–high interest credit-cards.

Although most new businesses are resorting to seeking capital through bank loans or credit cards, which can become onerous burdens, there is a viable alternative. That alternative is the use of barter through a financial arrangement with a barter exchange.

The exchange, in a manner of speaking, acts as a venture capital broker by extending trade dollars to the business owner (a loan of trade dollars).

This facilitates the acquisition of products and services that are needed to jump start the business. Once the business is up and running, repayment of the trade dollar loan can be made through sales to the other barter exchange members.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Entrepreneurs & Small Business, Marketing, Purchasing & Financing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.