In cash-strapped times, Tait Carson of Tradebank is building a cash-free economy in Orlando.
Businesses in the Tradebank network trade their products and services for “trade dollars,” which they can use to buy from any of the companies in the network — with a range of companies from, as Carson says, “accountants to zoos.”
The bartering system allows companies to do business with one another without using financial resources, something Carson said has become an increasingly appealing proposition in recent years.
When money was falling out of the sky three years ago, [businesses] weren’t really thinking of new ideas,” Carson said.
That was then. Now, just more than a year after he opened his Orlando office, Carson claims an ever-growing client list. According to Carson, more than 200 businesses signed up with him in his first year alone, making his the fastest-growing region in the national company’s 20-plus year history.
As the regional owner of Tradebank of Orlando describes it, the key to Tradebank’s success with bartering is that it doesn’t rely on one-on-one trades……
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-tradebank-fast-growing-region-20100310,0,948681.story