Many small business owners find themselves needing funds for unplanned expenses. Often, they seek out sources of business credit – such as lines of credit or credit cards – only to find out that they need to personal guarantee them. It’s no secret that many entrepreneurs sacrifice their credit along the journey in hopes that they will make enough money to make good on all of their past credit blemishes. 
Before setting out to get any credit for your business, whether personally guaranteed or not, one thing I recommend is making sure your business model is solid. If you borrow money and your business is not generating revenue, then you have compounded your cash flow problem rather than fixing it.
A New Model for Getting a Line of Credit
There is a new model that I would like to share with you for establishing a line of credit for your business. In fact, it’s better than a traditional line of credit because it provides benefits that help you grow your business to pay back the line of credit.
What I am referring to is a line of credit from a barter network (such as Tradesource). This will allow you to use services within the barter network to offset cash expenses for your business. This includes services such as graphic design, marketing, accounting, business coaching, and so much more. The line of credit is provided based on a promise to repay it in the form of providing your product or service to the barter network.
Joining a barter network has several additional advantages such as receiving referrals from other business owners and receiving an increase in market exposure from the barter network, so it’s a smart business move either way.
What You Need to Know About Barter Networks
Not every barter network is the same. Many undervalue their currency and others allow members to overprice their products and service to create a false sense of value. Tradesource has a long-standing reputation in the Phoenix market for operating with integrity and keeping the value of the trade dollar equal to the non-trade dollar. This is why your line of credit is so valuable. Additionally, many other barter networks do not offer lines of credit to new members without credit approval. At this time, we work on a system of trust and do not require our members to credit qualify for a basic line of credit.
If you would like to learn more about how you can join the Tradesource network and establish a line of credit (literally within a few days), please contact us at newmember@tradesource.net.