Regional Business North West Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd (Banalasta Oil Plantation)) is enjoying a healthier bottom line through its involvement in the world’s largest Trade Exchange, Bartercard. Bartercard facilitates a cashless exchange of goods and services between its Members, using a currency known as Trade Dollars ($T1 = AUD$1). As a result of trading, new sales are generated and cash is conserved on the business, leading to a reduction in the cost of borrowing. Bartercard began on the Gold Coast in 1991 and has since grown to become the world’s number one Trade Exchange. It is internationally recognised as an innovative leader of systems, training and marketing in the barter and trade exchange industry. The operation is now represented in 16 countries: Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordon, the United Emirates, Lebanon, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. There are currently more than 55,000 active Bartercard Members worldwide. Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd is one of more than 22,000 Australian businesses which have Bartercard membership. The 6,000-hectare (14,500-acre) Banalasta property, situated north west of Bendemeer (just off the New England Highway), has been owned by the Blickling family since 1979. Originally a sheep farm, the property has diversified in recent years, beginning with the establishment of the Banalasta Oil Plantation in 1997. The operation is Australia’s largest Eucalyptus radiata (Australiana) plantation with about 400,000 working trees, spread over 260 hectares (600 acres). Further diversification took Regional Business North West

Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd (Banalasta Oil Plantation)) is enjoying a healthier bottom line through its involvement in the world’s largest Trade Exchange, Bartercard.

Bartercard facilitates a cashless exchange of goods and services between its Members, using a currency known as Trade Dollars ($T1 = AUD$1). As a result of trading, new sales are generated and cash is conserved on the business, leading to a reduction in the cost of borrowing.

Bartercard began on the Gold Coast in 1991 and has since grown to become the world’s number one Trade Exchange. It is internationally recognised as an innovative leader of systems, training and marketing in the barter and trade exchange industry. The operation is now represented in 16 countries: Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordon, the United Emirates, Lebanon, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus.

There are currently more than 55,000 active Bartercard Members worldwide. Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd is one of more than 22,000 Australian businesses that have Bartercard membership.

The 6,000-hectare (14,500-acre) Banalasta property, situated north west of Bendemeer (just off the New England Highway), has been owned by the Blickling family since 1979. Originally a sheep farm, the property has diversified in recent years, beginning with the establishment of the Banalasta Oil Plantation in 1997. The operation is Australia’s largest Eucalyptus radiata (Australiana) plantation with about 400,000 working trees; spread over 260 hectares (600 acres).

Further diversification took place in the years following, with the establishment of a vineyard in 1999 – which now boasts 16,000 vines – and lavender in 2001 (currently comprising 12,000 plants).

According to Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd Operations Manager John Wynan, the property’s diversification has taken its toll on the company’s cash flow.

“All up, our investment in Eucalyptus oil, grapes and lavender ran to about $14 million,) Mr Wynan explained.

“It can take at least five years to start seeing a return on these kinds of ventures, which is a long time to have your money literally tied up in the ground.

“When we were eventually in a position to start marketing our finished products, we were faced with a simple question: “How do we do this without borrowing further cash?”

The answer for the Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd came in the form of Bartercard.

The company joined the Trade Exchange through Bartercard’s North West Brokerage in Tamworth in May 2003.

With the help of the local Brokerage and a Bartercard interest-free line of credit, Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd was able to use Trade Dollars to embark on a major building project to market its products – the now iconic local tourist attraction, the Banalasta Visitor Centre.

The cost of the establishing the Banalasta Visitor Centre, which incorporates a coffee shop, wine tasting areas, retail shop and a Banalasta showcase area, ran to $150,000. In total, $90,000 worth of the project was accounted for using Trade Dollars. Mr Wynan was able to source Bartercard Members to draw up the architecture plans as well as carry our much of the physical building of the centre.

The centre, which opened in November 2003, now hosts about 1,000 visitors a month and turns over $20,000 cash in product sales each month.

“Considering how much of our initial investment was accounted for using trade, and how much we’re now turning over a month in cash, you can appreciate just how far ahead we are through our Bartercard Membership,” Mr Wynan said.

Mr Wynan said that Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd had also found a host of ways to use Bartercard in Banalasta’s everyday business transactions.

“We’ve been able to use Trade Dollars to pay for out roadside advertising, printing and stationary,” he said. “We’ve even found we can use it in ways we didn’t think possible. We’ve been able to buy sheep, rams and farm equipment on barter.

“In most instances, we’ve endeavoured to source the goods and services we need on trade through the local Membership, which is good news for the local trade economy. But, on the occasions that we haven’t been able to source material locally, it’s nice to know there’s a vast and diverse Membership out there capable of delivering just about anything you need at any given time.”

My Wynan in part attributed Armidale Management Development Centre Pty Ltd’s success in the Trade Exchange to its willingness to obtain a comprehensive understanding of Bartercard’s operation. He said that of equal importance was the North West Brokerage’s willingness to understand his business’s needs and expectations.

“When we first put our business plan to the Brokerage, they were fully supportive of what we wanted to achieve with the visitor centre,” My Wynan said.

“The Brokerage Manager, Kim Hawksford has continued to support us and make an effort to understand what our business is all about. In business, if you don’t have a good working relationship with another party, the relationship simply won’t work out. It’s no different with Bartercard. The Brokerage sets itself the task of delivering what we need, and we set ourselves the task of making sure we know how best to access the opportunities on offer through the Trade Exchange.

“We received a great deal of support from the Brokerage when setting up the visitor centre, but by the same token we took a lot of the responsibility on ourselves. We have certainly come out in front on the project, but it just didn’t fall into place. We had to go out and make it happen, engaging in direct dialogue with a number of Bartercard Members who we identified as having the capacity to help us. The more we learn about the workings of the Trade Exchange, the better equipped we’ll be to continuing winning with Bartercard.”

In terms of advice to fellow business people considering taking out Bartercard Membership, My Wynan offered to the following:

“If anyone in business is looking to improve or enhance their operation, it is certainly worth exploring the advantages of the trade economy. Like anything else in business, you need to understand how Bartercard works before you can make it work for you. But in my experience, once you understand how it works, you simply can’t do wrong making it work to your advantage.”