An equitable solution

There is one strange but irrefutable fact that the owners of many highly successful businesses all agree on; not getting paid can be highly profitable. Ok, so there is a little bit more to it than that. And it is simply inserting the words ‘in cash’ into that sentence that makes it a little clearer. Our world’s market economy thrived for thousands of years by people exchanging one good or service for another. You had an excess of hay but a deficit of labourers, and so you went down to the weekly market and found someone who would be willing to trade your hay surplus for a few days of labour. Drawing on my own experience, I have spoken at a number of trade shows for no money. This may not seem a great opportunity for me. I’m spending valuable time creating content that I would normally invoice at a high rate in return.  So why should the trade show benefit from my services for ‘free’?

I am not sharing my experience and knowledge out of the goodness of my heart. Speaking at such events will actually end up being a very worth-while use of my time. I am getting paid despite the fact that no money is changing hands. In return for being given a speaking platform, the show is providing me with a valuable opportunity and the chance to connect with potential clients and expand my own marketing lists.


It’s an agreement that works well for both the show organiser and I.  We both gain from it. They receive content from a respected provider that they would normally have to pay several hundred pounds for. I receive marketing value that would also normally have a high invoice. It is what is known as a contra-deal.

What is a contra-deal?

A contra-deal involves two companies agreeing to exchange services without invoicing. Effectively, it’s a form of barter. There are some big advantages to working in this way. In particular, it is a route to drastically reducing your costs. I will talk about this later in the article.

Here is another good example of a contra deal. Exhibitions are big users of print. Your company could benefit from this, even though the exhibitors may not have to pay any money. Remember that exhibitions can also be a very powerful way to gain new prospects and clients. Is there an exhibition that would be worth you going to? Many exhibitions have no signage companies attending. You could have a clear field in a profitable niche market. 




Why not approach the exhibitors and offer to print and finish their wayfinding, promotional, branding signage, or even the shell scheme graphics for stands? Exhibitors often have more space than they can fill at an exhibition. Many would be happy to offset their expenses by giving you space in return for printing services.


A world of opportunity

Most sign-makers, especially larger ones, outsource some services.  Typically they may use IT services, HR consultants, as well as legal and accountancy companies, all of which require printing services. They certainly need marketing materials and signage.  Most of these companies also use a fair bit of large-format print in providing their services.

So, this is another excellent opportunity to create a contra-deal. You could provide their print or signage in return for some or all of the services that you need from them.

So, why would you choose to work in this way rather than billing each other in the traditional way? Simply put, it can lead to a much higher profit margin for your business. Remember that you are exchanging your services at your normal commercial rate. However, the cost to you is that of your cost of manufacture. You can easily be making a saving of around 20 percent by the time you take your sales costs and profit margins into account. That is a benefit worth having.

Yes, you will lose profit from the manufacturing capacity that you cannot sell, because it is committed to your contra-work. However, it is rare that there is not a little spare capacity at sign companies. Unless you are working on some major contra-deals, lost profit is unlikely to be a major issue.

Be cautious

It is important to value all the elements of a deal correctly to make sure that it really does work for you. So here is a three-step action plan to get you going with your first deal.

•    Identify services that you require where the providers have a definite need for print

•    Prepare a proposal where you have valued what you are providing and have the right commercial results to make the contra deal worthwhile

•    Approach providers and open negtiations to agree the right contra-deal. You may be surprised at what is on offer out there. With the right creative deal planning there are plenty of opportunities to pay a lot less for some of the services that you require. Good luck with reducing the amount that you get paid for your work!


Key actions:

• Look at all the goods and services you currently pay for
• Assess which providers could use your own services
• Prepare a proposal explaining the value of your products
• Approach your providers and hold out for a like-for-like value deal 

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