CASH IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH WEALTH

CASH IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH WEALTH

Author: Neha Gupta, Writer for Ormita Australia Limited
Date Issued: February 2010

The modern man’s concept of wealth is a little narrow minded. People today equate wealth to a healthy bank balance, however, this is not the case. Unused cash is not wealth; rather, wealth is the abundance of assets. But unused cash in a locker is just a pile of paper lying waste until you invest that money in a place where it can be used to develop more physical assets. People might not be rich but they might still be wealthy. As confusing as it may sound it is the truth. If you have a business that has potential you have wealth. Barter can help you tap into this potential and yield profits.

Think about it. Even during recessions and other times of economic difficulty we still require products and services to live our lives, but, as we are short of cash we tend to cut down our expenses. In turn the manufacturers have fewer sales and hence the situation worsens.

Have you ever noticed though that when cash may not be available that wealth is still all around us? Even in times when cash is tight, products and services are still abundant. Painters, accountants, lawyers, mechanics, carpenters etc. still have their skills. They might not get as much work as they previously did, but their service is still their. People loose jobs but not their skills, abilities and their needs. In such cases people can barter for what they need. They can sign up with a barter network, use their spare hours to do productive work for barter dollars, and then use those same dollars to fulfill their own needs and wants.

The same goes for products. We might be going through recession in world economy but a farmer still grows crops on his land. The land is still there, the tools are there and so is the ability. Even manufacturers still have the machinery and equipment to build products even when they don’t have cash paying customers. They might be facing loss as the market is slow but wouldn’t it be better to barter than layoff their staff and labor?

I recently read an article about a shoe manufacturing unit using barter. The company barters the excess they produce and are not able to sell for barter dollars and pay a part of their employee salaries using these barter dollars. Hence, they give their people purchasing power and in turn help increase market for other products. If the market for other products increases their manufacturers earn profit which helps them retain their employees and give them salaries. In this manner, purchasing power is handed over to a new section of market. This process goes on in the economy as we are all interdependent for our needs. The laborer of one industry is the customer of another.

We need to understand that money is not a need. But it is merely a tool. For example, petrol helps to run a car, however, if we find a different way to run a car like on water we might not need petrol. Similarly, money is also a means to an end. It is helps us run a life smoothly. It helps us buy stuff that we need. However, when it is not available we need to find supplements. Barter is the best supplement available to us. It is effective, it is innovative and it is feasible.