When a swimming pool owner wants to have his pool cleaned, the first thing he thinks of is, it cost me an arm and a leg last year, I wonder how much its going to cost me this time?

It is not uncommon for a pool owner, after the heavy uses of summer, to let the tedious task of cleaning the pool slowly slip away to maybe clean once every other month. The winter months removes all outdoor chores to be deferred to when it stops raining.

Before you know it, its 4 months on, and the pool looks like a swamp, so you decide not to spend any more money on chemicals, and leave the pool cleaning till prior to next summer.

My point to all this is that having your pool cleaned can be expensive if you dont do the basics. No matter what it would cost, there never seems to be enough money left to have your pool cleaned, unless you are prepared to sacrifice one of your other priorities.

Its not until the beginning of summer, or a special occasion, that pushes the pool clean up the priority order.

It was from a recent phone call that I received, that a woman needed her pool cleaned urgently, but she wanted to know how much it would cost first.

After being in the business for so long, it doesnt take much for the alarm bells to start ringing. Urgency and costs in the same sentence suggests a lack of cash flow, so I have learned to tread very carefully before committing myself to anything of this nature.

I visited her property, and, after a lengthy discussion, our conversation turned to costs. It wasnt long before her scenario was made evident, but what intrigued me the most was her proposal to overcome her lack of cash flow.

This client had a home based business offering services for health, nutrition, massage, and beauty, and she asked if I was interested in offsetting any of her services for mine.

Because of my high role in my chosen sport, I immediately recognised the benefits I could gain from her services. After careful negotiations, we agreed that I would clean her pool, and in turn, she would provide services for my wife and I until the equivalent in monetary terms were exchanged.

This method of exchanging services is not new, and is more commonly known as bartering, but it is one that very few people know about, or havent been in a position to use directly.

It is not necessarily confined to pool cleaning, but if used correctly, this method of offsetting a service on offer, for a service in need, can be beneficial to anyone who has a skill that can be readily transferable.

While not all business owners will be receptive to the idea, sometimes you don't know until you try. If you have a particularly well-thought out bartering idea, consider approaching a business owner who you think might benefit.

Do remember that business owners are bound by sales tax laws, and your proposal might not be feasible. But, then again, it might.