Just Water, a national supplier of water coolers, is a company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. It joined Bartercard over 15 years ago after recognising the numerous benefits an alternative currency exchange system can bring to a business. Due to Bartercard’s member to member promotional benefits, Just Water have been able to quickly grow their trade volume and they’ve also introduced a successful business policy of paying commissions in Trade Dollars to sales representatives who make sales to Bartercard members.
From leasing to owning
When its lease ran out in 2016, Just Water decided to purchase a building to house its Head Office and bottling plant. They sourced a suitable building in Hugo Johnston Drive in Auckland’s Penrose suburb, and wasted no time in gutting the building and getting it ready for their arrival.Tony Falkenstein, Just Water’s Chief Executive explains “Once the sale had gone through, we set about getting quotes for the refurbishment. Like any build or refurbishment, it was more than expected and more than our cash budget allowed.”
This is where Bartercard helped. He continues “We worked with our Trade Broker to source as many Bartercard suppliers as we could for various parts of the refurbishment from design to landscaping, from demolition work to rebuild.
On a $1million refurbishment, we were able to spend half of it using our Trade Dollars!” It was a significant win for the business and they’re now well and truly settled in to their new premises.
Trade Dollars helps facilitate merger
This isn’t the first big project where Just Water have utilised their Bartercard membership to its full advantage.When Just Water and Aqua Cool merged 10 years ago, they effectively used Bartercard Trade Dollars to not only facilitate the process and bring the new team together, but to conserve cash and maximise the budget available.
Wherever they could, they utilized their trade volume to offset essential services including electrical wiring, computer cabling, and air-conditioning for the office fit-out.
They also shouted 200 employees to a national conference in Rotorua with all the logistics for the event being paid for using Trade Dollars, from accommodation, to food and entertainment. It was the perfect opportunity to bring everyone together while saving cash.
