Bartering may seem like an unusual way to do business, but one company in New York has done just that to get a roof repaired.
In an article entitled Make purchases without cash on CNNMoney.com, the case of organic comfort food eatery Craftsmen Cafe is noted, with owner Tina Ames bartering her way to a new roof in exchange for a pick-up truck.
The job, which would have cost Ms Ames $7,000 came for free as she had an old truck that she no longer used that she gave to a local contractor.
"I grew up on a farm. If you had eggs and someone else had corn, you traded. It's an old way of doing things, and it makes a lot of sense," she said.
According to the report, businesses are increasingly turning to bartering as a way of avoiding getting out hefty loans or eating into savings.
A new bartering group, the International Reciprocal Trade Association has been set up in New York State, with 250,000 small businesses now joining.
Ms Ames is not the only small business in the article, with marketing firm McLellan Marketing Group also being recognized for their bartering.
Drew McLellan, who runs the group, said that in a tight-community bartering can be particularly useful.
"These are my neighbors. I know I'll bump into them at a Starbucks, so they can't afford to mess up and neither can I," he said.
McLellen employs ten people at his small Des Moines firm and made $5 million in 2008.
Bartering has already paid off for the company, with McLellen creating adverts for a local internet provider in exchange for a high-speed web connection.
He went on to claim that bartering is a "great way to nip and tuck operating expenses".
Due to the recession, the company is not working at full capacity which means that the ten employees at the company can now try out new methods of marketing as they are doing it for free.
"It allowed them to stretch their skills, particularly the junior staffers," he said.
"Now my firm has a new offering - retail point of purchase displays - that we can suggest to other prospective clients."
Although it may seem like a particularly ancient way of doing business, in today's economic climate anything is worth trying if it staves off job losses and helps a business out, as proved by McLellen and Ames.
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