As much as we would have liked to do something fun, we are really pressed for time this weekend. So while we are having dinner, we are going to continue expanding on the work we have been doing and taking it to the next level.

Personally, I am proud of the spirit of co-operation shown and partnership expressed by the members of two organisations coming together as one. The future looks good for us all.

But, this industry is growing at a faster rate than you can imagine. As you are discussing the details of our current merger, behind the scenes there have been negotiations taking place on an even bigger scale.

We have a special guest tonight who you might have seen around the place. Though you may not know him by name or by his face, I can assure you that but for him, none of us would be here tonight. This man personally started the whole computerised bartering industry and has been involved with it ever since.

To tell you a bit about our future plans and to make an earth shattering announcement, will you please welcome, all the way from BXI International in Los Angeles, Mr. Saul Yahmak

Thank you John and thank you everyone for your kind welcome.

Good evening folks, although, having just arrived from the United States, for me, it is really good morning. It is weird, I just called L.A. to say good morning to my children and here we are sitting down to supper. So to avoid confusing my jet-lagged brain, I'll act like a local and just say G'day. This is my first time "down under" and I am thoroughly delighted to be here on your Golden Coast talking to people who are making the barter industry happen.

This conference is obviously a very important one. It is the coming together of two vital and growing organisations that have seen a mutual need, a mutual goal and are merging in order to attain those ends.

I understand that Queensland Trade Exchange is celebrating its 10^th year in business. What a remarkable achievement that is. The failure rate of business in the 1990’s is around 85% within the first year. Think about that. Out of every 100 new ventures, 85 of them fail within the first twelve months. Within 5 years another 6 will fail and at the end of 10 years, it is estimated that only 3 of those100 new businesses will still be operating.

Why is it that so many people see their dreams, their hopes and their money vanish before their very eyes? Actually, vanish is probably not the right word because when something vanishes it disappears suddenly. In these cases it is a slow hemorrhaging until there is no lifeblood left to keep the venture alive.

Sometimes businesses spectacularly self-destruct and people’s lives are left in tatters. More often, the closing of a business does not end in despair, bankruptcy or anything like that. Often there has not been a big outlay on an idea, the business is started up to test the market and is then allowed to quietly wind down when it is seen not to be viable.

Now, I know that most of this information might not be of interest to you. Why would you care about what happens to the bosses? You are mere employees of the company. What they do in regards to profit margins is none of your business. Your job is to answer the phones, do the books, and talk to customers or whatever. If you wanted those sorts of risks, you would have started your own business rather than work for someone else.

But despite the risks, there is something inherently satisfying about having your own business. It is the combination of the excitement of your own venture, the opportunity to be your own boss and the opportunity to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to venture into that part of life. I can guarantee that as an individual you will have grown and learned much by even considering the idea, whether it got off the ground or not. It is in the process that we accomplish much of what it is that we set out to do. We had an idea, and we took it further. Whether that went as far as actually generating an income or not is irrelevant. That is the essence of what it takes to be successful in business.

By show of hands, lets see how many people have started doing business in a particular area at any time in your life. I don’t want to embarrass anyone here, so feel free to not answer this, but lets get an idea of how many of us have had a business that lasted for less than one year, for whatever reason? Notice I have my own hand raised. By my reckoning, I have started around 10 business in my life, of which two have been successful. 7 simply wound down and one imploded big-time.

The important thing is that you, and I had our eyes on the prize and went for it, or as you Aussies say, had a go. Personally I would rather be involved with a business that failed than have had the idea and never had the motivation to go for it. Because, as I said, that is where the value of business lies, character building. There is nothing more soul destroying than unfulfilled dreams.

But business cannot live on dreams of course. In business there are three things you need to survive. Money, Money and more money. You can have best product, the ideal position, no competition, but without money it is for naught and I will explain why. Four simple words. Money comes from customers. So, if a business is bleeding to death you either have too few customers, or the ones that you do have are not giving you enough money to keep the business alive.

In my years as an entrepreneur I have discovered that businesses fold for one of one of three reasons;

1. Under-capitalisation, that is, not enough money put into the business in the first place.
2. Poor cash flow, money just does not come in quick enough, especially if you invoice customers and they are slow to pay.
3. The boss is a crook, lets just leave it at that…ok?

But the nitty-gritty of what I want to discuss is how you and I can help a business survive a cash crisis using trade exchange.

The merger between Contracard and Queensland Trade Exchange is probably more important than any of you realise. I predict that the new organisation, Trade Limited, is destined for great things, some of which you are going to hear about for the first time tonight. It seems that a new era of cooperation and joint ventures is in the air, and you are all poised to be at the forefront of this wave.

Internationally trade exchanges are big news. No doubt you have heard of the ongoing merger battle between ITEX and BXI in the US. Basically it has been a legal dispute about who really owns the BXI Trade Exchange. In an act of that can only be called "sensible", earlier this year a bunch of lawsuits were dismissed so that we could resolve our dispute around the negotiating table, rather than in court.

ITEX and BXI were in enviable positions. Both have large customer bases and massive annual turnover. Despite being in the same market, it is so huge that it has allowed us to expand beyond what you can imagine here down under. With the IRS relaxing taxation laws governing trade exchange in the United States and the advance of electronic commerce on the Internet, the global situation is heading up, Up UP!

However there is a dark cloud on the horizon. Asia. As with most great ideas in the west, the Asians are taking us on at our own game and in a big way. As you all would know, since you are neighbours to the region, trade has always been part of the Asian way of life. Since time began, which varies depending on whether you are a creationist or an evolutionist, Asian countries have bartered among themselves and with each other for basic commodities.

When Marco Polo went to Asia in search of silk and spices did he take money? Of course not, there was no way that the ancient Chinese would have accepted currency from any other land, even if they knew that land existed. The Chinese certainly didn’t accept American Express Cards, I doubt Marco even had one. No, what they did take was potatoes, gold and knowledge in exchange for the things he would find in these exotic places. This was of more value to both sides than currency could be in a time of limited contact between cultures.

Of course now things are very very different. International clearinghouses work around the clock shunting funds around the globe at lightning speed. Of course, it is vital that this is not limited to real currencies and just last week, the Hong Kong Securities Commission opened their first trading room for barter currencies. The Hong Kong share market is known as the Hang Sen. In an unfortunate lack of knowledge of Western culture, this one is to be known as the Suk Din. Apparently its literal translation form Cantonese is "exchange of Equals". The significance of this new market cannot be over stated. It finally legitimised our standing as a true global alternative currency.

In its first 24 hours, the board broke all trading records to the point where the computer system was on the verge of collapse. Can you imagine the complexities of calculating conversion rates from the QTE Trade Dollar to the Japanese Trade Yen to the Thai Trade Ringat? It is getting beyond the computing power of the average business like Trade Limited and into high international financial circles. It seems that this computing problem has finally been solved and the system is running very smoothly at last.

While this is very good news for the market, a dark cloud remains despite this optimism. It is the shadow of the Asian financial crisis. In the last few months we have seen turmoil lead to the downfall of the Suharto regime. His family businesses, once favoured by government are now pariahs of the state. The volatile nature of Asian business and the Asian way of doing business calls for novel and innovative initiatives to ensure the ongoing strength of enterprise. Look at the exchange rate of the Aussie Dollar in the last weeks? You may all be lamenting its free-fall, but as someone who is buying them, I am extremely happy about it. But the point is that it does no good for the country or business as a whole.

So, what is the solution? Consolidation. An alliance of resources. An amalgamation of strategies. An incorporation of ideas. A union of businesses. A merger of interests. A confederation of allies. A combination of issues. An association of like-minds. A brotherhood of adversaries. A coalition of contemporaries. A blending of opportunities.

To this end, I am delighted to make an announcement regarding the future of Trade Limited and of expansion into a new market with an unlikely partner.

In just 2 short weeks, July the 1^st heralds a new era for trade in Australia when QTE and Contracard disappear in favour of Trade Limited. By bringing together the assets, both in Human Resource and tangible forms, the future looks extremely bright in Australia. Trade Limited seems set to make a huge impact by combining two reasonably sized customer bases in limited areas to create one large base covering much of the East Coast of Australia.

But, then what? Do you think the directors, once they have the taste of success in their mouths and their bank accounts are going to be satisfied with this? Of course not. These people didn’t get to be where they are by sitting back and allowing the grass to grow under their feet.

I am delighted to announce that with my help as the International Broker, as of January 1^st 1999 Trade Limited is opening a branch office in the United States operating under the name of Deals R Us. That may seem incredible to you, but here is the really surprising news. There is a new partner in this venture. This is going to be a two pronged attack on the US market in association with BXI!

Is that great news or what??? It seemed obvious to Trade Limited that the US was the place to be. While he was in the US recently, John Atteridge approached my organisation on behalf of Trade Limited and the idea of a join venture emerged.

Deals R Us will be a corporate entity of its own, based on Wall Street in New York. That’s right, potential competitors joining forces in order to tackle an even bigger opponent, the American barter market. An appropriate saying is "My enemy’s enemy is my friend" springs to mind.

This may sound a bit weird, apparent rivals being "in bed with each other" but I can assure you that each organisation will be taking precautions, if you’ll excuse the analogy. Besides, it is not entirely unusual for such an arrangement between companies. As I will illustrate in a moment.

This announcement may shock some of you, some of you probably expected it and some of you are wondering what the hell I’m talking about. But it is well into the negotiating stage with heads of agreement documents signed and in place.

So how did we get to this point? Obviously, before I would even consider such a deal I did some research and uncovered an interesting fact that illustrates my point. Here on your Golden Coast there is a great example of apparent rivals really being the best of friends. How many people are locals? How many of you realised the two most popular radio stations are owned by the same company and indeed broadcast from the same building? Sea-FM and 92Gold have an appearance of being competitors, however they are both making money for the same shareholders despite being in the same market.

And what is the secret? Niche marketing. Each has carved out its own segment and while they may overlap, once again…"my enemy’s enemy is my friend". SEA-FM is after the 13 – 25 year old demographic and 92 Gold wants listeners aged 21 to 45.

This is the opportunity for Trade Limited and BXI. To use their combined and considerable muscle to carve out independent, but overlapping niches in which each can survive and prosper and contribute to the enormous potential of Deals R Us.

Obviously an enterprise such as this will have its teething problems. So, what are they? Well, the underlying mediocrity enshrined wherewith over-accommodating intermediary management impinges externally as to where fundamental objectivity is concerned. Altruism, while overtly and admirably welcomed in locations surrounding traditionally structured functionality often discriminates blatantly regarding the undermining intensity of unequivocally displaced occurrences in commonplace rectification while distinguishing optimistic market recognition. Are you still with me?

I guess that statement makes you wonder about the strategic direction for the new organisation. It also make me wonder about whoever wrote this goddam speech. The question you are no doubt worrying about right now is "How is Deals R Us going to distinguish itself from the myriad of other trade exchanges in the United States?"?

Firstly Deals R Us is going to be exclusively in the corporate trade market. None of this wishy-washy local plumber or builder nonsense. We are only interested in the big players. In the United States, corporate trade is a big deal. Companies of all sizes are getting involved. It started with the smaller businesses, but pretty soon, just as here in Australia, big business started to see the advantages of being involved.

Now we work with the Top 75,000 corporations in the United States including companies such as Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, and The Pleasure Pit, a chain of x-rated adult stores. In fact, we recently brokered a deal between Bill Gates and the MacDonnell Douglas Corporation where he purchased a helicopter on trade, MacDonnel Douglas will use the trade dollars to purchase supplies for their offices and warehouses. They won’t be buying any copies of Windows 95!!! It was the biggest single trade in the history of organised trade exchanges, coming in at 17.5 million US dollars, which is around $25 million Australian, although, by now, it may be $26 million and rising. Needless to say, I was quite happy with the commission.

The second way that Deals R Us is going to uniquely brand itself in the market place and this is the niche, we are going to launch the company with a uniquely Australian flavour. The marketing, stationary, the whole culture of the company is going to be based on Australian themes and values. As you know, since Crocodile Dundee came out, Australia has been flavour of the month in the United States and we aim to expand and capitalise on that by moving into some innovative areas not seen in Australian Trade.

We will be bringing Australian products to the American market in a way that has never been seen before. Too often we hear complaints about American culture invading other countries. Whether it be Music, TV, Food, Clothes or whatever, the American experience seems to swamp everything in its path.

Well, now is the opportunity for Australians to strike back with our help. We are going to make a blitz on the US with uniquely Australian products like Vegemite, Tea Tree Oil, Koalas. We have the money, we have the methods, we have the vision. What we need is the people.

Our research shows that Australian businesses are ready for it. Many have approached us since this deal went through and made the financial pages. I must tell you a story about one of the sales people at ITEX. He was indulging in a little, lets call it, "horizontal folk dancing" with one of his new clients…am I going too fast for anyone? Suddenly and unexpectedly her husband pulled into the driveway. Since it would have been a little hard to convince him that they were discussing setting up a trade account while they were naked he decided to attempt a rapid exit. Cut off, he grabbed all his clothes and dived into the cupboard. Just as he thought he had gotten away with it, you can guess what happened. His mobile phone started ringing. Now this guy was a good salesman, the sort of creative person that Deals R Us can use, because when the husband flung the cupboard door open, he handed him the phone and said "Its for you". It didn't work

So, what’s in it for you as individuals? Well, there is going to be a myriad of marketing, sales and administration opportunities in the United States for those interested in moving over there. We want your cute Aussie accents; besides, good help is so hard to get stateside. There are the many many opportunities opening up that, if you are canny enough to get in early, will make you rich beyond your dreams. This is not Amway folks, this is the real thing.

To start with, anyone who signs up for 2 years as a US based employee will have all financial costs covered, including moving furniture and family to the United States. Further, since you will be Australians living abroad, you will not be subject to Australian income tax laws. Being Australian citizens working in the USA, you will not be subject to American tax laws. Nice one, eh? On top of that, each person who moves to the US will be paid in cash in US dollars at an equal amount to their Australian wage. I’m not talking about converted here. I am talking $1 to $1 If your current wage is fifty thousand Australian dollars, you will earn fifty thousand US dollars, cash in hand. Do I need to tell you how much that is worth in real terms. Believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed cashing in my money and getting $1.60 Australian for every $1 American.

There are other benefits too generous to mention, including health cover, local transport subsidies, free telephones, a generous pension scheme, a home security system, a bullet proof jacket and, of course, your very own drug dealer.

So lets see a show of hands on who is interested in moving to the United States? How many of you can do it in less than 6 months? How many could do it in one month? Could anyone be ready to leave tomorrow?

I know this must be something of a shock to you, but the world of big business moves faster than most of you can imagine.

Is there someone, anyone who would be willing to fly to the US tomorrow?

John I don’t think its going to work. This idea is doomed to fail. I’ve had a bloody awful day. For a start I have had to fake this American accent and pretend to be Saul Yahmak.