Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to the Barter Edge Podcast—your insider guide to smarter business, bigger networks, and better ways to trade.
Whether you're a seasoned member or just getting started, we're here to share real stories, expert tips from different industries, and fresh ideas to help you grow your business using the power of the Bartercard ecosystem.
Nick Harrison Episode 2
===
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Barter Edge Podcast, your insider guide to smarter business, bigger networks, and better ways to trade. We are here to share real stories, expert tips from different industries and fresh ideas to help you grow your business using the power of barter cart. I'm Jen Truro, your host, and today I am here with a very special guest, Nick Harrison from The Legal House, the founder of The Legal House, and he's here to talk to us about all things business and wills and succession planning.
So Nick, would you like to introduce yourself to the Barta Car community today? Sure. Hi Jen. Thank you for inviting me. So, as you've said, my name is Nick Harrison. I'm a solicitor. I practice in areas of family law and wills and estates and I think that's primarily what we're here today to do. Talk about Wills, estates, succession planning.
I. Making sure assets go where they should go, that type of thing. Mm. And it's something [00:01:00] that we probably don't have that open conversation enough about these topics, but they're really, really important topics for everyone, not just business owners, but everyone to consider. So can you share with us how Barter card has impacted your business?
Sure, sure. So I met one of the barter card people. Who offered Barta card services to me at the start of my business wasn't quite ready for it at that stage. Once the business got a little bit more successful with a bit of cash flow and capital in the bank and that type of thing, I sat down, had a conversation, try and figure out how it worked.
And really what it does is it's barta card sources make clients, so it gives me revenue. But it also. With all of the trade partners that Barta card has on their list helps me offset expenses as well. So as I take Barta card dollars from clients for doing work on their behalf, I can then spend those Barta card dollars on expenses that I would [00:02:00] already spend in my business, but with Barta card money instead of cash money in the bank.
Yeah, absolutely. And guaranteeing new customers is something that we do and that's what we're all about. A business to business network and marketplace really for all industries across any sector really. What are some of the most innovative or strategic ways that you've been able to utilize Barta Card?
Sure. So recently, this sort of fits into the innovative category. I purchased an office. Congratulations. Thank you. Yes. Love it. Yeah, we're growing and I started out in a serviced office in a small space, about 13 square meters, and needed more staff, needed more room. So I bought a property at Varsity Lakes and I was able to use the Bartercard money that I'd accumulated over the course of the last sort of year or two to help me offset the costs of the fit out.
For trades, for for things like it installations, telephone installations laborers, you [00:03:00] know, flooring, that type of thing. So, yeah, and that would've really helped with your cash flow because starting up a new like a store, like a shop front office that's something that, you know, it can be very, very costly for businesses, can't it?
Oh, it always is. Always more money going out than coming in and. When I had, you know, I sort of tried to save a stockpile in Bartercard hoping that it would work out this way, thinking that it would, and it did. So, yeah fit out. Costs more money in the business, more money to be able to pay normal bills like, you know, the government needs you to pay.
So, worked out well for me. Great news story there, Nick. From your experience in the legal industry, what trends or opportunities should people be focusing on right now? Well, a big thing in the legal industry right now is ai, artificial intelligence. What, what, how does that impact on our industry?
And I've, I mean, I've even read articles that say lawyers and some other jobs, like, perhaps service [00:04:00] industries will completely disappear. I, I, I can't see that happening, but you know, no, I definitely can't. Not with what you do as well, Nick. Yeah, it's, it's a customized sort of environment. You sit down, you ask a lot of questions, client hopefully give you the answers, and then you put together a package that, that suits them specifically.
But yeah, AI and you know, one thing I suppose that I've been turning my mind to more recently is, especially given growth and taking on new staff, team culture. Trying to create a, you know, a productive, friendly, supportive environment for people at work. So, mm-hmm. Culture is king in every business, and I think it is something that can be overlooked.
We are going to have an episode all around culture as well, because it is so important, and I love working for Bartercard and the culture that we've got there. And it makes a huge difference to your motivation and your productivity, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you don't love it, you can't do it really.
Yeah, so, so let's get into giving some value to some of our members. Why is it important [00:05:00] for a business owner to have a will and an enduring power of attorney? So, I suppose it's important to make a distinction between what the two documents do during power of attorney transfers authority to somebody over certain issues.
It could be health, it could be finances, it could be other things whilst that person is still alive. The most common form that I see is an enduring power of attorney that transfers authority to somebody when the person called the principal has lost capacity. So there might be an accident, there might be something else where either it's early onset dementia, something like that.
Provided you've got an enduring power of attorney in place before that happens, then somebody like you, if you're appointed as an attorney, can act on the principal's behalf. But of course that ha, that's a document and valid document whilst you're alive. But what happens after you've died? Well, that's the difference between the power of attorney and a will.
The Will is a document which says what will happen with your assets after you've died. [00:06:00] And the enduring power of attorney's document, which describes what's gonna happen with somebody. You put in your authority to take your place whilst you're still alive, but you might not have the ability to make decisions.
So. That's, that's the big distinction between the two documents. It's important to have both because it's important to, for the first instance, for an enduring power of attorney to appoint somebody who you trust. Mm-hmm. I mean, what happens if you don't have somebody, then somebody is gonna have to either make an application to the court to be appointed a guardian under Qcat.
How do you know that that person will do the right thing by you? You hope they do. You hope that the right person stands up and. Puts their hand up and says, I'm willing to take this responsibility, but why go to that bother? Why have all that trouble? If you can just easily fill out a simple document and make sure that you appoint the right person at the right time to do the right thing.
Same concept with the will. If you leave us, if you die without having a will, then what happens to all your worldly assets? [00:07:00] I mean, anyone in business who's got the motivation, the enthusiasm to start their own. Business to be an entrepreneur who hasn't already thought about what's gonna happen in the event that I die to these assets, then it's really no different to being in business.
It's that entrepreneur mindset. How do I plan? I wanna plan for the future. How do I get to where I want to get to? And then the future, well, there's only two certainties in life. People talk about that, don't they? You know, taxes and death. Yes. And so it's not something we can avoid just yet. Maybe, maybe in a few hundred years time.
I don't know. But it's guaranteed for all of us. We're all gonna die at some point. And I think some people just don't wanna have that conversation. Maybe they think it's a bit more Yeah. I think that's exactly why people don't wanna have that conversation. But it is a reality that we need to really consider protecting our assets, but also protecting our family and the legacy that we're leaving behind with our businesses.
Yep. And that's [00:08:00] the, that's the intent of going to a lawyer and getting these documents drafted up. How do I transfer these assets to who I want them to go to? Yeah. It's as simple as that. Yeah. Now you can get wills from the post office. Mm-hmm. And I'm very fortunate that I've worked with you before and you are incredibly attention to detail and you have opened my eyes and made me think about things.
In so many different perspectives, things that I would never have been able to think of on my own because this is your expertise. Does a will from the post office actually hold as much power as what it would be going to the legal house to one of your lawyers? They can. So you can actually have a will kit that you can buy from a post office and it can be an entirely legal, legally binding document.
But nobody asks you any questions. You pick up the paper, you write down what you think you should write down on the paper, and that's the end of it. There's nobody anybody there to say, oh, [00:09:00] what do you wanna do with this? And well, but what? You can't do that with this because of whatever the situation might be.
So the difference between a will kit that you do on your own and a will that you will get done with a professional, like me for example, someone who's experienced in the area, is that I'm gonna ask you a lot of questions. And they're all gonna be specific to your situation. And nobody will do that if you go to a post office and just fill it out on your own.
And when I ask you the questions, the answers that I give you are gonna be drafted into a properly legal on legally binding document. There's a common problem with some wills where you, some clauses that you want to be binding can fail for what's called uncertainty. So you haven't. Properly describe what you want to happen with a specific asset and so therefore, legally it's not binding when you fill out the will on your own.
If you're not a lawyer, you dunno what to write. You might just say, and for somebody who's only got three possessions in their entire world, maybe [00:10:00] the will kit will work for them. But for somebody who's worked really hard to create a bigger legacy, then. It's worth spending a little bit of money to make sure that you get a properly drafted will.
It's an investment for your future generations, isn't it? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Not even just about yourself. It's your future generations that will benefit from taking action today. And we can't predict what's gonna happen this afternoon or tomorrow, so it really is a valuable thing for everyone to have.
So, Nick and, and I think the important thing there is the wheel Kit is a one size fits all. Whether your size fits it or not, bad luck. That's what the wheel kit does to you with the post office. Whereas you can customize the size to fit every circumstance when you go to see a legally trained professional.
Absolutely. So why is a succession plan important? So, I think I mentioned before, when you're in business, you plan oh, this is my goal. How do I get to that goal? These are the steps that I take towards that path. Succession planning is [00:11:00] very similar. Like it, the idea is you sit down and think who would be the best person to manage your business if you're not there?
You nominate that person. You train them whilst you're alive. You get them to the point where there's a very smooth transition between one person and the next. So succession planning is really all about smooth transition, minimizing disruption, and making sure the best person's appointed to do the job after you've gone.
Well, thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge with us. I can personally vouch that Nick is a lawyer that you want on your side in all things Wills, estates, family law. You have always go above and beyond for all of your clients. But Nick, one last question for you today. If a business owner was thinking about joining Barter card.
What would you say to them? Find your nearest account, executive relationship manager, whatever they're called. Sit down, have a conversation. It's not gonna cost you any money. It might cost you half an hour of time. [00:12:00] The one thing that I found with Bartercard is they have this massive network of referral partners.
I'll ring up my account executive and I'll say, do you have somebody who can do this? Bang, there it is. You do in response. I mean, I've just recently. I've got new business cards, got stationary for the office, got all these sorts of things from making, sending one email, getting a response. And what I've found so far is that most of the Bartercard suppliers and tradespeople that I've worked with are really responsive and they take ownership and you send them an email that comes from Bartercard they come back to you quickly and you know the job's done.
Yeah, it is that amazing business to business network that we absolutely love being a part of. Well, thank you Nick from the Legal House. We really appreciate you being here. Just one quick little question. Do you only work here on the Gold Coast or can you work Australia wide? So some of the stuff I do, the family law to Commonwealth jurisdiction, it's all over the place.
I've appeared in Melbourne Adelaide. [00:13:00] Darwin where else? New South Wales, because now we can do a lot of appearances via Team Zoom and everything like that. It's a much easier, but yeah. So that's a Commonwealth jurisdiction, but estates change from, from state to state. It can be, the rules can be different in New South Wales.
They're in Queensland and Victoria, so, yeah. Well, Nick, thank you so much for being here. No worries. Thank you. Thank you for being with us today and sharing your stories and expertise. If you wanna find out how Barter Card can help your business, or if you wanna be a guest on our future podcast, contact our team at hello@bartercard.com.
Make sure you tune in for our next episode of the Barta Edge.