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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.
BC_Jacob Pest_6th-Oct-25
Jen: [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. Well, welcome back to another episode of the Barter Edge.
I am Jen Travo, your host, and today I am with someone a little bit different. I am here with a serial killer. Now don't be alarmed, nothing illegal. I am here with Jacob Barter from Jacob's Pest Control. Uh, he's. Been in pest control for about 11 years now. Started his business in 2023, joined Bartercard, Feb 2025.
I've personally used Jacob pre Bartercard for my pest inspection, and he has just reminded me that a little while ago he got a. And a video from me at [00:01:00] about eight o'clock at night because I found a mouse running through my house and I am squealing and swearing because I didn't know what to do. So Jacob is that pest control guy that you can be absolutely mortified when you see you creepy crawlies or rodents.
And he always comes and he has always shown respect. I have always felt very comfortable with him in my house. He's always explained things. We looked at, uh, underneath my property as well. Like he went above and beyond to make sure there was no potential risk for anything further, which as someone who hates pests, I really, really appreciated.
So, Jacob, welcome to the Barter Edge. Would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about who you are and why you love killing? Insects and creepy crawlies and rodents and
Jacob: everything. Thank you. Um, no. Well, um, I've done [00:02:00] this for 11 years now. So originally I first started helping a friend digging holes, didn't know what a termite was, so being pretty inquisitive, asking lots of questions.
Um. Four, four weeks into it, he turned around and goes, well, why don't you come work for me full time? So nice and easy. That's how I started. Um, I've done a lot of construction, brick lane, concreting, truck driving, all different sorts of things. And then when you find a job that you enjoy and you. You like to get up every morning and go to this was it.
So, you know, living out in the bush and constantly, you know, exploring in my younger days and then now doing it as an adult, getting paid for it, which is absolutely fantastic. I can't complain. So it's, um, it's been an interesting journey. I'll give you that one. Most definitely. And I do get lots of videos of.
Creepy crawlies and people screaming in the background on a pretty weekly basis. So it's, it's nothing unusual.
Jen: How much [00:03:00] enjoyment do you get outta getting videos like that? Like, let's be honest,
Jacob: to be honest. I love it. I love it. Um, my brother is an arachni, so every time I get a phone call from him screaming and squealing is three and a half years older.
Um, I do enjoy it and you know, it's something that, um. Not everyone's cup of tea. I'll put it that way. So, yeah. No, it's different. It's very different. So no, no, no, no. It keeps me entertained.
Jen: Can you share with, um, our listeners, how has Bartercard impacted your business this year? Like, you, you joined at the start of the year and um, you were fairly new in business still.
So what's the impact been becoming a member in our marketplace and network?
Jacob: It's been interesting, to be honest. Um, one. I didn't know what barter card actually was until I went into a meeting, got a bit of info about it, didn't. Wasn't too fussed or phased over a year ago. And then Renee dragged me back in in February, um, of [00:04:00] 24 and pretty much she goes, uh, oh, sorry, of 25.
And she goes, um, you pretty much need to sign the dotted line 'cause I need you, I need to find you work. And that's how it started. So still getting the hang of it, how it all works. And you know, ba. The directory, still trying to find things, bits and pieces, but the team has been awesome, sending me emails of things of interest for me personally and my business.
Um, so Renee and her team sent me an email with a office container that's. Preset up with, you know, insulation, walls, full paint, flooring, everything else, downlights, uh, ready to go as your home office. Uh, so that was the first purchase I've made on barter cards. So now I've got the container right next to my house and I literally, I.
Have a space to work from home rather than, you know, trying to work in the lounge room on the computer, little man running around trying to annoy you. It's my separate space to do what I need to, to make my business more effective. So it's been fantastic. [00:05:00]
Jen: That's a really innovative way of utilizing your trade dollars.
Is that something that you would've been able to do if it wasn't for the additional business you got through Bartercard?
Jacob: No, not, not really, to be honest. I could've built one, but it would take me another couple years to, you know, try and find the money for materials, bits and pieces to build it, um, pretty hands-on.
So I do enjoy like, ripping things down and rebuilding things, so that's easy. But I don't think it would've been an achievable goal. Until I was on Bartercard
Jen: and we often get people go, uh uh, I'm concerned about if I'm going to be able to spend my trade dollars, but you've just summed it up, our account managers aren't just motivated to bring you business.
They're also motivated to help you spend as well. Yeah, a hundred percent. So sending you, they get to know your business and what your goals are, so when they see an opportunity that could be a good fit for you. If
Jacob: they send it straight [00:06:00] to you. Yeah. Well my, my achievable goal was, um. Try and buy my first home, which technically I now own this office and it's a container so I can take it anywhere that I go to, which is perfect.
Um, I also want a block of land, you know, to build a house on, do everything else. Well. Containers you can turn into a house and there's some websites I've been on that phenomenal what they look like and what you can do with them. But the girls sent me an email. Probably a couple weeks ago, um, block of land, a hundred percent on trade, 40 grand.
Only thing was it was 13 and a half hours away in New South Wales.
Jen: Oh,
Jacob: there back of nowhere. Um, it's a long drive to go dirt bike riding with little man 13 hours away when we've got the backyard, nine and a half acres. So it's, it's something that I want later on down the track, but knowing that I can buy property on barter card helps heaps.
Jen: It's incredible, isn't it? It's
Jacob: a no brainer By
Jen: servicing clients you otherwise wouldn't have had
Jacob: No, definitely not [00:07:00]
Jen: doing what you love.
Jacob: Yep. That's it.
Jen: Being a serial killer, yes. Let's be honest. A serial pest,
Jacob: I do enjoy it, but it's, it's, it's not something that everyone thinks of, right? The idea is you should get inspections and pest control want done once every 12 months, depending where you are.
A lot of people either are terrified of pests and insects, either cockroaches, spiders, things like that. And some people actually don't care that they've got those problems and issues around the house. They just live with it, so everyone's different.
Jen: What do you think is the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to pest control or lack of it?
Jacob: To be honest, after doing this for, for so long, the um. The DIY searcher, I'm gonna go on Google. I know what to do. I've researched on how to kill 'em and get rid of them. And then three weeks later I get a phone call saying that, oh, I now need your help. 'cause what I did didn't work. Um, every insect has its own.[00:08:00]
Way of getting inside. It's got its own way of breeding cycles and habitats. So it's understanding and identifying what sort of insect we're dealing with, where they're gonna live in harbor, what their breeding cycles are like to be able to then recommend what the best treatment's gonna be. Be moving forward.
So the old, you know, smoke bomb that you get from Bunnings and coal still, it just doesn't kind of cut it. That's the best way to put it.
Jen: Yeah. Yeah. Look, I was actually speaking to a body corporate manager a little while ago and he said, oh yeah, we get our carpet ski to do the pest controlling. But then I found out that they don't even do the courtyards or anything like that No.
In the complex. And I'm like, but.
Jacob: They don't have licensing for it either. As far as I, I'm aware they've, because they're a franchise company or a full-time employee for somebody else, a lot of them have pre-made chemicals that they'll pick up then go and actually do the carpet cleaning, the, the pest [00:09:00] spray.
There are a few that have pest control licensing and they do get their own stuff and then do it that way as well. Um, there's nothing wrong with it. It's good for exit sprays and like when you're leaving a property without any dramas. But they're not someone that you call to do your annual pest control.
'cause literally all they're doing is spraying. That's it. As where with every pest control, you've got three modes of control. You're gelling, you're dusting, you're spraying, but you're first identifying where your problem areas are, and then you're going from there.
Jen: Yeah.
Jacob: Yeah,
Jen: because I know, uh, in this particular complex, uh, they, the out outer side ones, uh, riddled with spiders, but they're all using the people who aren't actually treating outside.
Yeah. And I'm like, if you are not treating where the problem is, you're gonna have a bigger problem. Isn't that correct?
Jacob: It is correct. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. You, you may as well do the whole thing or just don't do it at all.
Jen: Yeah,
Jacob: that's it.
Jen: So how often should you engage in a pest controller?
Jacob: To be honest, it depends on.
Where you [00:10:00] are or infrastructure, if you're in more warehousing, industrial sections, closer to schools, um, near refuge stations, tips, things like that. Probably every six months, to be honest with you, a lot it goes on traffic. So a lot more if. Foot traffic, a lot more food. Kids running around. You've got a lot more waste.
You're gonna have a lot more insects. Um, once every 12 months is sive, depending on where you are. But you could have, um, be the tidiest person in the world, but then you've got two neighboring properties, one's a hoarder and one's just got a really filthy yard. You're gonna have pest issues all year round, depending on what's going on.
If they're not doing anything and you actively are treating every 12 months, but you're always getting pest problems, well that's why, because the neighbors aren't doing anything about it. They just kind of live with it. That's the hard part. Yeah, everywhere's different Everywhere's. That
Jen: really makes sense.
And it's very climate driven as well, isn't it? A
Jacob: hundred percent. Yeah. So more moisture. More high humidity, more conducive elements that you have, the [00:11:00] more septal you are to a pest attack to begin with itself. But same as us. Alright, we need food, we need water, we need shelter, insects and animals are doing the same thing, but instead they don't pay rent and they like to come in our house.
Yeah.
Jen: Yeah.
Jacob: That's it. That's what it comes down to.
Jen: Okay. Uh, should you wait until you see spiders and cockroaches to give you a call and book you in?
Jacob: To be honest, no. If you're proactive once every 12 months, you know you will start seeing pest activity starting at that 10, 11 month mark. It's nothing to to really worry about, depending on season and when you've gotten it done.
But if you're actively doing it every 12 months, it'll pretty much eliminate everything that's coming through and or staying inside to begin with. So if you, if you do it once and then you wait three or four years, then go, oh, I need to do it again. 'cause I've got heaps of bugs. Well, you should have done it a while ago.
And instead of playing catch up, it's like with anything, that's how it works.
Jen: Yeah. Now, back on your membership with Barter card, you have seen some success, you've got some amazing clients. [00:12:00] I do. And opportunities, and I often tell us some, some, some of your stories when I'm talking to people about how as a woman.
On the road business, it's very hard to get contracts and introductions to business decision makers. A hundred
Jacob: percent.
Jen: Has Bartercard helped do that for you?
Jacob: Oh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Um, the, the hardest thing is making that client base. It, it always has and it always will be. It doesn't matter what industry that you're in itself, unless you've got a product or service where you can walk in the door.
And look at something and grab it off the shelf and buy it completely different where it's gotta be a service. You've gotta ring and organize to actually do it as where people just kind of forget it or it sits on the back burner. Oh, I saw a cockroach, but I'm not really worried about it. It's, it's different.
It is different. But the idea is being proactive will keep pests away from the property to begin with itself. So it's having [00:13:00] that contact and base where it would still take me quite. Some years to get to where I am now. If I didn't join barter card, that's the easiest way to put it. So having that effective client base from Renee pushing work through to me and the team pushing work through, to me, it's them, me up to me to, to make that first contact.
Reach out. This is, this is me, this is what I do. Um, would you like me to come out and just have a look, see what's going on? And we go from there. Easiest way. So it's been fantastic.
Jen: Now, what would you say to a business, and you are fairly new in business, still a couple of years old. Uh, what would you say to someone who is considering joining Bartercard?
Jacob: Um, to be honest, if you don't do it for yourself, no one else is gonna do it for you. Um, Renee was good at that 'cause she kind of pushed me into doing it, but it was something I should have done by myself to begin with. So it's more, if you're not willing to help yourself, you can't help others. So with Bartercard and actively joining, being able to help others, that workflows then just [00:14:00] increase dramatically.
So it's been fantastic. So if you are looking to actually join and, and take that jump, just do it 'cause no one else is gonna do it for you.
Jen: Love that a hundred percent. Well, Jacob, thank you so much for being here with us today. Uh, if you are on the directory and you are looking for a pest controller, look up Jacob's Pest Control.
Extermination,
Jacob: extermination,
Jen: extermination, sorry, Jacob's uh, pest. Extermination, uh, because he's the Terminator, um, and, uh, get in contact with him. But if wherever you are around the country, uh, we are looking for more pest controllers as well to join our network, uh, because everyone needs to protect their business.
Jacob: They do. And
Jen: their home,
Jacob: they do.
Jen: So thank you so much for being here.
Jacob: Yeah, absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Jen: 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 [00:15:00] podcast, contact our team at hello@bartercard.com.
Make sure you tune in for our next episode of the Barta Edge.