Meet David Fling … Award Winning CEO … Helping Businesses Conserve Cash in a Non-Traditional Barter System that Builds Business
By Robin Atkins
When people think of bartering, traditionally they think of the age-old system of trading goods or services with one another for their respective goods or services, it’s been a direct trade. The practice dates back centuries.
Modern bartering offers much more flexibility. David Fling, Owner, and CEO of ITEX of the Midwest has seen just how valuable the ITEX barter system has been for the thousands of business owners that he has met with over the past 17 years.
ITEX of the Midwest is a for-profit membership trade exchange comprised of all types of enterprises located in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Through “cashless” business-to-business transactions, members exchange ITEX trade dollars when buying and selling products and services from other ITEX members. ITEX of the Midwest has offices also in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, OK, and Overland Parks, KS.
What makes ITEX unique is that businesses don’t exchange directly with each other, instead trade exchanges create ITEX dollars that accrue and can be used to make cashless purchases with any business within the ITEX network.
But what makes ITEX of the Midwest unique is David Fling’s dedication to helping businesses conserve cash and market their goods and services. “I love helping people save money and understand how to use their product to save cash and promote their business.”
Fling says that the biggest hurdle that he has with small business owners is that they have cash flow issues, especially if they have smaller profit margins. He digs in to help them understand how the ITEX system can help them to conserve their cash and barter for the goods and services that are available within the ITEX network.
“Once people understand how to use the ITEX network, provided they’re finding items that they would otherwise be spending cash on they’re able to see how they will actually increase their cash flow.”
Fling works with all types of small to mid-sized business owners and takes pride in developing lasting relationships that have become friendships. He truly enjoys learning about what they do to make sure that ITEX is right for them. It’s this dedication that earned Fling the 2020 Bronze American Business Award for “Company of the Year” in the Business & Professional Services category.
It’s no surprise that Fling has had such great success in the Midwest.
“The Midwest is very important to me. My grandfather worked for the Kansas City Southern. I grew up in Oklahoma and my parents put my brother and me on a train, and my grandparents picked us up in Kansas City. They lived a couple of doors down from Walt Disney. I spent summers in Kansas City enjoying the vibrant life like going to baseball games at the old Municipal Stadium downtown. It was a family thing for me.”
“The metro has so much charm, the fountains, the plaza, all the different sports. Overland Park is growing out of control. Lee’s Summit is growing by leaps and bounds for sure. So, it’s fun. The people are super, super great. There are so many entrepreneurs of small businesses that are trying to develop … that’s the excitement for me.”
If you’re interested in learning more about ITEX of the Midwest, you can reach David Fling at (816) 470-9055, or by email at david.fling@itex.net, or visit the site at kansascity.itex.com