Barter Consultants International can facilitate a transaction between a plastic surgeon who wants a new bathroom and a contractor who wants a nose job. BCI can connect an art gallery owner who needs a hotel room in New York and a hotelier who is looking for fine art. Busman even uses barter to run her own business: The accountants and telemarketers who supplement her eight-person staff get paid in barter dollars.

Busman studied psychology, which she has used more in business than in clinical settings. After careers in retail, real estate and sales — including as a broker for another bartering firm — Busman started BCI in 1999. It has grown every year since. In addition to its corporate office in Buckhead, BCI has satellite licensees operating in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, near Hilton Head, S.C., and in Jamestown, N.Y.

Read more: Atlanta Journal Constitution