Katelyn Bourgoin had such huge belief in her plans for a bartering website that she bartered with service providers to get it built.

Bourgoin, the head of the Halifax marketing firm RedRiot Communications, had a vision about a year ago for a site that would allow service providers and entrepreneurs to swap their services without exchanging cash.

What she found as she worked on the project is that women were far more enthusiastic about the concept than men. So she will soon launch Swapskis, a site where entrepreneurial and professional women can go to swap services.

 “After interviewing more than 300 prospective users as part of the customer discovery process, an interesting pattern emerged,” said Bourgoin in an interview.

 “While men feigned interest, women were downright excited by the concept. Many women were already exchanging services with other women off-line.”

She said a lot of young people getting a start in their career need various services but don’t have the money to pay for them. Meanwhile, they are also trying to build a client base and develop a record of achievement. By bartering their services, they can get what they need, gain experience in their chosen field and develop a network of clients.

Bourgoin took her concept through Dalhousie University’s starting lean course last year. She then set out to prove the value of bartering by offering her marketing skills to people who could help her develop her business. Many of the services she needed, like design and product development, she secured in exchange for her marketing expertise.

She also raised a “modest” amount of funding from friends and family, which allowed her to hire a few people, such as digital community manager Jamie Hammond. Vice-president of technology Matthew Hilchie took a 10 per cent stake in the company in exchange for developing the site for the beta test.

They have devised a site that allows people in different fields to value their trade at a certain level and swap it for other trades. For example, a lawyer could swap services with a hair stylist, though the stylist would probably have to do more hours as legal fees are worth more on a dollar-per-hour basis. All participants are urged to record the value of the services they provide, so they can report them to tax officials.

Bourgoin is planning a “freemium” model, meaning that people can use the site free once a month, but will have to pay on a subscription basis to use it more than that.

Swapskis will launch in limited beta tests for six weeks beginning next month, and Bourgoin is looking to build up a community of about 5,000 users to participate in the beta tests. Following that, she is hoping to raise a seed round of financing. She plans that the product will be available throughout Atlantic Canada later in the year.

Bourgoin plans to release the product in strategic regions and is planning launches in select markets in the United States and Western Europe late this year.