Bartering should accomplish one of three things:
Filling downtime with customers that might not normally spend cash on your service. Or selling stock at regular retail for barter instead of marking it down for a sale for cash.
Conserve cash by buying things you need (or want) with barter dollars instead of cash. Use the cash to reinvest in your business. You can also give employees bonuses in barter dollars. That can start a new incentive program or even give you the ability to give some sort of bonus in a year that might not have seen any bonus otherwise.
Improve your lifestyle. Often when a business is new or in a down time, owners cut back on personal indulgences to put money into the company. Barter dollars can be used to dine out, for vacations, for gift giving, anything that would be considered an indulgence if you paid cash.