Made by the little people,
for the little people.

My parents ran a catering business in Boston. The 2008 recession hit them hard and they had to close. What they remember isn't the money, though. It's the people they worked with.

Years later they opened a restaurant in my hometown. Between legal costs and the construction needed to meet state code, it never quite paid for itself. The hours were long and the money was never guaranteed. But what I remember is the community around it: neighbors helping neighbors, the local paper, the auto shop down the road, people showing up because they cared, not because a contract said so.

When cash was tight, my parents sometimes paid people in gift cards to the restaurant. It wasn't a clean system, but it worked, because people trusted each other and wanted to see each other make it.

The businesses closed. The relationships didn't.

Years later, those people still remember each other. They still stop to talk, still look out for one another. That's what shaped how I think about value: we treat money as the only measure of worth, but people create real value every day that never lands on a paycheck. A skill taught, a hand lent, an introduction made, that's where real value lies.

BackScratch is built on a simple idea: neighbors helping neighbors. It's a place where small businesses and community members trade real value, skills, jobs, services, as barter, paid, or both, their call. Barter is always free. A small, transparent fee on paid deals keeps it that way. No surprises.

A place that rewards contribution and lets a neighborhood lean a little less on money and a little more on each other.

Made by the little people, for the little people.

— Keigan, founder