It's a way of life for many.. There are hundreds of thousands of us.
Having the right attitude about peoples needs and differences, being community minded, and being reasonably easy going is often your biggest asset, though niche, or expensive to purchase skills never hurt..
The trick can be to get both parties to write down what the end goal for each should look like, what costs will/may occur, and who pays them. (this is too formal for some though)
Pitfalls are: different skills being valued very differently. (I don't trade with people who use this system, even though I have 'valuable' skills to offer. I prefer people interested in equal communities, we tend to have better relationships and fewer problems with each other.)
An hour of time is a better system, than skills 'values.' People committed to exchange systems generally automatically value an hour of one thing to an hour of another, regardless of skill levels involved.
However, two hours of ironing weekly for an hour of a KC barrister looking over your ongoing case weekly, may be a very acceptable swap. Horses for courses,
If you're financially comfortable, and especially if children around, offering a free (volunteers - £40ish) enhanced DBS check, can be a mutually good part of a longer term swap deal.
Other common pitfalls are: people taking each other for granted, children/ partners/ dogs not in full agreement, all the usual warnings when it comes to adverts /offers (MLMs, Life coaches, weirdo's etc) and previously very occasionally HMRC issues. (again valuing swaps on one hour of time rather than skill 'values' keeps this at bay too)
For some (especially younger/unemployed/ migrant) folk, being able to use the swap 'evidence' as CV building, or take photos is important, so remember to offer/negotiate that and any conditions. (ie pics of beautifully crisp ironing no probs, but no logo'ed school uniform, and blurred backgrounds required please)
The best way to do it is (at least initially) often through a group as reputations matter and it helps with resolving any issues.
Lot's of LETS around (Local Exchange Trading Systems) and Timebanks. You'll also find Hackerspaces/Hackspaces, Makerspaces, and Home Educators full of folk who believe in sharing and swapping skills and time, to enrich lives and create communities and opportunities.
Some groups are very open, some regulated, some quite closed needing a referral from a member.
This is an example of very open unregulated one to one system: a www.facebook.com/groups/skillsswaplondon/?locale=en_GB