Dear Wacco Community

I have heard many times that if you need something and your intentions are good, then put out to the universe what you need and it will come to you. That is why I am writing. I am asking for money, but not as charity; I have a viable and useful business that will die very soon indeed if I cannot find the financial resources to keep it going. Here is how I came to be in such a situation.
During the last year my life has gone through a series of upheavals that took me, between January and October of last year, from having a place to live and a well-paying job, a state that seemed pretty secure, to having no job, no money and no place to live. I will not bore you with the details of this saga, though it is no secret, and I will be happy to tell anyone that is interested how it all came about. For now suffice it to say that my change of circumstances was attributable in probably about equal measure to my own shortcomings and blindness and the actions of others beyond my control.
I was not entirely without resources, however. I have well-developed skills in a number of areas, particularly in computers, technology generally, graphics and photography. I also had a great deal of equipment and furniture, including a very large high quality inkjet printer (Epson 9500), scanners, laser printers, smaller inkjet printers, cameras and lighting equipment. In addition I had a large collection of photographs that I have taken over the past few years. Also I had the promise of a loan from my ex-wife who was in the process of refinancing her house, and my former business partners owed me s substantial sum and it seemed likely that they would be able to pay off some of it. Finally I had the confidence that no matter how dire my circumstances I could find a way to move forward.
So in November I found myself back in Sebastopol after several months’ unhappy exile in Stockton (don’t ask!), wondering what I was going to do next. Driving one day from where I was staying with a friend at the north end of town to Hard Core for my morning coffee, I noticed a For Lease sign on a building next door to the Buddhist Temple (or actually next door to the frame shop that is next door to the temple.) Immediately I had a vision of a business that I might start in such a location, and, in spite of the fact that I had maybe $1,500 to my name (other than the money I was expecting), I called the number on the sign, and left my name and number with the machine that answered. I figured that if it was meant to be, I would somehow manage to get the place. Well, long story short it turned out that the agent was someone I already knew, and when I told him what business I was starting he recommended to the owners that they rent it to me. I made an agreement with them to do some needed improvements in exchange for a month’s rent, and I moved in at the beginning of November (there is an apartment in back and a commercial space in front, so I have a very short commute!)
The business I had in mind, and which I am now operating, is called Looks Good on Paper, and I do all kinds of digital graphics services, including art reproduction, scanning, graphic design, large format printing, photography, CD production and computer consulting. The reasons I considered Sebastopol to be an ideal location for such a business were these: first, there is no business in town doing what I am doing. There is a very good copy center (Sprint) that handles the straight copying business, and at least one good printer and graphics business (G-Wiz), but nobody who does large format printing, art reproduction and all the other services I offer. Then Sebastopol is a town that favors small local business and appreciates a highly personalized approach, which is what I offer, and also has a large community of artists. Finally the location I found is very visible, and has a huge number of people driving past every day.
I was hesitant to sign the lease without confirmation that the refinancing that would yield the promised loan had in fact gone through, but decided that it was a pretty good bet that it would, and I did not want to risk losing the place. Well, you have probably guessed by now that the refinancing fell through, and I did not get the money. To make matters worse it turned out that my ex-partners also had financial reversals which meant nothing would be coming from there either. This left me in a severely embarrassing situation.
The owners agreed under the circumstances to postpone payment of December’s rent to give me a chance to build up business; I undertook to pay this as soon as I was able. However it would be unreasonable to expect them to be patient for ever.
December brought quite a lot of business, and I was able to pay my rent on January 1st. January, on the other hand, has been a very slow month indeed. This is not unusual, in fact all the business people I talk to (especially retail establishments) say the same thing. The past few days things have been picking up somewhat, and I have had serious enquiries that should lead to substantial business, Almost everyone who comes in says that Sebastopol needs a business like mine, and that they know all kinds of people who need what I have to offer.
Right now, however, it is February 1st and I do not have the rent that is due today. This means that as of today I owe 2 month’s rent (at $2,200 per month, which covers both the apartment and the commercial space.) I have now stretched the goodwill of my landlords to the breaking point, and unless I can come up with at least the current month’s rent (and preferably some portion of the back rent as well) my attempt to make something out of nothing will come to a very short and ignominious end, and I will not be here to provide all those services that everyone says Sebastopol needs.
I am therefore appealing to the community for help. I can think of several ways that this might be accomplished, and I am open to suggestions that I might not have thought of. First of all, if you have been thinking of having large prints made, your art reproduced, or CDs made, or have any graphic design work or photographic needs (yes, I do weddings!) or need help with your Macintosh or want to learn Photoshop, now would be a wonderful time to do it. If you know that you will be needing such work in the future I am willing to give $120 worth of credit for future work for $100 now. I am also open to a business loan, or even an equity investment if I can find a suitable partner.
I have every confidence that what I have is a sustainable business that will yield a comfortable profit if I can just last out until regular business starts to come in. I already have a number of satisfied customers who will attest to the quality of work I produce, and you are welcome to stop by and see for yourself. The bottom line, though, is that I need to make something happen pretty quickly if it is going to be of any help.
Thank you for reading this far. You can find me at:

Looks Good on Paper
1190 Gravenstein Hwy S
Sebastopol
11—6 Tuesday—Saturday

or by phone on 707-479-6124 pretty much any time.