Rarely have the so-called experts seemed so useless. As the likelihood of recession and the prospect of war became real to Americans last week, no one had the answers to what lies ahead. There only have been guesses and those are usually just good for a few hours at a time. What matters these days are not the usual talking heads laying out their speculation informed and otherwise but real people trying to live out their real lives. What follows are the accounts of a dozen Angelenos in various fields and situations. Some tell us how they are coping personally with a weak economy and the terrorist aftermath, while others describe how their businesses are faring. Their stories, in their own words, provide a telling portrait of these troubled times.

Kevin Stringer, Computer Programmer

The 27 year-old computer programmer started working for a start-up before most people had e-mail. But after working for several companies and moving quickly through the ranks, the bubble popped. Unlike many dot-comers, Stringer was able to find another job and put his skills to use, but only after several months of unemployment.

“I jumped into the Internet industry in 1993. I didn’t know anything about it at the time. I learned HTML and I started out as a code monkey, or programmer, at MindShare. I was there about a year and then the company went under in 1994. The graphic designer from MindShare went to work for a company called Entertainment Asylum. I called her and she recommended me to her employer. AOL ended up purchasing Entertainment Asylum.

“AOL laid me off twice in a row. They did a massive firing of everybody in a day we referred to as ‘Black Tuesday.’ Entertainment Asylum went through six rounds of layoffs. It went from 160 strong to four or five people by the time I got laid off in the sixth round.

“At that time the market was still great. The moment I got laid off I had 20 calls from recruiters. I jumped to Warner Bros. and got a better job with a better title and more money. I left that organization willingly and jumped to a company called Rotor Communications. Once again: better title, more money.

“December of last year, two weeks before Christmas, they laid us off. In that first month (of unemployment) my spending habits declined to two thirds of what they had been. But I still didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be able to find another job. I was under the impression that I was invaluable.

“After sending out 200 resumes and not getting a single response, the reality struck home. I applied in San Francisco, San Jose, Chicago, New York, Indiana, San Diego I would have gone pretty much anywhere in the continental U.S.

“I started temping and that really hurt my pride. But I’m a man who believes as long as I’m working there’s nothing beneath me.

“In the middle of June I got very lucky. A friend of mine mentioned me to her boss and he hired me as a project manager. But I’m terrified right now. This job, a contract position, will dry up. And I think the market will tumble even further.

“I don’t spend nearly as much as I used to. I even quit smoking. It was something I’d been meaning to do for a while but the stimulus was realizing I was spending 150 bucks a month on cigarettes.

“I don’t go out to eat as much. My girlfriend and I tend to be much more conservative shoppers. I just broke my rule and bought a PlayStation 2, although, I’m hoping to become a games producer, so I justify it to myself as research.

“Even before the World Trade Center incident, my industry was suffering. There was an arrogance bred by the Internet. One year I made more money than my parents combined doing something that wasn’t worth anywhere near what I was getting paid.

“But I’ve always believed in working hard and doing what it takes to stay employed. Eventually I’d like to move up with the company I’m with, but right now I’m happy to bring home a paycheck.”

Conor Dougherty

Frank Mazzeo, Aerospace Executive

After more than a decade in the defense industry, it’s not surprising that Mazzeo has been through layoffs before. In 1983, after 20 years in journalism, he left to work for Garrett Corp., which eventually became part of Allied-Signal Aerospace. Mazzeo, 57, was laid off in 1993 but was hired at Teledyne, which became Litton Guidance and Control Systems. He was laid off again in November of 2000 when Northrop Grumman acquired Litton.

“When there is a merger, there are layoffs it’s just that simple. Since November of 2000 I have applied to well over 200 jobs.

“Economically, things are not like they used to be. We watch what we spend and we worry about how we are going to pay our bills and our son’s college tuition. And we pray that no major emergencies come along. Thank God this didn’t happen when two of my other children were attending college I don’t know what we would have done then.

“We don’t go out to eat nearly as often as we would like. We don’t buy things we don’t need, like new clothes. I had a favorite bottle of wine and I haven’t bought one in about nine months. It costs 15 bucks. That’s not a huge expense but by the same token it’s a few bucks you might need somewhere else.

“I continue to play senior softball, but the reason is most of the tournaments are within driving distance. But even then you think twice about spending the money. We still have some minor, cosmetic damage leftover from the Northridge earthquake. We had wanted to have that fixed but we don’t even think about that now.

“Fortunately, my wife is working and that’s been a huge blessing because we don’t have to worry about not having health insurance.

“I’ve applied for editing jobs, corporate communications positions, even marketing and communications. You try to hang your hat on some aspect of the job description. I think people are trying to build up a base of resumes. There are some jobs that I don’t think companies have any intention of filling.

“I’ve applied for jobs making 65 percent of my last salary. I had a lady ask me one time and ask what my minimum was and I had to tell her ‘I don’t think I have one anymore.’

“I remain optimistic about finding another position. I want to work and I want to make a contribution. To me, the paycheck was a necessary part, but I think many of us work for our own gratification or personal accomplishment. I know that I have that to offer.

“I’ve never taken this personally. You have to be optimistic. Why not, there’s no upside to the other side sitting around and wondering ‘why me?'”

William Stafford, Bill Collector

Stafford Co. Inc., a Los Angeles collection agency, has been in business since 1985. Its owner, William Stafford, spent 20 years as a police investigator before establishing the collection firm which has expanded from three to nine employees over the years. He has also opened a second office in Orange County.

“The first people affected by a downturn in the economy are restaurants, accountancy firms and, interestingly enough, attorneys.

“Business first started picking up last March and it’s increased steadily since then. And I expect the volume of collections to go through the roof in the next few months, given the current situation.

“If, under these circumstances that we’re in right now, the volume continues to grow, we will probably (hire more people). It all depends on the volume.

“The severity of the current economic downturn is much greater now than in the early 90s. The volume of traffic is much greater. Business increases by an easy 40 percent when there’s a downturn. With the terrorist attack, our clients are now panicked. I’d say volume has increased by about another 40 percent just since the day of the terrorist attacks.

“These circumstances are something I have never been through before. This is the worst situation I have ever seen. I can’t gauge what’s going to happen.

“When there’s a downturn in the economy people will simply not turn loose the money they owe. They simply have to be driven to the wall before they will pay the money.

“I’m a retired police officer and I’ve seen everything. I know when someone is telling me the truth and when they are not. I walk away from cases all the time because people haven’t got the money.

“We work on a contingency fee of 25 percent of all gross monies collected and we have an 87 percent success rate.

“Normally, we only represent accountancy firms and attorneys. For accountancy firms we are hired to collect their unpaid accounts receivable. For attorneys, we’re usually hired to collect money judgments awarded to their clients by the court. There’s been a tremendous increase in the amount of unpaid money judgments. Lately we’ve seen lesser amounts of money not being paid, $5,000 and less. That’s unusual, but we see it every time there’s a downturn.

“Lawyers call me and read to me the content of the money judgment and then ask if I have an interest in representing them and their client in collecting the money judgment. Normally I say yes. But if a lawyer calls me with a $2,000 unpaid money judgment, I’d turn that down it costs from $500-$700 just to run the investigation.

“If we can find the individual, all is well and good. If we can’t, we run a skip trace, which is how we find the individual’s residence. I won’t tell you how we do it that’s what we get paid for. We also have to do asset searches to see if the individual or business has any money. If we discover money, we apply to the court that issued the money judgment and they will issue a writ of execution money judgment. Once you have that, you turn it over to the Sheriff’s department and they will seize the entire contents of that account.

Conor Dougherty

Terry McNiff, Divorce Attorney

A partner at the Century City law firm Goldman & Kagon, McNiff has been practicing divorce law since 1983, when he graduated from UCLA law school. Today he mostly deals with the financial aspects of divorces, a difficult task in an uncertain economy. McNiff said that while the number of clients seeking his service remains steady, the time it takes to structure a deal that is acceptable to both sides has changed dramatically.

“When the stock market was going up, and it seemed like you couldn’t lose, nobody was worried about money. Now everybody is. Back then you’d make a deal and both parties wanted the stock but one ultimately would settle for, say, the residence because everything was going up. In the late 90’s everything was doing great. It was much easier to make a deal. Piece of cake.

“I received a letter last Friday saying ‘I want you to send this specific settlement proposal today because the stock market goes into the toilet.’ Before, when times were good, people were not that distressed. People didn’t worry about when an offer was sent. Offers tended to get sent every month or so. People are getting desperate to close the deal immediately, regardless of whether it’s good or bad.

“Right now people are distressed and edgy there are a bunch of negative feelings. And they want to get divorced much faster. There’s no patience anymore.

“(In today’s economy) people are re-evaluating the deals that they’ve made. I have a case right now where we started working on the negotiations six months ago. The spouse on the other side is a very difficult character to deal with. My client, who is a business operator, was willing to give the other spouse the residence, which has continued to go up in value. In return, my client was going to hold onto the stock portfolio, which is going down in value. So today I wrote a letter (to the client) saying, you have to reconsider, this is no longer close to an equal settlement. There’s been a lot of this lately.

“Most people, especially once they’re older, have a substantial portion of their wealth wrapped up in a stock portfolio. In one case I have, it’s two thirds of the assets, and it’s a multi-million dollar estate. That makes it much more difficult to resolve cases by settlement.

“Most couples that are going to get divorced are pretty set on getting divorced. But (with a bad economy) the considerations change significantly and the deal points change as well you’re forced to consider the impact of the person receiving the assets going down in value. It’s very rare for one of the two spouses to say ‘I’m willing to take less than half.’ And the half mark keeps changing in a changing economy.

“I think anyone would have to tell you that if the economy continues to sour that people’s relationships will become more sour than they are right now. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a fact of life.

“And in the situation we’re in right now, the negativity emanating from the (World Trade Center) disaster will have an impact on relationships as well. Everyone I’ve run into has a more negative view on life, and that will inevitably have an effect on relationships.”

Gary Emery, Therapist

Emery is a Los Angeles psychologist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety and depression. He is the author or co-author of several books, including “Anxiety Disorder and Phobias” and “Cognitive Therapy of Depression.” He writes a monthly newsletter about topics such as depression, anxiety and stress-free living.

“Probably since the (presidential) election, there’s been more anxiety, more unsettling. In general, people felt all was not well. I would say in April I started seeing more clients because of economic concerns.

“I see a lot of people in the entertainment industry and there was that feeling that there was going to be a big strike. The Bush election, plus the strike threat, plus the layoffs created a sense of anxiety.

“For a long time, it seemed like no one was out of work, and all of a sudden I had like 10 clients who were looking for jobs. It became a much bigger concern before the terrorist attacks. I’ve actually given a (pricing) break to some people who were out of work.

“They want to make sure their depression or anxiety doesn’t overwhelm their search for a new job or change in career or whatever they do. If you’re trying to get a job and also thinking you’re worthless and have no skills, it makes it that much more difficult.

“What I like to do with people who are looking for work is point out that they have a job, which is to find a job, and that they should schedule their day and make their contacts just like they were working.

“In light of the attacks, I would assume I might have less clients because all psychological problems are caused by self-focus, like ‘What’s wrong with me?’ When there’s something external, they get the focus off themselves and their problems disappear.

“It puts people’s problems in perspective. I had two or three or four people cancel last week who said, ‘I don’t want to come in and talk about my best friend not inviting me to a party when people are dying and jumping off buildings.’

“The people I saw last week who were without jobs felt much better because they weren’t thinking about their own situation. Like with cancer, what helps people cope is to find someone with a worse cancer.

“The worst period I’ve ever had with clients was during the Gulf War. When CNN is doing well, therapists are probably doing badly.

“For a lot of people, if your car won’t start, you’re stuck, you feel terrible. But if all the cars are stuck in a snowstorm, you don’t feel nearly as bad. It seems like if everybody’s in the same boat, you don’t feel quite as badly as when you’re the only one.”

Claudia Peschiutta

Radolfo Carrillo, Parking Lot Attendant

Carrillo’s booth at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Spaulding Avenue, right near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, has a radio for his entertainment, a fresh copy of La Opinion for his news and a small microwave oven for his lunch. All he needs now are cars. It’s been pretty slow these last two weeks. The 55-year-old native of El Salvador has been an American citizen for just six months (he received his green card in 1980), but has been an employee of Los Angeles-based Z-Valet Inc., the lot’s parking contractor, for 12 years. He’s well aware of the economic downturn, but making only $500 to $600 every two weeks, his life has not been changed as much as someone who has large amounts of disposable income. Job security is his main worry.

“I was born in El Salvador and I came to the United States in 1973. I’ve worked for the company for 11 to 12 years and I’ve been at this location for six years. I have five kids (ages) 28 to 33 we just had one every year for a while (laughing). My wife and kids came in 1986. I never saw good money over there. I came here for progress.

“I’m here from 8:30 or 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. I like the work here. It’s very easy. I studied to be a handyman for six months at a school in Pasadena I forget the name in 1997. I learned building repairs, plumbing, working with gravel. But being a handyman is a heavy job. I worked 6 to 2:30 at my job, then went to school from 3 to 5. I do some work for the manager at my apartment complex.

“When you have good art in the museum, we have a full lot. Fridays are busy because of the free concerts at the museum. Two years ago, we’d get $2,500 a day because of the Van Gogh exhibition. Now, everything is slow. We’ll do $500 to $800 on a busy day. I don’t care. I get my salary.

“We made $25 all day on Tuesday (Sept. 11). I worry a little because maybe the company will lose the location and they’ll move lots. Maybe my boss will give me the different location, but maybe my boss will say, ‘I’ll call you when we have a location.’ I come in early, I stay late. My boss doesn’t need to come and see me because he knows I’m here. He likes me because I’m responsible on the job.

“I got my citizenship six months ago. I paid a lawyer $1,000 to process it because it’s a big line.

“My boys have a good job they’re laborers for Fox Studios. They have a good salary. I don’t ask for money but when they give it, I say, ‘okay, thank you.’ They tell me not to worry about it.”

Danny King

Barry Glaser, Bankruptcy Attorney

Glaser is a partner in the West L.A. office of Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP. He has worked on a number of large bankruptcy cases, including the asbestos-related Johns Manville case in 1988 and the $83 million collapse of Property Mortgage Co., a Sherman Oaks mortgage company, in 1991.

“I was working at a smaller firm that was focused on real estate when the economy started changing and the opportunity came to go to a larger firm. I think (the economic downturn) opened an opportunity for many bankruptcy practices.

“It’s not just the dot-coms. Since the economy has slowed down we’re seeing everyone from the banks to consumer debtors to real estate and construction companies. Recently we’ve seen restaurant franchisees who are in over their heads. Now we’re starting to get calls from the smaller hotels and restaurants. People are going to be less likely to go out as much (in the aftermath of the attacks).

“There could be a lot of litigation and fallout in the insurance community from the World Trade Center attacks. Smaller insurers may have difficulty paying claims.

“I have mixed emotions about benefiting from an economic downturn. Obviously it’s good for business but it’s not good for the vast majority of people. At times like this it’s an opportunity for those who are well poised.

“Businesses declare bankruptcy for a number of reasons. It could be management issues, it could be growing too fast, it could be things beyond the company’s control, such as the economy. I’ve seen it all in 24 years of practice.

“Sometimes you have to act as psychiatrist. A lot of clients are emotionally involved in the case. The principals are concerned about their livelihoods, their employees, the ability of the business to become profitable when it comes out of Chapter 11. The creditors, at times, have invested their entire life’s savings in a situation where there will be very little realized. It’s heart-wrenching.

“The companies that struggle in this economy tend to have a variety of issues to work out. You have securities issues, real estate related issues, intellectual property issues those are all complicated and require legal expertise in each field. For example, a theater chain may be in a situation where it has a difficult lease it must restructure. Then you have the lessors what are they going to do with those empty properties?

“If a company is well managed they’ll come to us early in the situation and we’ll try to negotiate a friendly workout that’s beneficial to all sides. If it’s not possible the alternative is to file.

“Chapter 11 filings are on the upswing. It gives the company a chance for a fresh start. There could be an inability to service debt, there could be a management problem or it could be a particular type of industry.

Anthony Palazzo

Harold Bowman, Retiree

The 75-year-old Long Beach resident receives Social Security benefits as well as a small pension, but he and his wife depend on savings to help bankroll their trips.

In the last several months, Bowman has seen his investment portfolio lose 40 percent of its value. But despite the setback, and the uncertainty in world financial markets as a result of the terrorist attacks, the World War II veteran remains confident that the stock market, and the country, will bounce back.

“I wouldn’t say the downturn has had a big impact on my lifestyle. Since I retired, I’ve always more or less lived on a fixed income. It’s worked out fairly well.

“At times you have to watch yourself, but at other times, if you have a little money left over, you can go out and go to dinner. If I’ve got money left over at the end of the year, I’ll just spend it on a nice trip or something like that.

“I think I’m comfortable. I’ve always lived on a middle income. If anything, I just got used to living that lifestyle.

“I will say I’ve put off some big purchases. My son wanted to get a rental property, and if the economy hadn’t been what it was I would have made the down payment for him. But I told him I don’t want to take a chance and do this now.

“My wife and I love to travel. We’ve been to London and Berlin. We’ve taken cruises all over Mexico. I’m really hooked on those cruises. I would really like to travel some more, but I’ll be honest with you, I’d like to see some growth in the market. In the last several months, my portfolio is down 40 percent. I thought I was pretty well diversified, but I guess not enough. I have seven different mutual funds, and they’ve really taken a beating. One of them, as an example, was down 21 percent, which is a heck of a lot. But over 10 years it’s still up 24 percent.

“It really doesn’t do any good to worry. You don’t like it, but you can’t do a darn thing about it. You just have to go for the long haul. I still have my Social Security and a small pension from a union I worked for, but I just hope we’re near the bottom.

“I was in the Navy in World War II and lived through Pearl Harbor, but that was really small potatoes compared to what they did in New York. When you start attacking innocent men and women and children, that’s a whole different story.

“Personally, I’m not going to let it interfere with our schedule. We plan on flying to Washington (state) at the end of the month and going on a four-day cruise.”

Christopher Woodard

Patsy Flanigan, Small Business Owner

Flanigan figures a slowing economy might benefit her nut distribution business in Culver City.

People aren’t eating out as much, and that means they are stocking up at the grocery stores, where Flanigan Farms distributes more than 40 nut and trail mix products mostly in Southern California. Although sales continue to grow, the 15-person firm has seen its customer base dwindle through grocery store mergers. Flanigan Farms is responding by trying to broaden its customer base.

“My husband (Owen) and I started the business in 1970. He was a mechanical engineer and was out of a job during a recession in the aerospace industry. We decided there was a need for more natural foods in the supermarkets. There were some health food stores, but we felt there should be more natural foods available to all people.

“It was pretty lean starting out. To help out, I took a job with the (state) department of employment and later took a job at a school, but we managed to grow steadily over the years.

“We’re finding now that despite the economy our sales continue to go up. As the economy slows, people tend to cut back on restaurants and eat more at home. That really works in our favor. Another reason our sales are up is the movement to good health. Fortunately, the public is beginning to realize that nuts contain the good fat.

“But we are concerned about the economy. If workers compensation and other expenses keep going up, that could drive businesses and people out of the area. Also, the merger of grocery stores has reduced the number of chains and dramatically reduced our customer base. We’re becoming a little uneasy. You don’t want to have all our eggs in one basket.

“That’s why were considering ways to increase the venues we sell to. We’re looking into making our products available to schools as a healthy alternative for fund-raising events, and we’re also looking at selling to other institutions and the military. So far we’re finding it’s very difficult to get into new markets, but we’re going to keep working at it.

“Just given world events you have to worry about terrorism. Los Angeles is another possible target I suppose. But I think the reaction of our government has been fantastic, and people have shown wonderful patriotism. I think that helps keep people from going into a panic.”

Adam Michelin, Turnaround Consultant

Adam Michelin is a partner with Kibel Green & Issa Inc. The Santa Monica firm has enjoyed a windfall of new business in the wake of the dot-com bust and the overall downturn in the economy. But his job is more difficult because lending institutions are reluctant to provide the financing essential to get struggling companies back on their feet.

“I’m working twice as hard as ever because of the shortness of the time you have to deal with the financial institutions. They’re forcing troubled companies off their lending umbrella quicker and with less notice. Two years ago, you used to have six to 10 weeks to get the company back into a cash-positive position. Now we have to do our magic within a couple weeks.

“It’s less cordial now. When you have a meeting with creditors, banks and attorneys, they are more aggressive in putting their positions. A creditor used to be more likely to help restore the company to health. Today, they’ll say give them the money because they’ve got their own credit problems. You’re trying to be nice to everybody who are just rude.

“Since the lending institutions know who I am, that reputation in a lot of instances cuts enough slack so they will extend themselves. Our success rate for saving companies is 90 percent.

“I would say our financial turnaround business has doubled over the last year-and-a-half. There aren’t any new industries (as clients), just more of them. The bulk of our work is manufacturing and distribution companies consumer electronics and food processing. We also do the service sector, like law firms and CPA firms. They tend to put on layers of fat like any other company. The profits erode dramatically so the partners decide to do something. It’s best to bring in a third party to make that happen.

“Very few manufacturing and distribution business are run where they have a lot of liquid capital in the company. So when the economy started slowing, all the cash dried up. Huge amounts of cash were lost when the value of the dot-com stocks crashed. That exacerbated the slowing of the economy.

“The first thing I do is go into the operations and find the core competence and literally move the company back to its basic strength. Then it becomes much easier to get some financing.

“I typically act as a mentor to the chief executive officer or senior manager. Sometimes they put me in a position of responsibility where I have to implement the heavy decisions closing a part of the operation down and eliminating positions or mandating pay cuts. When I leave, all of that ill will leaves the company with me. The senior executives do not have to bear the burden. They can always say ‘It was that consultant that made me do it.'”

David Greenberg

Mark Harbour, Financial Counselor

Harbour is the area director of personal financial counseling at Ernst & Young. Two years ago, when he was transferred to the Los Angeles office from Chicago, he restructured his office’s operations, referring all wealthy clients to other firms so his staff could focus on the extremely wealthy, allowing him to make more money from fewer clients.

“My clients have a lot of uncertainties, nervousness and soul searching about the slowing economy and the recent (terrorist) events. They don’t know exactly what to make of it.

“Some of my clients are in debt. I have more people with cash-flow problems that, if not handled properly, will create debt problems. Usually it’s just a matter of matching their spending patterns to their resources, aggressively. The issue is people don’t have a realistic perspective about what sort of spending patterns their income and assets can produce. My role is to inject reality and put together some structure to allow them to be in control of their spending patterns.

“These are people who got blindsided by the slowing economy. They didn’t realize that the markets would be that unfriendly that quickly. It’s very difficult to tighten your belt once you’ve become accustomed to a lavish lifestyle.

“I had a dot-com client who earned a base salary of $1.5 million plus incentives and stock options. At any given year, his income could be as high as $5 million to $7 million. He had debts of $20 million and spent annually $200,000 to $500,000 more than he made. When the boom was in full swing, his net worth including stock was approximately $60 million. At that point, instead of selling the stock, it was easy for him to borrow $10 million or $20 million for homes, cars, vacations and gifts. When the stock fell in price, he found himself in debt. It will take him at least three to five years to recover his position maybe longer if we don’t see the markets recover. Anxious is the way I would describe his attitude.

“Probably a third of my clients are high-tech executives, particularly in the dot-coms. We also have retail, manufacturing, health care, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and real estate executives.

“I don’t feel uncomfortable about making money when other people are losing money. People get sick financially. Part of my role is to nurse clients back to health.

“One of the reasons why I transferred to this job was to reduce the lower-profit, smaller accounts. If you look at general business cycles, people of wealth are less likely to be impacted by significant economic downturns.

“Two years ago the client income range was $500,000 to $500 million. Now it’s at $5 million to $1 billion. The average fee per client for us has gone up perhaps 10-fold in the last two years from an average annual fee of $2,000 to $5,000 to an average of $20,000 to $25,000.

Chuck Ames, Entrepreneur

When Oak Grove Systems Inc. was selected last year by Xerox to be its sole provider of document management software, Chuck Ames thought his Altadena-based start-up had made it to the big leagues. Ames, a systems analyst, had joined engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in developing software that allows businesses to use the Web to coordinate complex tasks involving any number of steps and people. Then the dot-com bubble burst, the economy tanked and Xerox, like other corporate titans, shifted from expansion to survival mode. Oak Grove’s deal with Xerox collapsed, and Ames, 34, was forced to reposition the company. Instead of targeting end users like Xerox, the company decided to go after other software makers, touting its products as cost cutting and an efficiency tool for businesses.

“We tried to forge a partnership over a period of about a year with Xerox, but it wasn’t too long before the company started having its problems. They were continually dealing with reorganizations and high turnover, and we were dealing with a different executive about every month. It just didn’t work out, and we had to go off and do our own thing.

“We were faced with the choice of crawling in a hole and trying to ride this out or trying to establish traction in a new market. What we’ve done is refocus our core technology and positioned it in some very rapidly emerging markets in the enterprise software space.

“Our technology is really focused on cost control and improving efficiency and productivity. That positions us extremely well given today’s priorities. What people are interested in is, ‘How are you going to save me money or make my operation more efficient so I can do more with less.’ That’s dead center of what we stress.

“In the market we’re in, the mood among customers has changed. There was heavy, heavy investment in enterprise software as a reaction to the dot-com threat with not a whole lot of forethought. That’s really shifted now. Everybody is pushing capital expenditures back. They’re conserving cash.

“The way it’s impacted us is we’ve had to reduce salaries and lay people off in order to conserve our own cash. We peaked at close to 30 employees, and we’re now nine employees. We’ve retained our engineering team, but I’m answering phones and making coffee and stuff to support these guys.

“In terms of the opportunity, I’d say we’ve turned it around. We have ourselves reinvented and repositioned. We’ve got a very strong plan. We just released our new product on July 15, and there are already 350 companies worldwide evaluating it, either as resellers or strategic partners. But it’s going to take time for those things to close.

“We’re going to need additional money in order to continue to grow the company. We only need to raise $3 million in order to implement our business plan, and we’re looking for (venture capital funding) right now.

Christopher Woodard