My name is Clay Boura and I am a self-published children's Author & Illustrator. My wife, Sheri Boura, is an educator with 20+ years of elementary and middle school teaching experience. We both share a passion for working with kids and making a difference in their lives. This passion has led us to opening our very own Math Learning Center in Chesterfield, MI. While we both have the passion and desire and energy and motivation to make this business thrive, we are in need of some financial assistance. We have quickly learned how difficult it is to start a brand new business, especially from a financial point of view. We have 3 children and, while our family has always gotten by, we have never been "well off" in terms of our finances. Initially, we were led to believe that we had been approved for enough capital to start and open our business and get us through to profitability. However, as it turned out, we were led astray and that was not the case. And that was just the beginning of our crazy funding journey! And as time has gone on and as we have opened our doors, it has only become more and more difficult to get approved for additional funds to help our new business survive. At the moment, we have a combination of personal loans, personal and business credit cards and even funds we have borrowed from others. In a perfect world, we would get a single business loan for the full amount that we need and we would consolidate and pay off all of our business debts and have 1 monthly payment. Unfortunately, however, we do not live in a perfect world! Meanwhile, in the time that we have been open and working with students, Sheri and I have fallen in love with this business. We have seen first hand how much of a difference we can make in young students lives! One of the tag lines from our business is "Changing Lives Through Math" and we are literally doing that every day! So we want nothing more than to continue this amazing, rewarding work and to continue making a difference for as many students as we can. We are doing everything we can to be active in our surrounding communities and school districts in order to give back while also spreading the word about our business, but we really just need some additional financial backing and a belief in who Sheri and I are and what we are doing! This business is so much more than just a way to make money for us. We are bound and determined to make this work and to be successful and to help change the lives of as many kids in our community as possible. So any and all help would be greatly appreciated. We are looking for upwards of $100,000 to pay off all of our existing debts from starting our business and to give us a bit of working capital. Thank you so very much for your time and consideration.