Summer of Mauve: Reston Entrepreneurs Seek to Swap Smoothies for Startup Costs, Barter Their Way to a New Tortilla Factory

So that whole "exchanging money for goods and services" thing may just be a passing fad. Which is why Restonians trying to start a new business at Lake Anne -- and revitalize an old favorite out yon Herndon way -- are trying fancy variations on fundraising and the age-old approach of bartering. Grab your shiny beads and handmade artisanal leather wallets and keep reading!

First up is New Family Naturals, a Reston Farmers Market regular that has now leased permanent space at Lake Anne Plaza and is hoping to open a "community health food market and juice bar" by August. To cover about half of its estimated $12,000 in opening expenses, the owners are using a website called Indiegogo to help raise startup costs. For $1,000, you can get a juice or smoothie named after you. For $5,000, you get a free juice or smoothie every week for a year. Smaller contributions get you donations, tote bags, and other goodies.

So far, New Family Naturals have raised $1,175 towards their $6,000 goal, which isn't bad. Maybe there's something to this goodwill-and-free-grub thing after all.

Meanwhile, out Herndon way, Reston resident Wally Spencer is trying to revitalize the Tortilla Factory, which closed earlier this year. So far, he has secured the name and recipes from one of the original owners, and is now trying to barter for air conditioning repair. "Anyone who may know a vendor that has loved the Tortilla Factory and would like to see it re-open - please support us," he wrote in a fancy "web log" post. "Bartering is the way to go!!"

Good for both of them -- for small, much-loved businesses like the Tortilla Factory and unique locations like Lake Anne, creative approaches like these make sense in a way that they wouldn't for, say, the 99th franchisee of the Cheesecake Factory or whatever. In the interest of being fair and balanced, however, we'll point out that the long-vacant One Dulles Corridor office building near the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and the Toll Road was just sold for a cool $41.7 million. Details are sketchy, but it appears no smoothies changed hands in the transaction, so maybe this capitalism thing isn't completely washed up, after all.