Tiny Grayslake coffee shack turns a profit

It's kitty-corner from the Midnight Blue Lounge and across the street from Global Automotive.

Set back about 40 feet from busy Route 45, Jilly's Java Jive is easy to miss.

The tiny drive-through coffee shack sits just north of Gages Lake Road near Grayslake.

Leaving a career as an interior designer, Jill Vos caught the entrepreneurial bug breaking out on her own a couple of years ago.

She says business is good despite the recession and a shrinking market for pricey coffee.

"It's about the personal touch," she says. "You need to taste my homemade pound cake muffins."

She's got frosted muffins, lemon squares and brownies in addition to the high-end brewed beans.

"One week a month, I have Key Lime pies from Wildfire in Lincolnshire," she said. "I've got customers who crave those."

Low overhead helps her turn a profit, too. And when she says "low overhead," she's not kidding.

"This building is exactly 10 feet by 10 feet," she said. "I bought it from an RV dealer in Decatur. The guy who owned it before me sold shaved ice out of it."

There is a table for two in the courtyard next to the little building, but most customers use the drive-up window.

"A lot of them will text me a few minutes before they get here. That way, I've got it ready and they can be on their way."

Inside the hut there's a sink, freezer, fridge, fancy polished chrome coffee makers and a TV with plenty of DVDs for the slow times.

"The hours are brutal," Vos says. "But I love it. I'm my own CEO and I've got a seat by the windows."

The encounters are brief as her customers make quick stops on their way to work, but Vos says she values each one.

"Most of them are very personable," she said. "Some of them say they stop just to see my smiling face. They tell me they need their 'Jilly Fix.'"