Five years later, entrepreneur 'hoping to pay myself'

It was September 2005 when Penny Vickas put her plan in place: Creating what was then a part-time gift basket business that would provide a safety net if she lost her job — which she did.

“When I got laid off last year for the third time in 4½ years, I decided I had had enough,” Vickas says. “I made the decision to give my business a (full-time) go.”

Good idea. Good plan. Just one problem: Five years in, Vickas has yet to take a paycheck, an often overlooked startup reality that should give pause to others planning to take the entrepreneurial plunge.

“I'm really hoping to pay myself next year,” Vickas says. “I don't want to have to go back to work. But the reality is, ‘How long will it be before I run out of money?'”

Vickas has done a lot right with her Wood Dale-based Anytime Baskets:

• “I'd been in marketing a long time, and we sent out a lot of gift baskets,” she says. “But there were way too many ugly ones, especially at the corporate level. People don't know how to build gift baskets that will make an impression, something that will get the client to call and say ‘Thank you.'”

Consequently, Anytime Baskets features a creative line of gifts, everything from a Celebrity Chef basket with items from Food Network personalities to soup baskets that include the soup, bowls, crackers and spreads. Prices range from under $30 to over $100.

• Vickas networks. She does “a lot” of networking through the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce; goes to expos that will put her in touch with wedding and event planners; and has a “very effective” Anytime Baskets' Facebook page.

LinkedIn also works well for Vickas. “I'm in so many groups. LinkedIn is really nice for corporate business.”

• She has sought advice, primarily from SCORE small-business counselors at the Elmhurst chamber. And Vickas has started gift basket home parties, a suggestion from customers.

But there's that paycheck thing. A good severance package and a willingness to “save pennies” has helped. “I have a good family, too,” Vickas says.

“I'm not gonna lie,” she wrote in an e-mail response to an earlier column. “It's been rough. This year, especially the third quarter, really dug me into a hole. However, that doesn't mean I can't get out of it.

“I'm not gonna use the recession as an excuse to fail. If anything, it has helped me stretch myself and explore ideas I would never have thought of to expand my business.”

The good news is that an April refresh of the Anytime Baskets' product line means “I'm making enough to cover bills,” and “The fourth quarter looks good,” Vickas says. “October started with a bang.”

• Contact Jim Kendall at JKendall@121Marketing Resources.com.

© 2010 121 Marketing Resources, Inc.