Don Wickstrum's journey into entrepreneurship didn't begin smoothly.
Now the founder and president of Quest Industrial, a growing robotics company based in Monroe, Wickstrum had a humbling experience when he first sought a bank loan.
"I gave them my business plan and said I wanted to apply for a small business loan," he recalls. "They basically told me to grow up and that robots were toys." Wickstrum was devastated, but not defeated.
He decided to fund his venture himself, raiding his 401(k) and the money he and his wife had saved for a down payment on their first house. Although they were living in a mobile home at the time, they decided the house purchase would have to wait.
That was in 2002, a lean period for the young couple. "We had a new baby and another one on the way," Wickstrum says. "There were times you came home and there were just a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese."
Although he had left his previous job voluntarily, Wickstrum's decision was more a matter of necessity than choice. The firm that employed him was floundering. Staff had been forced to take pay cuts, and layoffs were imminent.
"I never had plans of owning my own business, but it's amazing what circumstance can do as a motivator," he says.
Wickstrum's leap of faith is not all that unusual. Others are also finding they need to embrace bold plans to continue to make a living, because the faltering economy has removed their ability to play it safe.
The good news is that this is an unusually favorable climate for entrepreneurs. Money is available for people who hope to start new ventures, as part of the larger efforts to jumpstart the economy.
"Most of the banks I'm talking to have funds available [to loan]," says Kim Kindschi, executive director of UW-Extension's Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (DEED). "The challenge is that the person has to have a good business plan and good financials and projections. But if they have that, those dollars are available."
Wisconsin also boasts a well-coordinated statewide web of resources to help fledgling entrepreneurs.
You could call Wickstrum and others like him "accidental entrepreneurs" or "entrepreneurs of necessity" - people who were relatively content working for someone else until they saw that stability crumble.
Forced to reinvent themselves and their careers, some have found great satisfaction in charting their own course and creating something they can truly call their own.
Here's a look at four area residents now making a go of it as independent businesspeople - and some of what they learned along the way.
A guy and his robots And Wickstrum, now in his early 30s, is racking up awards. In October, the business college at his alma mater, UW-Platteville, will present him with its Outstanding Alumni of the Year award. Wickstrum holds a B.S. in industrial technology management. In March, Wickstrum won the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award from the Green County Development Corporation. In April, the Southwest Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation awarded him Best Regional Entrepreneur for an established business. Yet Wickstrum knows that, in some ways, his work is just beginning. While his company's sales are healthy, its profits are not yet where he wants them to be, and he feels his staff is "overworked and underpaid." It's often daunting, he says, to know that others are depending on him for their livelihood. But Wickstrum gains satisfaction from realizing "I'm doing everything I can to steer the ship." Wickstrum and his wife, Mary, now own a home in Monroe. The couple have two kids, ages 5 and 7, and Mary stays home to care for them. Quest Industrial makes robots for companies large and small; they do everything from plastic injection molding, metal grinding and welding to decorating cakes and slicing cheese. The Quest Pro Pick Pack is the first robotic cell that will automatically erect a box, pack and seal it. Says Wickstrum, "Robotics is for any company that wants to be around in five years." While skeptics assume that automation equals job loss, Wickstrum argues otherwise, noting that he's never worked with a company that has cut jobs after adding automation. On the contrary, as production ramps up, there is typically a need for more human workers to do the jobs that robots cannot. While he encourages others to be realistic about their entrepreneurial ideas, Wickstrum believes in staying true to one's vision: "The big thing is, don't let people dictate what you have passion in." Sweet success Ambrosius, 49, lost her job at a time when many state workers were squeezed by budget cuts, as is the case today. Knowing her job of 10 years was at risk, Ambrosius began thinking about her business concept about six months before getting pink-slipped. Still, it took a full year to open her business - time that was well spent learning the basics. For help, Ambrosius turned to the UW-Madison's Small Business Development Center (see sidebar, opposite page). There she took advantage of classes and one-on-one assistance. Her mentor, retired banker Jack Reiners, helped Ambrosius craft a sound business plan, understand the financial aspects of running a business, and come to terms with asking others for help. Reiners also offered much-needed moral support. "He was encouraging on a personal level," recalls Ambrosius. "He'd ask, 'How are you doing? Are you okay? Are you working too hard?' That was really nice, and it was genuine." He continued to help after Ambrosius' chocolate business launched, as she encountered new situations like hiring her first employee. Despite bleak economic times, Ambrosius' business is continuing to grow, although not as rapidly as in its early days. She's won acclaim not only for her rich chocolates, but also her professional acumen. In 2008, Ambrosius was one of 10 business owners who received a Dane County Small Business Award from the UW-Madison School of Business. A year earlier, Ambrosius was accepted into the "Make Mine a Million $ Business" program for women entrepreneurs. The goal of the program, run by a nonprofit called Count Me In, is to foster a network of a million women running million-dollar businesses by 2010. Although Ambrosius is not yet at that sales mark, she's on her way. The group gives Ambrosius access to educational support and other resources, and she'll attend a Chicago conference for women business owners this week. Now in her fifth year, Ambrosius aspires to "keep things fresh" via new products and continually reach new customers. She's also interested in other ways to align her business with her social values. To that end, she's gone carbon-neutral by purchasing energy credits. And sales of one of her products benefit the Goodman Community Center. Ambrosius is spending more time in the places where her cacao - the raw ingredient used to make chocolate - is grown. She's planning to visit Upala, a Costa Rican town where some cacao farmers have an organic cooperative, for at least two weeks in July. Her dream is to help women she's met in Costa Rica develop their own products to sell. Her advice to would-be entrepreneurs? "Do a lot of homework, and really make sure you're the type of person who's cut out to be an entrepreneur. You have to make sure you're not afraid to basically step off a cliff." Put me in, coach Paul Moss admits that, in his previous role as CEO of Highsmith, an educational publisher/distributor, he didn't have a whole lot of time for reflection. After 27 years, he knew the business inside and out, but rarely stepped back to look at what he wanted out of life. "I never said, is this what I want to be doing?" says Moss, 56, who, with his wife, has three adult children and two grandchildren. Moss' job was cut last year when the Fort Atkinson-based Highsmith was sold to Lab Safety Supply Inc., of Janesville, which is owned by the Fortune 500 company W.W. Grainger. It was considered a strategic purchase; the value was to come from cost savings as the two companies were integrated. Says Moss matter-of-factly, "About 80 people did not make the move to the new owner, and I was one of them. They didn't need two CEOs." An Indiana University grad with more than three decades of business experience, Moss decided to reevaluate his goals rather than seek another executive position. "I wanted more discretionary time," he says, "to create something I could call my own, to have more control over my future. Therefore, I decided I wanted to go into business for myself in some way, not knowing yet what that would be." Moss settled on career coaching for small-business owners and the self-employed. During his tenure with Highsmith, he had gained experience in team-building and coaching, and he believed others could benefit from career self-assessment. Moss now operates the Growth Coach, which serves Madison, Middleton and other area communities. It's part of a franchise system headquartered in Cincinnati. Why a franchise? "I was attracted to the [Growth Coach] material," he says. "It's a process of facilitation developed over 10 or 15 years. It seemed more efficient [than starting from scratch]. I could still use my experience, but start more quickly." Moss' new venture launched last November. The training is delivered in small groups, and he's got a couple under way now. Yet he's still building a Madison-centric network. During his Highsmith years, he says, "I didn't have a business network in Madison." Although he lives here, he hit the Beltline early each morning to commute to Fort Atkinson. "Our business was national, my contacts were national, and so I started from scratch in that sense." Moss urges others facing a career change to reflect on their true interests and be financially prepared for what may be a slow start. But the rewards of self-employment, he says, make it all worthwhile: "There's nobody else to look to except you, so the achievement is yours, and that's exciting." Opportunity granted For three years, Krueger worked as a fulltime grant writer for the Sun Prairie School District. Then her position was eliminated. Krueger now runs a grant-writing business from her east-side home and juggles a multitude of side projects, from photography to book writing to philanthropy. Krueger, 30, got up to speed remarkably quickly in her new career, in part because she'd already entertained the idea of working for herself. "I had been thinking about this for a few years, and I had already put up a website," she says. Then, when the unexpected happened, she got busy. "Madison is a pretty small city, and the nonprofit community is even smaller, so I told everybody I knew in nonprofits that I was going out on my own. I had a lot of interest from potential clients, and about a month after I started, I was up and running full time." Krueger enjoys the flexibility that self-employment offers, but wants to dispel the myth that working from home is necessarily cushy. "You can go for a walk between 2 and 3, but that means later at night, you're doing the work you didn't do before. It's not freedom from work, just freedom to choose when to work. It's a tradeoff." While Krueger has slow weeks when business tapers off, she also has 60-hour weeks. The ability to structure her own time allowed her to complete a labor of love: her book Give with Gratitude: Lessons Learned Listening to West Africa, which she released through her own imprint, Gratice Press, in May. "The book never would have happened if I were still working full time [for someone else]," she says. The book, stocked at a Room of One's Own, tells the story of Krueger's post-college studies in Senegal and how she came to form a charity with two friends. Called Japalé Gouné, a Wolof phrase meaning "lending a hand to children," the program helps fund a school lunch program in the capital city of Dakar. Krueger's new lifestyle is not without its drawbacks. "I've never worked so hard in my life," she says. "I'm working harder than before for a lot less money." But, at the same time, she laughs about having "work ADD" and enjoys the chance to build a life around multiple projects that spring from her passions. "There are a lot of people sitting in offices right now wishing they had the courage to try something else." Resources for entrepreneurs Wisconsin Small Business Development Center (SBDC) A key SBDC offering is the Early Training Program, an 8- to 12-week course offered in locations around the state. "Each week, there's a different content expert who explores a different facet of starting a business," says Gayle Kugler, who directs the UW-Extension office that coordinates the centers. They include experts in accounting, marketing and website development. "The intention is, at the end of the course, to have a business plan that you could take to a bank [and obtain a loan]." Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network (WEN) Madison Area Technical College (MATC) Small Business Entrepreneurship Program WWBIC promotes economic development through micro-enterprise. It provides direct loans, one-on-one advice and other resources, with a special focus on assisting women, people of color and those with lower incomes.
Don Wickstrum: Robotics executive
Company: Quest Industrial LLC, Monroe
Gail Ambrosius: Chocolatier
Company: Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier
Paul Moss: Career coach
Company: The Growth Coach
thegrowthcoach.com/pmoss
Katie Krueger: Grant writer and author
Company: Gratice Press LLC
While not an exhaustive list, here are a few good places to turn if you're thinking of launching a business:
