Marching to different beats
By Jenn Director Knudsen
article created on:
Anthony Klang,
Cruise Planners
After 14 years in the airline industry, Anthony Klang switched to cruise planning.
He bought one of Oregon's four Cruise Planners, Inc. franchises, rushing his money via Fed Ex to the company's Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., headquarters on Sept. 10, 2001.
Nearly five years later, Klang laughs heartily during a phone interview from his Beaverton home that doubles as his office about his potentially poor timing.
Klang's steadfast decision to become a cruise-planning entrepreneur, however, turns out to have been a prescient one.
"After Sept. 11, the bottom fell out of the travel market," said Klang, 42, who's been on 35 cruises himself. "And the cruise lines were the first to recoup" because they cut prices and moved ports closer to a bulk of intrepid travelers.
"I started to get a couple bookings here and there; people still didn't want to fly anywhere," Klang said of the first months following the terrorist attacks.
By January 2002, Klang's full-time business started to take off. Today he serves at least 500 clients, not only locally, but also in Massachusetts, Florida, California and even the United Kingdom. (He doesn't get paid until the cruise lines receive payment from his clients.)
He said he mainly culls clients via word-of-mouth referrals and some advertising; his "very personalized service" keeps them coming back. He recently was named one of Cruise Planners' top performers.
"You can book a cruise online, but there's so much more that goes into it (cruise planning) than airline (travel) that you need assistance in booking," said Klang, who, with wife Ilene, is a member of Congregation Neveh Shalom.
Anthony@anthonycruises.com, or http://anthonycruises.com
Rebecca Weiss-Clark, Rebecca's Recycled 'Riters
Like so many parents, Rebecca Weiss-Clark tried to engage her child in art projects. She made basic supplies like crayons and paper readily available. But 11 years ago, daughter Britni, then a preschooler, showed no interest in becoming a petit Picasso.
In case her mom didn't get the message, Britni cracked her crayons in two (or more) pieces, making them too tough to color with. But not too tough to turn into a creative business opportunity, Rebecca said.
"I had a 4-year-old who hated to color, and I had all sorts of crayons," Rebecca recalled during an interview with mom and daughter, now 14, at Congregation Neveh Shalom, where they're members.
Using candy molds, Rebecca sorted crayon colors, melted them down in a double boiler on her stovetop, poured them into the molds and let them set in her freezer.
She's been selling Rebecca's Recycled 'Riters for 10 years, first in plastic bags and now in brightly colored mesh bags with a small sketchpad included.
At shows, fairs and other venues, including Neveh Shalom's Judaica Shop and the annual Hadassah Hanukah Fair, her wax creations sell for $6 per bag, or four bags for $20. Online, each bag is $7.50, including shipping.
Each bag contains one set of crayons, all in a theme, from Judaica to Oregon to Teddy bears. Of her 34 styles, she even sells a special-order "adult" crayon set, "Tops and Bottoms." ("Great for bachelor and bachelorette parties," Rebecca, 39, said.)
Britni today is an artist, working with oil paints and pastels. For Hanukkah, she sketched with one set of her mom's 'Riters an abstract of a daughter and mother hugging.
"She really, really loved it," Britni said.
Rebecca@rebeccas-recycled-riters.com
Eric Simpson,
The BarkZone, Inc.
Eric Simpson has a comfortable corporate job. Maybe too comfortable.
So Simpson decided to try his hand—or, in his case, paw—at starting his own business, a full-service dog daycare, grooming and boarding shop.
"I got my MBA (in June 2001 from Portland State University) and wasn't totally content with the big corporate world," Simpson said, referring to his nearly 11 years at Intel Corporation, where he's a program manager within LAN Access Division.
Inspired by an entrepreneurship class he took his final term at PSU, Simpson said being in charge of every aspect of running a business really appealed to him.
"It sounded like it would be fun to do" while maintaining his Intel job, he said in a phone interview.
Simpson loves Gunner, his German Shepherd-Husky mix, and a few years ago he had to put his attention-loving dog in daycare when he traveled to Argentina.
He returned to Portland to find a very happy Gunner, and the idea hit him to open his own doggie daycare business.
"That's how I got the idea for doggie daycare. I stole it from someone else," laughed Simpson, a member of Congregation Beth Israel.
In 2003, the high-energy Simpson, 33, converted an old warehouse near the Hillsboro Airport into The BarkZone. Today, his company offers, among other services, grooming, boarding, trainers and handlers.
His average customer spends betwen $1,000 and $3,000 annually on daycare and other amenities.
But Simpson says he's in it not for the money. but for the challenge of running—and growing—The BarkZone.
"I'm pretty outgoing," he said. "If I meet people and they're talking about dogs, it's pretty easy to bring them in."
http://thebarkzone.com
or 416-704-BARK (2275)
Sarah Zakreski,
Z Baby Designs
Sarah Zakreski's mom stands 5 feet tall; she always had to shorten everything and did so expertly on her sewing machine, recalled Zakreski, now 33 and a mother herself.
Zakreski only could touch her mom's appliance if it were to sew for herself.
So in grade school Zakreski learned the craft, and it became—and remains—her much-loved hobby. Today it fuels her small business, Z Baby Designs.
Shortly after daughter Maya, now 2?, was born, Zakreski said many of her friends also were giving birth and she wanted to give them a beautiful, intimate baby gift. She fashioned one big, cuddly, colorful baby blanket for a close friend with a new baby girl.
Soon, others began noticing Zakreski's flare and wanted such blankets for their own babies.
"I had other people asking for them, so I started making more and more," said Zakreski, of Northeast Portland and member of Congregation Neveh Shalom.
She has a small stable of ready-made, 100 percent cotton blankets, available at her Web site: 40-inch by 40-inch baby blankets for $45, and smaller loveys for $30. She also makes soft, "Burpie Minis," for $20 a piece.
And, for $65, she creates custom blankets or quilts, a growing passion.
"That's my favorite: to do what they (my customers) want," she said in a phone interview. "It means I get to go shopping more."
Zakreski, who is expecting her second child this summer, also is a part-time financial aid administrator for Portland Community College's Sylvania Campus.
While Zakreski wishes she had time other than naptime to devote to Z Baby Designs, she's wary of sewing more for profit.
"This has been primarily my hobby," she said. "If I were to make this my full-time job, I might not like it any more."
www.zbabydesigns.com
Nate Kramer,
Tickets Unlimited
and Chunky Hippo
Want to see a show? Nate Kramer can get you the best seat in the house.
A ticket broker and co-owner (along with business partner Steve Grossman) of Tickets Unlimited and Chunky Hippo, Kramer can get you into venues from the Aladdin Theater to the Rose Garden Arena, to see the likes of Hassidic Jewish rap star Matisyahu or one of the biggies, such as Rolling Stones or Eric Clapton.
Tickets Unlimited focuses on local clients, whereas Chunky Hippo is the online and recently expanded national presence of the brokers' business.
Sure, Kramer says, you can go through a bigger brokerage, like TicketMaster, and perhaps pay less to do so. But you won't get the personalized service or knowledge of your desired seat location, Kramer said from his downtown Portland office.
"It's really about the service," he said of his promise to his clients, who number in the thousands. "You can always get nose-bleed stuff; that's easy."
But these days, people tend to be more "choosy" about the events they'll pay to see and really want prime seating. Folks used to take in maybe 10 disparate shows a year, whereas today they prefer rocking out to Clapton once every three years.
And their patience must be rewarded with top-drawer tickets, said Kramer, 45, whose two children attend Portland Jewish Academy.
Kramer is reluctant to estimate how much more a client pays for using his services, but guarantees his expertise and a good experience.
"It's like a suit off the rack or one made for you," he said. "Do you pay more? Yes. But you're gonna get what you want."
www.chunkyhippo.com
or 503-493-9327