Risks Yielded Sweet Success for ‘One-Man Cheesecake Factory’

Twice in two years, Steve Buresh found himself out of work. But instead of pounding the pavement, looking for another job in a field he’d grown less than passionate about, he took a big risk.

So far, the married father of two said, it’s paying off. In 2010, Buresh turned his passion for baking into a business, launching Steve Buresh’s Cheesecake Store.

Now, the company’s cheesecakes are sold in local restaurants, including in Romeoville and in Plainfield and Chicago. Fans of the rich dessert can also buy whole cheesecakes online and have them shipped anywhere in the country.

A passion for baking

Buresh’s love of cooking began when he was a kid working at his grandparents' business, Buresh’s Lobster House in Brookfield.

“I grew up in the restaurant business,” he said. “When I was little, I always helped bake and cook. It was always just my thing.”

After graduating from college, Buresh found work in the automotive industry — but didn’t forget about his love of cooking. Though his family sold the restaurant in 2001, Buresh said he held on to his late grandmother’s cookbooks and recipes.

“I came across a cheesecake recipe and thought, ‘I’ll give this a try,’” he said. After his first few attempts yielded less than stellar results, he began making cakes and giving them away as gifts to friends and family.

“It was kind of a getaway from the hustle and bustle,” Buresh said. “People loved my cakes.”

Then, he said, the Atkins diet craze came along, and people begin shying away from cakes and other high-carb goodies.

So Buresh began experimenting once again with cheesecakes — and he finally got it right.

“I started getting requests,” he said.

After getting married and moving to a home in Romeoville, Buresh began baking even more, making cheesecakes and passing them out to his new neighbors.

Three weeks after arriving in Romeoville, Buresh made a big decision about his high-pressure career.

“I quit my job,” he said. For a while, Buresh said, he experimented, working jobs in the electrical field, the auto industry and even as a pharmacy technician.

“I could never figure out what I wanted to do, but I always came back every day and every week to cheesecakes,” he said. “I loved making them.”

But he still wasn’t making money at his hobby, so he accepted another position in the automotive industry.

Buresh returned to the restaurant industry after losing his job in 2008, but by 2010, he found himself out of work once again.

Two months after being fired, Buresh joined the Romeoville Rotary Club. His fellow members pushed him to do something he had only considered in the past: to start his own business.

“They kind of pushed me,” Buresh said. “So I said, ‘Let’s try taking my cheesecakes to a couple of restaurants.’”

Buresh began the process of launching his own business, renting a commercial kitchen in Homer Glen and working to build a base of customers.

Milton Karounos, owner of Stone City Saloon in Romeoville, was one of his first clients.

“He was the first one to buy from me,” Burshe said. “That kind of gave me the confidence to go out and see who else I could get.”

But starting a business from the ground up wasn’t easy. The recession and resulting credit crunch didn’t help, Buresh said.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any loans,” he said. “I tried 12 different banks. The only way I could do it was to not pay my mortgage for two months.”

That risky move gave Buresh enough capital to start the business, but was nerve wracking, he admitted.

“But it pushed me,” he said. “We knew we had to pay it back.”

Despite the risks, Buresh said his wife, Kelli, and her family were supportive as he worked to realize his dream.

Now, the business is quickly gaining a following, Buresh said.

“It’s gone from losing my job to kind of bursting at the seams,” he said.

While he’s looking to expand and possibly move his kitchen to Romeoville, for now, Buresh does it all, baking 20-40 cheesecakes per week and serving as accounts manager, delivery person and public relations rep.

“I’m a one-man cheesecake factory,” he said.

His advice for prospective entrepreneurs? Be willing to take risks and work hard.

“You have to know it doesn’t just fall into your lap,” he said.

How to get your own sweet treats

Steve Buresh’s Cheesecake Store is now a fixture at farmers markets in and , and last weekend, was part of the Midwest Brewers Fest in Plainfield.

Cheesecake varieties run the gamut from traditional fruit-flavored treats like cherry and strawberry to more unconventional creations like PB&J, maple bacon and chocolate pretzel.

For a complete list of locations where Steve Buresh’s cheesecakes are sold or to browse the menu, visit www.cheesecakestoreonline.com.