Eastern alum and Prairie City Bakery owner Bill Skeens shared his failures and successes in starting a business Wednesday night as a part of Entrepreneurship Week.

His first business at Eastern started at the front desk of Thomas Hall when dorm director Terry Webb needed to raise funds for residence hall programs.

Skeens then opened “Skeens Enterprises” and sold peanuts, popcorn and taffy apples to other residence halls and fraternities.

While growing up and later getting his bachelor’s degree in business, Skeens had an array of businesses he tried out, including a lemonade stand, a newsstand, a checker cab driver and “Rent-A-Claus.”

Skeens founded Prairie City Bakery in 1994 in Vernon Hills after leaving his job of 16 years at Sara Lee Bakery; the first product he and his partner Bob Rosean sold was “Muffin Tops.”

In its first year, Prairie City Bakery sold $384,000, and its sales for 2014 have reached $31.5 million, according to the presentation.

Skeens encouraged the audience and said anybody could start a business.

“The most important thing to start a business is a customer and someone willing to pay you,” he said. “Without a customer and someone willing to pay you, you don’t have a business, you have a hobby.”

Skeens said before his product became successful, he learned the importance of having a clear selling proposition and always listening to the customers.

“The customer ‘votes’ with their wallets,” Skeens said.

He said his motivation comes from his passion for the customers, the fear of failure and the delight of success.

Skeens’ products are sold at the food court in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, as well as Walgreens, Starbucks, Red Robin, Amtrak and the PGA tour.

Skeens said every business has to start somewhere, and entrepreneurs need to have faith in themselves to make it happen.

“Your business doesn’t have to be big, just be the best,” he said.

Athenamarie Demeros can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].