The early years of this century have already seen two significant downturns: the dot-com bubble-and-burst, and the housing-crash-led recession of 2009. Terry Pham launched his first Dallas-area bubble-tea store during one and survived them both.
Now Pham and many entrepreneurs like him are weighing the risks of running--and even more daunting, starting--new businesses in economically perilous times.
Pham's lessons learned--based on his experiences and losses as a child of immigrants and rounded out by more than a decade of running the unlikely success story of a specialty tea shop in central Texas--tell a tale of perseverance, loyalty to family (and co-workers) and optimism in the face of adversity. His story offers guidance and inspiration that apply to any business cycle.
A Brief History of Bubbles--and Bubble Tea
In a story about economic bubbles, it seems fitting to be discussing another, more fanciful source of bubbles--so-called bubble tea. Originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s (two shops vie over claims to be the original source), bubble tea is simple enough: a base of tea usually mixed with fruit and/or milk.
The concoction is typically shaken to mix up those ingredients, resulting in the "bubbles" at the top of a cup of bubble tea. But it's another addition--so-called "pearls," or chewy balls of tapioca starch that float on the bottom of the drink and are sucked up via wide straws--that is the most distinctive part of bubble tea.
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