We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chimezie and Ayeshia Duru a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chimezie and Ayeshia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Making the shift into full time entrepreneurship was in itself the biggest risk. After many years being an IT executive and a stint overseas for personal and family reasons, I found myself unable to reenter the workforce in my prior profession. When it became apparent the reentering the corporate America would not happen, I knew I needed to stay open to new possibilities. One evening on a coffee date with my wife, I had a sudden but somehow familiar epiphany. I told her that I wanted a coffee shop. Lucky for me, my wife has always had full faith in whatever I’ve put my time and decisions behind and so she simply said, “Ok.” After that date I began researching what it took to own a coffee shop. Fast forward to looking through commercial listings for coffee venues, Hello Boba, a small relatively new mom and pop shop in Allen, TX kept resurfacing. My daughter had previously been talking about boba (her friends had gone to multiple locations). Since I didn’t know what boba was, I visited the store to experience what all the craze was about. It wasn’t exactly a coffee shop but there was something about the owners and the location that drew me in. After formerly introducing myself as a potential buyer and reviewing the specs, the part of me that love challenges decided to jump in. Financing the venture using a significant amount from our life savings, in the midst of uncertainty about the business success, took an inordinate amount of faith. My wife and I were trained for two weeks before the store was turned over to us fully. One year after purchasing, the pandemic in 2020 happened. The community rallied behind us helping to keep us open allowing us to continue paying employees. Two years later after adjusting recipes and other SOPs we decided to scale by opening our second location in McKinney TX.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello Boba is an independently owned family operated business.. In our experience over the past 5 years we have honed our skills to provide consistent beverages and now desserts to our customers. We pride ourselves in creating a welcoming environment where customers can engage in work school or entertainment activities.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
When my wife and I first took over Hello Boba we could tell there was reservation from some preexisting and new customers as we do not represent the typical boba shop owner profile. Great customer service, willingness to course correct when needed and frequent tasting of our products to ensure quality and consistency is what has led to our reputation in the community.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
Like most small businesses, the pandemic presented financial and other challenges to us. Sales dropped substantially causing us to shorten our hours of operation and reduce our workforce.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @hellobobatea
- Facebook: @hellobobatea
Image Credits
Selfies