Dear Diary,
It is 23rd June 2026.
I don’t know. I kind of find it easier to type out these journals as compared to the proper articles that I have lined up.
Not gonna lie, I am kind of …… procrastinatey with those full-blown structured and well thought-out articles, and it is taking me quite a while to come up with the words to write.
But not these entries.
Somehow, these entries are way easier to type, to the point that I can just dish out one of these bad boys within 1 hour of writing, which is way more efficient given the lack of time I have in the day.
And this got me thinking: is this due to the fact that I am able to fully express myself without care about proper sentence structure or politically correct answers?
Maybe.
The more important question, however, is whether or not the permission to express myself is important when building my next business.
See, I have been running my bubble tea shop for the past 1.5 years, and after the aforementioned amount of time has passed, I…… realized that it was not a strong interest of mine.
Honestly, I was just looking for something to experiment with at the start – I thought that it didn’t have to be a passion of mine, just something that I could break in to to gain some practical knowledge about running a business.
Boy was I wrong.
During the course of the past 1.5 years, I have come to realize that ANY business I build should be something that I am willing to literally devote my soul to for the next 1000 years.
Ok not 1000, just 10 years. Or at least 5 years.
The point I am trying to make is, a small part of me regrets not picking something that I know I have a passion for, which, as of writing, and since the dawn of my childhood, was teaching.
The action of passing knowledge from my mere human brain to another mere human brain.
For some reason, that always gets me excited! The excitement of sharing new knowledge to someone, helping them to widen their horizons, and the reactions they give when they finally understand a concept is something I would die for.
This epiphany stemmed from me watching a bunch of Youtube videos and Instagram Reels talking about how the path I take should be one filled with purpose and passion, and there is truth in what they are saying.
The food business industry was something I was initially curious about, but curiosity killed the cat. Now, I am running on empty, with zero interest left.
Despite the newfound knowledge, despite the friends I have made along the way, despite seeing smiles worn by customers when they enjoyed my drinks, I no longer want to continue.
Don’t get me wrong. I would ENJOY chatting with someone about the state of this industry, or talking to them about their food business ideas. A loyal customer of mine even shared that they were thinking of taking over a food business, and asked me for advice.
But if you were to ask me if I am just moving to another location after this closure, and believe me many people asked once they knew I was closing, I would straight up say that I will be pursuing other ventures.
I want to do some coaching, and hopefully it will be a choice that will fill me with great purpose and motivation.
It is a form of self-expression to build a business around this spark that is close to my heart, and I believe this goes for everyone.
I have friends who have their own production house business, pastry business, real estate business, financial advice business. Those are things that keep them excited day to day, and I want that for myself as well.
When I was stuck in a rigid structure where I had no outlet for self-expression, things looked gray. It may have been a mistake to put function before expression, to dive into something for a practical reason and not an emotional one.
The emotion should be tied to the business’ purpose and process, not the initial excitement of “It is exciting to have my first business!”. When that happens, you will lose the drive just as you first found it.
Did I have a purpose for my business? At first, no. I just wanted to try running a business and earn money.
I’m not even a big bubble tea person. On the contrary, before running this business, I rarely touch bubble tea (5 times a year at most). I didn’t even enjoy sugary drinks, or any non-water drinks for that matter.
I only finally found my purpose after interacting with a few old folks who love to drink bubble tea but cannot due to having diabetes. It was then that I decided I was going to curate a brand that sells bubble tea sweetened with a zero-calorie sweetener – a perfect drink for many.
By the time I came up with that idea, though, I had to move out of my first location to my second (due to landlord issues).
The second location wasn’t any better, and before I could fully push out the new menu, I had to do a lot of R&D while running the old menu.
When I finally pushed out the new menu, it was too late. The second location didn’t have the right demographics for the sugar-free drinks (they crave sweet), the sugar-free drinks proved to be a little too pricey for some, and I have started to feel the first pangs of burn-out.
Again, if only I had started with a business built around something I have a passion for and can do well.
Hey, regret is a slippery slope I am not going to allow myself to fall onto.
It is a well-learned lesson, and, sure, I do feel jealous of friends who are already doing well in their business, but then again, every business must have their struggles, right?
When I was slaving away in this failing business, I didn’t have a big enough purpose, and a small part of me wants to believe that it was because of this that I didn’t devote enough time and effort into the things I did.
Coming up with a business plan, designing the logo, designing the shop, coming up with interesting drink ideas, exploring marketing opportunities.
I didn’t believe in my business enough, and that was because it wasn’t a passion of mine.
This was my struggle.
But just because I started on the wrong foot doesn’t mean that it was all for nothing. I also learned a lot: innovating, networking, optimizing finances, designing. I picked up many skills and knowledge along the way.
Hopefully, in the next venture, when I have tapped into more of my passion, I will be able to express myself better, and the business will become easier.
I can innovate as easily as I write this blog.
I have this idea of coaching student leaders, and I am already thinking of many ideas. I may even be able to come up with a workshop syllabus faster than I came up with drink ideas.
Does self-expression make business easier? I am not sure yet, but it seems like it might.
We will see.
Till the next entry, keep growing.