A banker ditched 7-figure career to build $500M bubble tea company, shares strategy — ‘opened stores next to Starbucks’

Martin Berry already had three years of corporate experience by the time he graduated from college. From working on farms in his early years to getting a seven-figure paycheck in banking jobs, Martin Berry had it all until he had a chance to try his luck in a bubble tea business.

Today, Berry is the founder and chairman of Gong Cha Global, an international bubble tea franchise.

Here's Martin Berry's striking journey from being a banker to becoming the master franchiser of a million-dollar bubble tea company:

Berry was in his 30s when he decided to quit his lucrative banking job in late 2013. According to CNBC Make It, Berry had spent much of his career working in senior executive roles, managing multi-trillion dollar balance sheets, he said.

However, he found that over time, the big paychecks no longer fulfilled him. He said he didn't like the corporate system.

'I didn’t really like...'

“I realised after working hard for quite a long period of time that I didn’t really like the corporate system. I didn’t like its lack of entrepreneurialism,” Berry told CNBC Make It.

He said, “It was all about risk management, not risk taking.”

The 'entrepreneurial bug'

Berry told the media outlet that he grew up in the countryside of Melbourne, Australia. Since childhood, he’s had the "entrepreneurial bug," he said.

He reportedly worked on farm, fed cows and sold Christmas trees, finding different ways to make money as a kid.

“We didn’t necessarily have a lot of money ... I started to become quite entrepreneurial from a very young age, trying to start businesses and different types of things,” Berry was quoted as saying.

“I was just born with this innate desire for making money,” he said, adding, “I think I was very driven by money and what it could do for you, and the empowerment that it [could] bring.”

'Snuck into a university presentation'

Berry shared an anecdote with CNBC Make It, recalling how he had snuck into a university presentation and landed a full-time job with a top tech company. He was 19 at the time.

“I actually snuck into a university presentation, which was meant to be for graduates... I was listening to all these companies pitch as to why these graduates should join them,” said Berry.

After the event, he went to the HR representative for IT company Hewlett-Packard (HP) and offered to work for free.

This eventually led to Berry landing his first summer internship with the company, which ultimately turned into a full-time job. He juggled between his new job and university studies.

“I just managed to make it work by studying [at] night and weekends to complete the degree, and by the time I graduated, I already had sort of three years’ worth of corporate experience,” Berry told CNBC Make It.

By the time Berry was in his 30s, he was working in high-ranking roles in offices around the world, including Australia, London, Singapore and South Korea.

After about two decades working in the corporate world, he knew it was time for something else.

The Bubble tea company

It all started the day Berry was getting a haircut at a mall in Singapore. He had noticed a long line forming outside a shop nearby.

Curious, he joined the queue. It turned out to be a Gong cha store — which was gaining popularity in Asia.

Berry noticed a few green flags with the shop: drinks were quick to make, stores were small and leanly staffed, and the product’s simple ingredients suggested strong margins, CNBC Make It reported.

“I knew nothing about boba or bubble tea, but from a financial engineering standpoint ... [I thought] this product must be incredibly profitable,” he was quoted as saying.

The next step? Berry bought ten of their best-selling drinks that day, taste tested them and then spent the next few weeks visiting different stores to observe foot traffic.

He decided he wanted in.

Becoming the 'Master'

After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Gong cha’s headquarters, Berry decided to fly to Taiwan and turn up at their door.

Luckily, the original founder was there.

Gong Cha was founded in Taiwan in 1996 by Wu Zhenhua, and Berry entered the business in 2011 to expand the brand to South Korea and other countries.

The two penned a deal and Berry became a master franchiser of the bubble tea company.

Berry said he spent about $2.5 million in life savings to bring the company into its fifth market, South Korea, and went on to lead the brand’s international expansion.

'Opened stores next to Starbucks'

To get his first customers in Seoul, Martin Berry decided to get Starbucks' help.

"So my strategy was, I'm going to put a Gong Cha — the first five stores — next to Starbucks," Berry told CNBC. "And if I can get one in a hundred people who are going into Starbucks to come and try a Gong Cha, then I've got a business."

In 2024, the company brought in over $500 million in systemwide sales, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The business lesson

Berry told the media house, “When you’re struggling ... to start a business, you think you have to invent the next light bulb or the next wheel... but it’s so far from the truth."

“It’s really about looking for something that [has] a lot of potential, whether you can either do it better than somebody [else], or you can put a different spin on it,” he said.

“It’s just by opening up your mind and opening up your eyes to what’s out there in the world,” he said.

As of January, the chain had about 2,200 stores in 33 countries, including the US and Canada, the report added.