In 1979, after four years and two unsuccessful attempts to leave
Vietnam, Lam, his fiancee and 19 family members paid the government
six ounces of gold per person to board a crowded boat headed for
Malaysia. Lam and his family spent nine months in a Malaysian
refugee camp before the American Red Cross helped them relocate to
San Jose, California.
Lam hit the ground running, taking time out only for a few
months of English lessons at a San Jose high school. He reinforced
what he learned in class by watching CNN news reports, and he
quickly found work. "I did a lot of work--at a car wash, a
flea market, as a busboy in a restaurant," says Lam.
"After one year, I told my wife, `We have to do something to
make more money.' "
When Lam saw an advertisement in a Vietnamese newspaper seeking
drivers to take people from San Jose to Reno, Nevada, for gambling,
he seized the opportunity. Soon he was organizing his own tours
from California to Reno. In a sign of things to come, Lam began
making sandwiches to serve his customers during the trips. He then
simplified his operations by purchasing the sandwiches from a local
Vietnamese businessperson named Le Vo.
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In 1984, as competition in the Reno tour business stiffened, Lam
left the tours behind and accepted Le Vo's invitation to
partner with him in a new venture. Visitors from Honolulu had dined
at Le Vo's San Jose sandwich shop, Ba-Le (which means
"Paris" in Vietnamese), and encouraged him to establish a
similar business in Honolulu.
Later that year, Lam and Le Vo left the California coast for the
tropical shores of Oahu to check out a promising location in a
former Chinatown grocery store that was for sale. The choice to set
up shop in Chinatown was a thoughtful one. "I did not have
experience in the food business, but in Chinatown, there is a lot
of foot traffic and a lot of Vietnamese people," Lam says.
"I thought the first location should be where a lot of
Vietnamese people go, [because] we sell Vietnamese-style
food."
At that point, Lam's entrepreneurial ambition kicked into
high gear. Setting his sights firmly on the goal, he was undeterred
when the grocery store owners doubled the price they'd
advertised. "They said, `Yes, last week I want $20,000, but
now I change my mind,' " recalls Lam.
Le Vo was unhappy with the turn of events, but Lam put down a
deposit. "I told him, `I think it's a very good
location,' and it [was]. After we open, we make money right
away. The lucky [thing] is that no Vietnamese shops in Honolulu
sell the food we sell," he says of their shop's focus on
Vietnamese desserts, sandwiches and French breads.
Le Vo returned to San Jose in 1985 and sent his son to Hawaii to
assist Lam. As the business prospered, the bakery Lam had
contracted with to supply the shop with bread couldn't keep up
with Ba-Le's demand. To Lam, the solution was simple: It was
time to diversify, so he summoned a friend from San Jose to help
establish Ba-Le's own bakery.
Adding a bakery to the business wasn't the only change
afoot. In early 1986, Le Vo offered to sell Lam his share in Ba-Le.
Lam located a private investor to lend him the money to buy out his
partner--and got another taste of tricky business.
The lender had verbally agreed to lend Lam $70,000 at an 18
percent interest rate--which became a 20 percent rate the day Lam
arrived to sign the loan documents. Lam was more than disappointed.
"It hurt me a lot. The feeling hurt me more than the money. I
told [the lender], `If you put 30 percent, I still will sign
because I have no choice.' And I sign it," says Lam.
"When [you're] in need, people take advantage."
In the same year that Lam negotiated sole ownership of Ba-Le
French Sandwich & Bakery, he also became a U.S. citizen. Things
were looking up, and Lam and his wife worked night and day to keep
the bakery successful.
Fortunately, Ba-Le's stellar reputation on the Honolulu
restaurant scene was growing, thanks to a local publication's
review of its tasty cuisine and quality service. "When that
magazine come out, my business [increased] 100 percent by the end
of the year," Lam says.
In 1987, to pay off his previous lender and finance the purchase
of a larger oven to keep pace with rising customer demand, Lam
secured an $80,000 SBA loan after being turned down by two other
banks. He paid off the seven-year SBA loan in just two years, which
was considered an amazing feat by everyone but Lam. "I
[worked] seven days a week, 18 hours a day," he says.
"I [kept working] long hours, but my wife had another big
job she had to take care of: my two boys," Lam says.
"After two or three years, I don't like her to work long
hours. I ask her to work [only] from 8 to 6. To take care of the
children is more important than the business."
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