How to Start a Business in a RecessionEconomic cycles come and go, but businesses must thrive in good times and bad. Fat Straws Bubble Tea's Terry Pham launched during a recession and survived two downturns. Learn how Pham and other entrepreneurs made a go of it in tough times.

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.