We had the good fortune of connecting with Weldon Boyd and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Weldon, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I think like most entrepreneurs, I am strong minded and eager to take the reigns. I wanted to make my own way, while following my own rules. I never enjoyed school and I knew college wasn’t for me. So if I was going to make it to where I want to be without degrees I would need to build it myself. I always saw a “degree required” position as a financial limit, a cap of where you can get to. If I started my own businesses, then I could climb past where a degree may limit out. There were times over the years I questioned myself on this, but I kept pushing and now looking back I am thankful I listened to myself.

What should our readers know about your business?
Lets talk about Buoys on the Boulevard. Buoys is my second restaurant, and what a success story it has become! My first restaurant, not so much. I first bought into a state-local franchise with no experience as a business owner. I worked it for three years, and by worked I mean struggled. It never took off, I always had a hard time falling in place with their rules and procedures. I constantly found better ways of operating, but being a franchise I was quickly put back in my place. I even reworked the system to cut about $200,000 off the required bottom line to profit, but couldn’t apply it due to the franchise agreement. The store never got its wings, at some points losing as much as $30,000 a month. I was pretty much at the end, unsure how to save what I had left. I then found a great location and an owner who was needing to get out. I quickly did what I could to secure the location and opened my own restaurant, with my own vision and my own rules. Oddly, I wasn’t even slightly nervous, in my mind I just spent three years learning every single thing that DOESN’T work, the hard part was out the way! I shut down my first restaurant after 3 months in the second one. I applied all my ideas, my lessons learned and learned new ones along the way. We only operated 7 months our first year and turned a profit, my first profit in four years. The second year we doubled our revenue, third year we grew 60% and the fourth year we grew an additional 40%. Now, in our fifth year we serve an average of 1,200 customers per day during the season and have become well known among the state, as well as across the country due to our time on Fox News, The Today Show, Todd Starnes show and other media spotlights we have had. When you come to eat at Buoys, you get to experience something above the rest. At Buoys we wanted to cater to the whole family, we did that by offering something for everyone. Dad can have a big juicy burger, mom can get her some oysters and a salad, daughter and son and enjoy nachos or tacos, granny can have her deep fried flounder with shrimp and your uncle can have sushi! On top of that we wanted the experience to be more than food, so every table has table games such as tumbling tower and ring toss. Our waiting area is loaded down with corn hole boards. Our stage is full of amazing live music every single night and our team is eager to make sure you enjoy your trip. But, where we truly gap the competition is the delivery, you can have all the shiny things you want but if the food isn’t good then they aren’t coming back. Let me tell yall, the food is friggin good!! All our seafood is wild caught, no farm raised junk. Our beef is Certified Angus Beef, we can trace your burger patty all the way back to the American family farm it came from. The sushi is the real deal, using sushi chefs from all over the world to craft your perfect roll. Our menu boasts many true southern family recipes such as our famous shrimp and grits. People come from all over to have it, the gravy is truly a crafted miracle, the yellow South Carolina stone ground grits are heavenly and the different options for a topping protein fits the desires of all customers. You can have shrimp, flounder, chicken, jerk chicken, grouper, mahi mahi, steak, carnitas and even gator! That’s just ONE of over 170 menu items you can enjoy here at Buoys on the Boulevard!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
North Myrtle Beach is truly a family destination for an affordable and rewarding vacation. There is so much to offer here, one week just isn’t enough time! I would start by saying obviously, come eat at Buoys on the Boulevard! After that, try as many other restaurants in the area as you can! The Grand Strand is famous for great, locally owned restaurants. Spend some time on our beautiful beaches, the sand is warm and the water is refreshing. We have tons of great fishing and diving spots right off our beach. I am an avid offshore fisherman, spearfisher and diver. You can get certified here to dive in two days, so that’s always worth trying! Another thing the Grand Strand is known for is shopping, we have tons of malls, outlets and boutiques, your definitely not leaving without a few shopping bags! There are several great shows to attend, including dinner shows like Pirates Voyage! A short drive south will land you at Brookgreen Gardens, that’s a neat day trip if you have time. There are many kayak tours and horse back riding opportunities as well! Honestly, you could stay busy for a few weeks with everything our area offers

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
That list is a long one! I first want to thank my parents who always supported my “outside the box” approach to literally everything. They are my biggest fans and always ready to help. Secondly, I want to give major credit to my team members, roughly 100 employees who as a whole helped over the years to make Buoys what it is today. It was started with my ideas and my battle plan, but without the ideas and efforts of this team it would not be where it is today. 100% the most valued thing to me is my team, they are incredible and everyone of them brings something unique and beautiful to the table. Third, I would have to put a large amount of appreciation towards the military, where my time as an Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer sculpted me to roll with the punches, adapt and overcome hard times and situations. However, above all these I must thank the Lord my Savior. Everything we have built was a blessing from him.

Website: https://www.buoysontheboulevard.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buoysontheboulevard/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buoysontheboulevard

Image Credits
Buoys on the Boulevard

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