Boyd went from a funnel cake vendor unable to make funnel cakes to successful concessions business.
Young Entrepreneur Spotlight: Blake Boyd
Blake Boyd, of Elm City, North
Carolina, initially wanted to start a business so that he could fund his dream
to become a pilot. So, in partnership with his retired neighbor, Sam Edwards,
he opened a concessions trailer to sell food at festivals and other events.
B&S Concessions, however, did
not have the best start. On their very first festival in 2012, at which they
were focused on selling funnel cakes, their fryer didn’t work. As a
13-year-old, Boyd said he had no clue how to handle such a big obstacle, but
his co-owner, Edwards, helped fix the problem and get them up and running. It
all worked out, and today B&S Concessions sells food at 14 and counting festivals
each year. Furthermore, on Aug. 22, 2015, Boyd became a private pilot at the
age of 17, funded by the success of his concessions business.
“At first, we were a funnel cake
trailer that barely even knew how to cook a funnel cake, but now we are a
trailer that focuses on serving made-to-order foods in a plethora of
categories,” said Boyd, who won an NFIB/North Carolina Leadership Council Young
Entrepreneur Award for his business. B&S now sells turkey legs, French
fries, cheesesteak sandwiches, and Polish sausages, as well as funnel cakes.
Boyd aims to provide the best food at the best price.
In addition to malfunctioning
equipment right from the get-go, Boyd dealt with people not taking him
seriously and the challenge of hiring staff.
“Anyone that I would call for
festival applications when I was younger did not think that I had a successful
concession business,” Boyd said. “This caused me to have to mature and learn
different things that my peers won’t learn until they are 30 and well off into
the workforce. Hiring people was also a hassle. I have never had an employee
who was younger than me, so it is odd for me to have to tell someone older than
me what to do. My employees do understand, though, that whatever I ask them to
do, I have done it myself… You should never feel as if you are above your
employees because, without them, you can’t operate.”
Boyd is already used to a hectic
schedule and the difficulty of juggling school, his business, playing football
and baseball, and serving as president of the Southern Nash High School Student
Council and Beta Club, and he plans to continue B&S Concessions while
attending North Carolina State University at Raleigh because it has helped him
to learn and grow so much.
“I feel like I shouldn’t cut off a
business that has helped me so much, and that is why I have the right people in
place so I can run it while I attend college,” said Boyd, who hopes his
business can help him pay for college or law school, as well as expand into a
catering service.
For other young entrepreneurs, Boyd
advises open-mindedness, willingness to accept help, and ultimately just going
after opportunities.
“If you don’t try it, then you never
know what would have happened,” he said. “You don’t ever want to say, ‘if I had
done this.’ Instead, go ahead and do it, and if you fail, then you have still
learned from your loss.”
