Today we’d like to introduce you to Wesley Williams.
Wesley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The West Ends Meets Wes
I am the youngest of two children. My father was an engineer for General Motors and my mother is an attorney. I grew up on the West side of Detroit and was educated in Detroit Public Schools. I received my bachelor of arts in communication from Oakland University.
After graduating from Oakland, I was looking for a career path that would allow me to give back to the community as well as pursue my desire to be an entrepreneur. I decided I wanted to become a firefighter. Based on the recommendation from the Detroit Fire Chief, I was hired as a first responder by the Dallas Fire Department. (Detroit was not hiring at the time). For 13 years, I have worked as a Dallas Firefighter, this job has fulfilled my desire to serve my community, but my business longing continued. I began to chart my course for the business world. I started building capital through real estate investments, but it is my ownership of the Burgerim Franchise that has launched my business empire. On October 31, 2019, I opened a Burgerim Restaurant and Bar in the Historic West End of Downtown Dallas.
This restaurant epitomizes my business vision. It appeals to a wide demographic, including families with children who want a burger for lunch as well as the after-work crowd who want to go to a nice place to unwind with a drink and a meal, in an energetic atmosphere.
From the DJ spinning hits to the chef’s presentations, I want the West End Burgerim to be the place to go. I want to create a restaurant with all of the charm of fine dining in a relaxed and comfortable setting. I want the restaurant to be the “Cheers” of the West End.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are always obstacles, and you can choose to have lemons or make lemonade. With my restaurant I found my own location, I executed the letter of intent/negotiated the lease with the help of my franchise attorney, I used my own general contractor, came up with the interior decor/ atmosphere, obtain the liquor and tobacco sales license, used my own avenue to finance the project, did all of the hiring and obtain outside sources to help with marketing, basically I spearheaded the whole execution from top to bottom. I don’t know if it was luck, karma, or good planning, but the pieces just seemed to fall into place. I had a lot of people supporting me in actions and in thoughts. I stumbled onto the location and I met a contractor who was just as enthused about my vision as I was. It was through his technical skill that my vision for the building came to life. As a firefighter, my work schedule is 24 on and 48 off ( one day on and two days off ) this schedule allows me to be flexible with my time and days so that I can take care of the day to day activity with the restaurant, even though I do have a general manager and a bar manager Im still very active with the day to day operations. Because there is no set schedule for an emergency to happen I find myself more than often up late at night making runs on the fire engine or ambulance, sometimes sleep or a good sleep pattern is hard to maintain due to the severity of the job. Once my shift is over that morning of the next day, I usually go home, take a four-hour nap, wake up, hit the gym, shower, then head-on into the restaurant to watch over the investment. Time management, discipline and a healthy stress reliever has been my key components to balancing my busy life successfully. I can honestly say Im enjoying the journey.
Another key component for a smooth execution is the ability to network and listen to people who are doing what you want to do. This is a new area for me and I am learning new things every day. I have had a number of key people who have helped me along this journey. I know that to succeed, I have to meet the needs of the public. I preach customer service, quality products, and a clean environment.
Please tell us about BurgerIM Westend.
My company is Megalodon Enterprises LLC, I specialize in obtaining a vast variety of financial investments. As stated earlier, real estate was the first stepping stone into building major capital and now I can add franchises to the portfolio. Located on 1722 N. Market Street in the Historic West End of downtown Dallas is my first franchise restaurant called BurgerIM, a boutique burger franchise and a full-service bar. Far from just a burger joint, my restaurant is an experience. From its vast selection of burgers to its exotic drinks, I want people to have a good time while having a good meal. We specialize in making memories. During the week, we want to be your lunch spot. On weekends we want kids to enjoy the kids corner and kids TV. In the evenings we have sports, drinks, and conversation. I, along with my staff, work as a team to create memories. We will be having specialty days like Margarita Monday and The Sunday Kickback for the brunch crowd. We also have a patio space that is available for community use. We are not just a burger bar. We are an experience.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have worked to open during the summer months. This would have provided greater exposure and given the public a better opportunity to experience all that we have to offer. However, through venues like Dallas Voyage Gems, we have been able to get the word out that we are here and ready to serve.
Pricing:
- Burger Combos $6.99-$7.99
- Duos $6.99
- Trios $9.99
- Family Box $34.99
- Chicken 6_$6.99 12_$11.99
- Milk Shakes $3.99
Contact Info:
- Address: BurgerIM Westend 1722 North Market Street, Dallas tx 75202
- Phone: 972-707-7400
- Email: wes0871@gmail.com
- Instagram: westsidestory313 & burgerim_westend
- Facebook: Burgerim Westend
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/burgerim-westend-dallas-2
Image Credit:
Dennis Radford, One Click Productions and Eating the Big D food blog
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