Is Scaling the Wise Move?

And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some details about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Store.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a brief stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in corporate financing.

I was the first employee there after personal equity bought business. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and then left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Store. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly excellent start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The key to the program is we have a beverage component as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we think we've got something pretty unique. We're going to add another shop this year and at least 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Comparing Franchise Models Against Growth Data

Hey, everyone. It's fantastic to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as much of you understand, is a leading service provider of software application services to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our consumers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and generally supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing quickly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they like the place. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated idea in terms of delivering a terrific experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one shop, 2 stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into several states, and eventually nationwide, even global reach. However it's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams?

Essential Strategies to Expanding Restaurant Footprints

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments?

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing an organization. To me, among the essential things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. Most brands today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a food item. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Because it's simply harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing? That's rare.

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The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin improves as sales increase. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers just don't work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you should not be constructing shops. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand distinction, and monetary viability. You've got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it simply multiplies issues.

Corporate Expansion Targets for 2026

Second, you need an engaging brand or special concept that resonates with consumers. And third, the mathematics has to work. If you do not understand your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be expanding blind and losing money. Precisely. And another key lesson has to do with getting in brand-new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too numerous operators assume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one.