How to Scale Your Restaurant Concept

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some details about your background and you can also tell them a bit about Chop Shop. And after that I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually 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 home and worked in corporate finance.

I was the very first staff member there after personal equity bought the service. Helped 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 Shop. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually good 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.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something quite special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four shops next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

How to Scale Your Dining Concept

I've been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as numerous of you know, is a leading provider of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our consumers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's unusual to have business that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Shop. When you speak with consumers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle in regards to providing a fantastic experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one store, two stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into several states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. It's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock costs remain high. It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the very same time. We're thankful to have you here today, Jason, because we're going to dig into that subject. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a business? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you reproduce early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd enjoy to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation help? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to replicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific groups? And last but not least, AI.

Expansion News: New Developments for 2026

The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What are a few of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in regards to what it requires to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps some of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a little bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brands I've been included with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. Many brand names today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food product. I seem like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand name have something distinct that no one else is doing?

Significant Market Milestones for 2026 Expansion

The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand name.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin enhances as sales boost. I've seen so numerous companies where the numbers simply don't work.

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If you don't have those two things, you shouldn't be building stores. Yeah, perhaps both? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it simply multiplies problems.

High-ROI Hospitality Investments Arising in 2026

Second, you require an engaging brand name or distinct principle that resonates with clients. And third, the math has to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable costs, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another key lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

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