Steps to Scale Your Dining Concept

And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, 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 likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a quick stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in corporate financing.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity bought the business. 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 replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is mostly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a drink part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all day.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

How to Scale a Restaurant Brand

Hey, everybody. It's fantastic to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as a number of you know, is a leading company of software services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to assist our clients achieve success in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and basically supplying them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I've just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex concept in terms of providing a great experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one shop, two shops, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and eventually nationwide, even global reach. However it's challenging, particularly in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Inventory expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the very same time. However we're grateful to have you here today, Jason, because we're going to go into that topic. The concerns are going to be truly around: how do you grow a service? 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 discovered, we 'd love to then state: well, look, how could innovation assist? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to duplicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams? And lastly, AI.

Expansion Updates: Regional Milestones in 2026

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 broadening dining establishments?

We talked a little bit before we began 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, one of the key things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're finishing with a big, diverse menu. The majority of brand names today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food product. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Since it's just harder to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the precise same thing. So a lot of it begins with the brand. Does your brand name have something special that no one else is doing? That's rare.

Significant Market Milestones for 2026 Expansion

The 2nd thingI came from a finance 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 love the food, they constructed the menu, they constructed the brand.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin improves as sales boost. They do not comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen so many business where the numbers simply don't work. And yet individuals say: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It does not make cash. Stop. You need to find a concept that is distinct.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you shouldn't be developing stores. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality.

Significant Market Shifts Shaping 2026 Expansion

Second, you require a compelling brand or distinct principle that resonates with customers. And 3rd, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another key lesson has to do with going into brand-new markets.

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