Key Tips for Expanding Hospitality Footprints

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

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I've been doing this for about nine years now. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent the majority of my career in hospitality in some shape or form. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in business finance.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity purchased the company. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 places, took it public in 2014, and after that 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 an actually great 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 complex than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe we've got something quite unique. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of 4 shops next year. So we will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

Why Is Fast Casual the Wise Investment?

I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as numerous of you understand, is a leading supplier of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our consumers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically providing them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's rare to have business that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand.

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

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one store, two stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into numerous states, and eventually national, even global reach. It's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

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

National Milestones in Corporate Expansion

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

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

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Shop in terms of what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. Most brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a foodstuff. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

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

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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 creative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they built the brand name.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin enhances as sales boost. They do not understand cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen numerous companies where the numbers just don't work. And yet people say: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It doesn't make money. Stop. You require to discover an idea that is special.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be developing shops. Yeah, perhaps both? Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial viability. You've got to begin with execution. If you don't have an operating design that works, expanding it just multiplies problems.

National Milestones in Corporate Scaling

Second, you need a compelling brand name or special principle that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

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