Fast Casual Industry Trends

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information about your background and you can also inform them a little 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 Store. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. After a short stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino property and worked in business finance.

I was the first worker there after personal equity bought business. 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 replicate 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. It is mostly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a beverage component also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

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A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to add another store this year and at least 4 shops next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

National Milestones in Brand Expansion

I've been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as numerous of you know, is a leading service provider of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our customers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially offering them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have business that are precious and growing quickly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, one of the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex idea in terms of delivering a great experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one shop, 2 shops, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. It's not easy, particularly in today's environment.

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

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The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in terms of what it requires to actually drive success in broadening restaurants? Inform me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps some of the more difficult lessons you learned.

We talked a little bit before we began 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 an organization. To me, one of the key things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been included with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in regards to what we're making with a big, varied menu. The majority of brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a foodstuff. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

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

Why Is Scaling the Wise Investment?

The second thingI came from a financing background, so a great deal of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They enjoy the food, they constructed the menu, they constructed the brand name. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. But if you provided me something that has all those components in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

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

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If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be constructing stores. Yeah, maybe both, right? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand differentiation, and monetary viability. You've got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating design that works, expanding it simply increases issues.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique idea that resonates with consumers. And another crucial lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I expected brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. A lot of operators presume new markets will open at full volume the first day. That almost never occurs. And when the shops open sluggish, but you've signed leases and developed a financial model based on greater volumes, you get overextended.