Key Tips for Growing Hospitality Brands

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Store.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about 9 years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a brief 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 employee there after personal equity purchased the organization. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, 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 element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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

Top Advantages of Fast Casual Franchising in 2026

Hey, everybody. It's terrific to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually remained in this function for about 6 years. Fourth, as a lot of you know, is a leading company of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our clients succeed in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and basically supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, among the factors I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I've just satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you speak with customers about Chop Shop, they love the location. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex idea in terms of delivering an excellent experience for the consumer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

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

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

Comparing Investment Models Against Growth Data

The very 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 really drive success in expanding restaurants?

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

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're making with a large, diverse menu. Most brands today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a food. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Because it's just harder to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific very same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something special that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Quick Service Market Share Trends for 2026

The 2nd thingI originated from a financing background, so a great deal of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are creative types. They like the food, they developed the menu, they built the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those elements in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales increase. They do not comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen so numerous companies where the numbers simply don't work. And yet people say: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It does not generate income. Stop. You require to find an idea that is distinct.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

If you don't have those two things, you shouldn't be building shops. Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality.

Key Tips for Growing Hospitality Brands

Second, you need a compelling brand or distinct principle that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the math needs to work. If you don't understand your unit economics, your repaired 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 first year. Too numerous operators assume new markets will open at full volume day one.