Steps to Scale Your Dining Concept

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

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I've been doing this for about nine years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in corporate finance.

I was the first staff member there after personal equity purchased the organization. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 areas, took it public in 2014, and after that left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly great start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The secret to the program is we have a drink component as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, but we believe we've got something pretty unique. We're going to add another store this year and a minimum of 4 shops next year. So we will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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I have actually been in this role for about six years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software application solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our customers be successful in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically providing them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among 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 brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle 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 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one store, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. It's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

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

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The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant industry. What are a few of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in regards to what it requires to truly drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and maybe a few of the harder lessons you learned.

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

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're making with a large, varied menu. The majority of brand names today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Since it's simply more difficult to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the specific same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand name have something unique that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Fast Casual Industry Growth

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

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales increase. I have actually seen so lots of companies where the numbers just don't work.

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If you don't have those two things, you should not be developing shops. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial practicality. You have actually got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, broadening it just multiplies issues.

How to Expand a Dining Concept

Second, you need a compelling brand or unique concept that resonates with consumers. And another crucial lesson is about going into new markets.

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