Comparing Investment ROI Against Market Data

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. 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.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about nine years now. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or form. After a short stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and worked in business finance.

I was the first staff member there after personal equity bought the company. 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 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 also do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a drink part too 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 concepts that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to include another store this year and a minimum of 4 shops next year. So we will be 31 or two stores by the end of next year.

Why Is Fast Casual the Best Investment?

I have actually been in this function for about 6 years. Fourth, as numerous of you know, is a leading provider of software options to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to assist our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and essentially supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I have actually just met a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex idea in terms of providing a fantastic experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one shop, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into numerous states, and eventually nationwide, even worldwide reach. But it's not easy, especially in today's environment.

Labor is hard. Inventory costs stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the very same time. We're thankful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd like to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation help? How can you use technology as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale terrific teams? And lastly, AI.

Expansion Updates: New Developments in 2026

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

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've 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 essential things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brands I have actually been included with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're making with a large, varied menu. Many brand names today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a foodstuff. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something unique that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Since it's just more difficult to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a 2- or three-mile radius attempting to do the specific same thing. So a great deal of it begins with the brand. Does your brand have something special that no one else is doing? That's rare.

Fast Casual Market Share Growth

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

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

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be developing shops. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial practicality.

Why Is Scaling a Best Investment?

Second, you need an engaging brand or unique concept that resonates with clients. And third, the math needs to work. If you do not understand your system economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing money. Exactly. And another crucial lesson has to do with entering new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators presume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one. That practically never ever takes place. And when the shops open slow, but you have actually signed leases and developed a monetary model based on higher volumes, you get overextended.