Key Tips for Growing Hospitality Brands

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some info 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 have actually been doing this for about nine years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent many of my career in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a short stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in corporate financing.

I was the first worker there after personal equity bought the company. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 places, took it public in 2014, and then left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Store. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually excellent start.

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

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe we've got something pretty unique. We're going to include another shop this year and at least four stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as much of you know, is a leading service provider of software application options to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our clients succeed in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I've only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to consumers about Chop Store, they like the location. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated concept in regards to providing a great 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 discuss how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, 2 shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. But it's not simple, especially in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive profitability 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?

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The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually 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 key things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brand names I've been included with are distinct.

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

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

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The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they developed the brand name.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales increase. They don't comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen many business where the numbers simply don't work. And yet individuals state: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It does not generate income. Stop. You need to find a principle that is special.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be developing shops. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial practicality.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or special concept that resonates with consumers. And third, the math has to work. If you don't comprehend your system economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you might be expanding blind and losing money. Exactly. And another crucial lesson has to do with going into new markets.

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