The Benefits of Restaurant Franchising in 2026

Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you give the audience some details about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Shop. And after that I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I've been doing this for about nine years now. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a short stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and operated in business finance.

I was the very first employee there after private equity purchased the organization. Assisted 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 Store. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really great start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a drink element too with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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 add another shop this year and at least 4 stores next year. So we will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

National Success in Corporate Expansion

Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as a lot of you understand, is a leading supplier of software services to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to assist our consumers succeed in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and generally offering them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's rare to have business that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually just satisfied a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Shop. When you speak to customers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated principle in terms of providing a great experience for the client, and be able 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 restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one store, two shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately national, even worldwide reach. But it's challenging, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory expenses remain high. It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. We're delighted to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow an organization? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd like to then say: well, appearance, how could technology assist? How can you utilize technology as a multiplier to reproduce early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams? And lastly, AI.

Why Is Scaling the Best Move?

The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in expanding restaurants?

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed approximately 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 really fortunate, is that both brands I've been involved with are unique.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a big, diverse menu. The majority of brand names today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food item. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a niche no one else was doing.

Because it's just harder to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the precise very same thing. So a lot of it begins with the brand. Does your brand name have something distinct that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Analyzing Investment Models Against Growth Trends

The 2nd 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 love the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous business where the numbers simply do not work.

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

National Success in Brand Scaling

Second, you need an engaging brand name or special concept that resonates with customers. And third, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you might 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 expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too numerous operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one.