Leading Franchise Opportunities to Watch

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you give the audience some info about your background and you can likewise tell them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a quick stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and worked in corporate financing.

I was the first staff member there after private equity bought the business. Helped 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 Shop. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is mainly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a beverage part too with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something quite unique. We're going to include another store this year and at least four stores next year. So we will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

Quick Service Industry Growth for 2026

Hey, everyone. It's terrific to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this function for about six years. Fourth, as a lot of you understand, is a leading provider of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our customers achieve success in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically offering them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I've only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex principle in terms of providing a fantastic experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. However it's hard, specifically in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent groups?

Major Expansion Milestones in 2026

The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant market. What are some of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience been in regards to what it requires to truly drive success in expanding restaurants? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and maybe some of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

We talked a little bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, among the key things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brand names I've been involved with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in regards to what we're doing with a big, varied menu. Many brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a foodstuff. I seem like we began at a benefit with both brands by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

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

How to Expand a Dining Concept

The second thingI originated from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They love the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. However if you provided me something that has all those components in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. They don't comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen a lot of business where the numbers just don't work. And yet individuals state: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It does not earn money. Stop. You require to find a principle that is unique.

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If you don't have those two things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial viability. You have actually got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating model that works, expanding it just multiplies issues.

Key Tips to Growing Restaurant Brands

Second, you require a compelling brand name or special idea that resonates with customers. And another essential lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

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