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Thank you. 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 also tell them a little bit about Chop Store. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.
Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about 9 years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and worked in business financing.
I was the very first worker there after personal equity purchased the business. Assisted 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 Shop. My hope is that we can replicate 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. The key to the program is we have a beverage element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.
A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to add another shop this year and at least four stores next year. So we will be 31 or two stores by the end of next year.
Hey, everyone. It's terrific to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I have actually been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as numerous of you understand, is a leading company of software solutions to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our customers succeed in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.
It's unusual to have business that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I have actually only fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.
And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Store. When you speak to clients about Chop Shop, they love the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex principle in regards to delivering a great experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.
We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one store, two stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately national, even worldwide reach. It's not simple, especially in today's environment.
Labor is tough. Stock expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and development at the exact same time. We're grateful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd love to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams? And finally, AI.
The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What are some of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the way, and possibly some of the more difficult lessons you discovered.
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 company. To me, one of the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are distinct.
And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Shop in terms of what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. Many brands today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a foodstuff. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.
Since it's just more difficult to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a 2- or three-mile radius attempting to do the precise same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something special that nobody else is doing? That's rare.
The second thingI originated from a finance background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are creative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they built the brand. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you provided me something that has all those elements in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.
They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous companies where the numbers simply don't work.
If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be building stores. Since as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary practicality.
Scaling Operations in FreddysSecond, you require a compelling brand or special idea that resonates with consumers. And another key lesson is about entering brand-new markets.
When we expanded to Dallas, I expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too lots of operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one. That nearly never ever takes place. And when the shops open slow, but you've signed leases and built a monetary design based on higher volumes, you get overextended.
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