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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you give the audience some details about your background and you can also inform them a bit about Chop Store. And after that 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 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 form. 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 business finance.

I was the first employee there after private equity bought the business. 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 a truly good start.

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

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to add another shop this year and at least four shops next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

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I've been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as numerous of you understand, is a leading company of software options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and essentially providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, one of the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've only fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they love the location. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated concept in terms of delivering an excellent experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has dreams of taking one store, 2 stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. But it's difficult, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive success and development at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic groups?

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The first concern 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 actually drive success in broadening dining establishments?

We talked a little 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 a service. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been included with are special.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. Many brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a food product. I seem like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something special that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Due to the fact that it's just harder to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the exact same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something unique that nobody else is doing? That's uncommon.

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The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they developed the brand. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those parts 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 understand cash-on-cash returns. I've seen many business where the numbers just do not work. And yet individuals say: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It does not earn money. Stop. You need to find an idea that is unique.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be building stores. Yeah, possibly both? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial viability. You have actually got to begin with execution. If you don't have an operating model that works, expanding it just increases problems.

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Second, you require a compelling brand or unique idea that resonates with clients. And another crucial lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

When we broadened 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.