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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you give the audience some info about your background and you can likewise tell them a 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've been doing this for about 9 years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a quick stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and worked in business finance.

I was the first employee there after private equity purchased the company. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 places, 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 reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really excellent start.

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

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A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to add another shop this year and at least four shops next year. So we will be 31 or two stores by the end of next year.

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I've been in this function for about six years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our clients be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are precious and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've only satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Shop. When you speak to consumers about Chop Store, they love the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept in regards to providing a great experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one shop, 2 shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately nationwide, even worldwide reach. But it's not easy, 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 effective? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic teams?

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The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the restaurant industry. What are some of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience remained in regards to what it requires to really drive success in expanding dining establishments? Inform me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps some of the harder lessons you learned.

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 company. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brand names I've been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. Most brands today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a foodstuff. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

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

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The second thingI came from a finance background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales boost. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers just do not work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Since as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand distinction, and monetary viability.

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Second, you need a compelling brand or unique principle that resonates with customers. And third, the math needs to work. If you don't comprehend your unit economics, your repaired and variable costs, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another crucial lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

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