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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, 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 little 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 Shop. I've been doing this for about 9 years now. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent many of my career in hospitality in some shape or form. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and operated in corporate finance.

I was the very first worker there after private equity purchased the business. Helped 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 Store. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really 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 likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a drink element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

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A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we believe we've got something quite unique. We're going to add another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. So we will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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Hey, everyone. It's fantastic to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually remained in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as a number of you know, is a leading provider of software application options to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our clients achieve success in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally providing them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, one of the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Store. When you talk with consumers about Chop Store, they love the place. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated principle in regards to delivering a great experience for the consumer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. It's not simple, especially 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 effective? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams?

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The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in broadening restaurants?

We talked a bit before we started 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, among the key things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brands I've been included with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. The majority of brands today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a food. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche no one else was doing.

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

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The second thingI came from a finance 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 enjoy the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand name.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. I've seen so lots of business where the numbers simply do not work.

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If you don't have those two things, you should not be building shops. Since as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial practicality.

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Second, you need a compelling brand name or unique concept that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you do not comprehend your unit economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you may be broadening blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another key lesson has to do with entering brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators presume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one. That practically never ever occurs. And when the shops open slow, but you've signed leases and built a financial design based on greater volumes, you get overextended.