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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, 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 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 nine years now. We purchased the brand name 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 kind. After a short stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and operated in business finance.

I was the first employee there after personal equity bought the service. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 locations, 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 replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually great start.

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

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A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we think we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to add another store this year and at least 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

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Hey, everybody. It's terrific to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I have actually remained in this function for about six years. Fourth, as a lot of you understand, is a leading company of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our customers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and generally offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to customers about Chop Store, they enjoy the place. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex principle in terms of providing a fantastic experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment business. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one store, two stores, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately national, even global reach. However it's hard, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock costs stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the exact same time. We're delighted to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be truly around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you reproduce early success? And from there, after we discuss your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd like to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams? And last but not least, AI.

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The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually 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 expanding restaurants?

We talked a little bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brands I've been involved with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're making with a big, varied menu. Many brand names today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a food. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something special that filled a niche no one else was doing.

Because it's simply more difficult to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific same thing. So a lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand name have something special that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

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The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand name.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin improves as sales increase. They do not comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen many companies where the numbers just don't work. And yet individuals state: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It doesn't earn money. Stop. You require to discover a concept that is distinct.

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If you do not have those two things, you should not be developing stores. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality.

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Second, you need a compelling brand name or unique concept that resonates with customers. And third, the math has to work. If you don't comprehend your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be broadening blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another essential lesson is about going into brand-new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected 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. That practically never ever happens. And when the shops open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and built a monetary design based on greater volumes, you get overextended.