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And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you give the audience some information about your background and you can also inform them a little bit about Chop Store.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I have actually 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 invested most of my career in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a brief stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in business financing.

I was the first employee there after personal equity purchased the service. Assisted 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 Shop. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly great start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The secret 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 some of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, however we think we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four shops next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

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Hey, everyone. It's fantastic to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as a number of you know, is a leading provider of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our customers succeed in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and basically offering them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, among the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I've only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand.

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

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one shop, two stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, particularly in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock costs stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and development at the same time. We're grateful to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow an organization? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd enjoy to then say: well, look, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to replicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent groups? And finally, AI.

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments?

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 business. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brands I've been included with are distinct.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. Most brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Since it's simply harder to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific very same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand have something distinct that no one else is doing? That's unusual.

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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 start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. However 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 do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales boost. I have actually seen so many companies where the numbers simply do not work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing stores. Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial practicality.

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Second, you need an engaging brand or special principle that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

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