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Thank you. And we also 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 inform them a little 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 have actually 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 invested most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in business finance.

I was the first worker there after private equity purchased the company. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 areas, 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 replicate 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. It is mostly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a drink component as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

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

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Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I have actually remained in this function for about 6 years. Fourth, as a number of you know, is a leading provider of software application options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our clients be successful in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and essentially supplying them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I have actually just met a handful of brands where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they like the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept in terms of delivering a terrific experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, 2 stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. However it's difficult, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock costs remain high. It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the same time. We're grateful to have you here today, Jason, because we're going to dig into that subject. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow an organization? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd enjoy to then say: well, look, how could technology help? How can you use technology as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent teams? And finally, AI.

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the dining establishment market. 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 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 an organization. To me, among the essential things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a large, varied menu. A lot of brand names today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food item. I seem like we began at a benefit with both brands by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand 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 great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they developed the brand name. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. If you provided me something that has all those elements in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin enhances as sales boost. They don't comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen so lots of business where the numbers just do not work. And yet people say: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It does not generate income. Stop. You need to find a concept that is special.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you should not be constructing shops. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary viability.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique concept that resonates with clients. And another essential lesson is about entering new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too many operators assume new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That nearly never ever takes place. And when the stores open slow, however you've signed leases and built a financial model based upon greater volumes, you get overextended.