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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 information about your background and you can likewise inform them a bit about Chop Shop. And then 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 purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent many of my career 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 property and operated in business finance.

I was the very first worker there after personal equity bought the organization. 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 Store. My hope is that we can reproduce 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. The key to the program is we have a drink element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe 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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I have actually been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you understand, is a leading service provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our consumers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and basically providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, one of the factors I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually just satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated idea in terms of providing a great experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. It's not easy, especially in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive profitability and development at the same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent teams?

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the restaurant industry. What are a few of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in regards to what it requires to truly drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and maybe some of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a company. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're making with a big, varied menu. Most brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food product. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Because it's just harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a 2- or three-mile radius attempting to do the specific same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

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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 start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand name.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales increase. I've seen so numerous companies where the numbers just do not work.

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If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Yeah, perhaps both? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial viability. You have actually got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it just multiplies problems.

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Second, you need an engaging brand name or distinct principle that resonates with clients. And another crucial lesson is about getting in new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators assume new markets will open at full volume the first day. That practically never ever occurs. And when the stores open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and developed a monetary model based on higher volumes, you get overextended.