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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some info about your background and you can also tell them a little 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 Store. I've 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 quick stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and operated in business finance.

I was the very first worker there after personal equity purchased the company. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, 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 really excellent 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 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 day.

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to include another store this year and at least four shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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I've been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading supplier of software application solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our clients be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and essentially providing them with tools they require to provide their vision.

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

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they love the place. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex concept in terms of providing an excellent experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and eventually national, even worldwide reach. It's not simple, especially in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Inventory expenses stay high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and growth at the very same time. However we're happy to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to go into that topic. The questions are going to be truly around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you reproduce early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd love to then state: well, look, how could technology assist? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams? And finally, AI.

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The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the restaurant industry. What are a few of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience remained in regards to what it takes to truly drive success in broadening restaurants? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and possibly a few of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

We talked a little bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, one of the key things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been included with are distinct.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. A lot of brands today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a foodstuff. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brand names 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 special 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 like the food, they built the menu, they built the brand.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales increase. I have actually seen so many companies where the numbers just do not work.

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If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be building stores. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary viability.

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Second, you require a compelling brand or unique idea that resonates with clients. And another crucial lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

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