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

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I've been doing this for about 9 years now. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in business financing.

I was the first staff member there after private equity purchased business. 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 a truly excellent start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a drink element also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

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A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to include another store this year and at least four shops next year. So we will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

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I've been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you understand, is a leading provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to help our customers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and basically providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can repeat 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 remarkable. I have actually only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they love the location. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complicated idea in terms of providing a great experience for the client, 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 restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one store, two stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into several states, and ultimately national, even global reach. It's not easy, especially in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale fantastic groups?

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

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel really lucky, 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 doing with a large, varied menu. The majority of brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a foodstuff. I seem like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche no one else was doing.

Since it's just harder to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the exact very same thing. So a great deal of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something distinct that no one else is doing? That's uncommon.

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The second 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 love the food, they developed the menu, they built the brand name.

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

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If you do not have those two things, you should not be constructing stores. Yeah, possibly both? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it simply increases problems.

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Second, you require a compelling brand or distinct principle that resonates with clients. And third, the math has to work. If you do not comprehend your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you might be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another key lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. A lot of operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one. That nearly never ever happens. And when the shops open sluggish, but you have actually signed leases and built a financial design based on greater volumes, you get overextended.