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Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Store. And after that 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 purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or form. After a short stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and operated in corporate financing.

I was the first employee there after private equity purchased the organization. Assisted 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 great start.

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

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

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I have actually been in this role for about six years. 4th, as numerous of you know, is a leading supplier of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our customers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially supplying them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are precious 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 incredible. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Shop. When you speak to clients about Chop Store, they enjoy the place. They discuss its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex concept in terms of providing a terrific experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one store, 2 shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into several states, and eventually nationwide, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the very same time. We're happy to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The questions are going to be truly around: how do you grow a business? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd like to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation help? How can you use technology as a multiplier to reproduce early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic teams? And finally, AI.

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The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment market. What are a few of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience been in terms of what it requires to actually drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps a few of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, among the essential things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brand names I've been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. The majority of brand names today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a food. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something special that no one else is doing?

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The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are creative types. They love the food, they built the menu, they constructed the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you provided me something that has all those components in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin enhances as sales increase. They don't understand cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen a lot of business where the numbers simply do not work. And yet people say: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It doesn't make cash. Stop. You need to discover an idea that is special.

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If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be constructing stores. Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial practicality.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or special principle that resonates with consumers. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you do not comprehend your system economics, your repaired and variable costs, you may be broadening blind and losing money. Exactly. And another essential lesson has to do with getting in brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too numerous operators assume new markets will open at full volume day one.