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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 info about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a quick stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino property and worked in corporate financing.

I was the first employee there after private equity bought business. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 areas, 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 reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The secret to the program is we have a drink part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we think we have actually got something pretty special. 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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Hey, everybody. It's excellent to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this function for about six years. Fourth, as much of you know, is a leading supplier of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our consumers achieve success in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and basically providing them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, among the reasons I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they love the place. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex idea in terms of delivering 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 fantastic.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has imagine taking one shop, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into numerous states, and eventually national, even international reach. But it's hard, especially in today's environment.

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

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in expanding restaurants?

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 company. To me, one of the key things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brand names I have actually been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in regards to what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. Most brand names today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food product. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something special that filled a niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand name. 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 creative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous business where the numbers just do not work.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be constructing stores. Yeah, maybe both? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality. You've got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, broadening it just multiplies issues.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique idea that resonates with customers. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable costs, you might be broadening blind and losing money. Exactly. And another essential lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

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