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Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some information about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Shop. And after that 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 in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in corporate financing.

I was the very first worker there after personal equity bought business. Helped 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 Shop. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually great start.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line concepts 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 shops next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

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Hey, everybody. It's terrific to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as a number of you understand, is a leading supplier of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our customers achieve success in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually just met a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to consumers about Chop Store, they enjoy the place. They discuss its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle in regards to providing a great experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant service. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has dreams of taking one store, two stores, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into several states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. It's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive success and development at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific 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 are a few of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in regards to what it takes to actually drive success in expanding restaurants? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and possibly some of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a little bit before we started 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 an organization. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brand names I have actually been involved with are unique.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in regards to what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. A lot of brands today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something distinct that no one else is doing?

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The second thingI came from a financing background, so a great deal of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are creative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name. I probably could not do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those elements in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves as sales boost. They don't comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I've seen so many business where the numbers just don't work. And yet individuals state: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It doesn't generate income. Stop. You require to discover a concept that is special.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be building shops. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality.

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Second, you need a compelling brand name or distinct concept that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you don't understand your system economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another essential lesson is about going into new markets.

When we expanded 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.