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And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you give the audience some details about your background and you can likewise tell them a little bit about Chop Store.

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 name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually invested many of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a brief stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in corporate finance.

I was the first staff member there after private equity purchased business. Assisted 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 Shop. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really great start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is mostly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a beverage element 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 some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to add another shop this year and at least four stores next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

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Hey, everybody. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this role for about six years. 4th, as a number of you understand, is a leading supplier of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our clients succeed in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially providing them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of 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 customer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you speak to consumers about Chop Store, they love the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex principle in regards to providing a terrific experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one shop, two shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. But it's challenging, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent groups?

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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 are some of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in regards to what it takes to really drive success in expanding restaurants? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and possibly some of the harder lessons you learned.

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 a company. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. Many brand names today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a food. I seem 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. Does your brand name have something special that no one else is doing?

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The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. But if you gave me something that has all those parts in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

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

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If you don't have those two things, you should not be developing shops. Yeah, possibly both, right? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary viability. You have actually got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it simply multiplies problems.

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Second, you need a compelling brand name or distinct concept that resonates with consumers. And another key lesson is about going into new markets.

But when we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too many operators presume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one. That practically never ever happens. And when the stores open slow, however you've signed leases and developed a monetary model based upon greater volumes, you get overextended.