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Thank you. 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 info about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Shop. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

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

I was the very first worker there after private equity purchased the company. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and after that left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can replicate 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. It is mainly 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 complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe 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 two stores by the end of next year.

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I have actually been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software solutions to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our customers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually only satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated concept in regards to providing an excellent experience for the client, and have the ability 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 business. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one shop, two shops, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately national, even worldwide reach. It's not simple, particularly in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory expenses remain high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and growth at the same time. We're happy to have you here today, Jason, because 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 discuss your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd like to then state: well, look, how could technology help? How can you use technology as a multiplier to replicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent teams? And lastly, AI.

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant industry. What are a few of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in regards to what it requires to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and maybe a few of the more difficult lessons you learned.

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed approximately 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 very fortunate, is that both brands I've been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. A lot of brand names today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a food product. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something unique that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand have something distinct 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 innovative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand name.

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

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be developing shops. Yeah, perhaps both? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating model that works, expanding it just increases problems.

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Second, you require a compelling brand name or special concept that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

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