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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 offer the audience some info about your background and you can also inform them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a brief stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in business finance.

I was the first worker there after private equity purchased the company. 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 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. The secret to the program is we have a beverage element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we think we've got something pretty unique. We're going to include another store this year and a minimum of four shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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I've been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as numerous of you understand, is a leading provider of software services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our consumers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and generally supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, among the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've just met a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand.

When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they love the location. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex concept in terms of providing a great experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one shop, two shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into multiple states, and eventually national, even global reach. However it's difficult, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory costs remain high. It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. We're grateful to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that subject. The concerns are going to be really around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd enjoy to then state: well, look, how could technology help? How can you utilize technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great groups? 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 market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience remained in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in broadening dining establishments? Inform me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps a few of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

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 business. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are unique.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're making with a large, varied menu. Many brand names today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something special that filled a niche no one else was doing.

Because it's just more difficult to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific very same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand have something special that no one else is doing? That's uncommon.

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The second thingI came from a finance background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so lots of companies where the numbers just don't work.

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If you do not have those two things, you should not be building stores. Yeah, possibly both? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand differentiation, and monetary practicality. You've got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating model that works, broadening it simply multiplies problems.

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Second, you need a compelling brand or unique principle that resonates with consumers. And 3rd, the math needs to work. If you don't comprehend your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another crucial lesson has to do with going into brand-new markets.

However when we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too numerous operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That practically never takes place. And when the shops open sluggish, but you have actually signed leases and built a financial model based on higher volumes, you get overextended.