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And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, 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 likewise inform 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 bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent most of my career in hospitality in some shape or form. After a quick stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and operated in corporate finance.

I was the first worker there after private equity bought business. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 places, 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 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 complicated than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something quite special. We're going to add another store this year and at least 4 shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I've been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software application services to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially supplying them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success year after 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 only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Shop. When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they enjoy the location. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle in regards to providing a fantastic experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant organization. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has imagine taking one shop, two stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into several states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. But it's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

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

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

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are distinct.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. The majority of brands today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something unique that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something unique 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 lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They enjoy the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand name.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales increase. I've seen so numerous business where the numbers just don't work.

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If you do not have those two things, you should not be developing shops. Yeah, perhaps both? Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary viability. You have actually got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating model that works, broadening it simply increases issues.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or special idea that resonates with customers. And another key lesson is about entering new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. A lot of operators presume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one. That almost never ever occurs. And when the stores open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and constructed a financial design based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.