Joint Corp (JYNT) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to The Joint Q4 2021 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) And please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Kirsten Chapman, LHA Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 2021 年第四季聯合財務業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。 （操作員指示）現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人，LHA 投資者關係部門的 Kirsten Chapman。請繼續。

Thank you, Lori. Good afternoon, everyone. This is Kirsten Chapman of LHA Investor Relations. On the call today, President and CEO, Peter Holt, will review our preliminary fourth quarter and annual 2021 performance metrics and provide an update on the business. CFO, Jake Singleton, will detail our preliminary financial results and guidance. Then Peter will close with a summary and open the call for questions. Please note, we are using a slide presentation that can be found at ir.thejoint.com/events. Today, after the close of market, The Joint issued its preliminary unaudited financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2021. If you do not already have a copy of this press release, it can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website. These fourth quarter and full year 2021 results are preliminary unaudited and subject to adjustments. As a result of the foregoing, certain information provided herein is subject to change.

謝謝你，洛瑞。大家下午好。我是 LHA 投資者關係部門的 Kirsten Chapman。在今天的電話會議上，總裁兼執行長 Peter Holt 將回顧我們 2021 年第四季和年度的初步績效指標，並提供業務最新情況。財務長傑克辛格頓 (Jake Singleton) 將詳細介紹我們的初步財務結果和指導。然後，彼得將做總結並開始提問。請注意，我們正在使用可以在 ir.thejoint.com/events 找到的幻燈片簡報。今天，收盤後，The Joint 發布了截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的季度和年度的初步未經審計財務業績。 2021 年第四季和全年業績為初步未經審計結果，可能會進行調整。由於上述情況，本文提供的某些資訊可能會發生變化。

As provided on Slide 2, please be advised that today's discussion includes forward-looking statements, including statements concerning our strategy, future operations, future financial position and plans and objectives of management. Throughout today's discussion, we will present some important factors relating to our business that could affect these forward-looking statements.

如投影片 2 所示，請注意，今天的討論包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們的策略、未來營運、未來財務狀況以及管理計劃和目標的陳述。在今天的討論中，我們將提出一些與我們的業務有關的可能影響這些前瞻性陳述的重要因素。

The forward-looking statements are made based on our current predictions, expectations, estimates and assumptions and are also subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements we make today.

前瞻性陳述基於我們目前的預測、預期、估計和假設，同時也受風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與我們今天的陳述有重大差異。

Factors that could contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, the continuing impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the economy and our operations, including temporary clinic closures, shortened business hours and reduced patient demand; our failure to develop or acquire company-owned or managed clinics as rapidly as we intend; our failure to profitably operate company-owned or managed clinics; our inability to identify and recruit enough qualified chiropractors and other personnel to staff our clinics due in part to the nationwide labor shortage; short selling strategies and negative opinions posted to the Internet, which could drive down the market price of our common stock and result in class action suits.

可能導致這些差異的因素包括但不限於 COVID-19 疫情對經濟和我們的營運的持續影響，包括診所暫時關閉、營業時間縮短和病患需求減少；我們未能如預期迅速開發或收購公司擁有或管理的診所；我們未能獲利地經營公司擁有或管理的診所；由於全國範圍內的勞動力短缺，我們無法找到並招募足夠的合格脊椎按摩師和其他人員來充實我們的診所；賣空策略和發佈到網路上的負面意見，這可能會拉低我們普通股的市場價格並導致集體訴訟。

Our failure to remediate the current or future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, which could negatively impact our ability to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud, or maintain investor confidence and other risks described in our filings with SEC, including the section entitled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, to be filed with the SEC and subsequently filed current and quarterly reports.

我們未能糾正當前或未來的財務報告內部控制重大缺陷，這可能會對我們準確報告財務結果、防止欺詐或維持投資者信心的能力產生負面影響，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中所述的其他風險，包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的年度報告中 10-K 表標題為「風險因素」的部分報告。

As a result, we caution you to against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and encourage you to review our filings with the SEC for the discussion of these factors and other risks that may affect our future results or the market price of our stock. Finally, we are not obligating ourselves to revise our results or publicly release any updates to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

因此，我們提醒您不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述，並鼓勵您查看我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，以討論這些因素和其他可能影響我們未來業績或股票市場價格的風險。最後，我們沒有義務根據新資訊或未來事件修改我們的結果或公開發布這些前瞻性陳述的任何更新。

Management uses EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures. These are presented because they are important measures used by management to assess financial performance. Management believes they provide a more transparent view of the company's underlying operating performance and operating trends than GAAP measures alone. A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA is presented in the press release. The company defines EBITDA as net income or loss before net interest, tax expense, depreciation and amortization expenses. The company defines adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA before acquisition-related expenses, bargain purchase gain, net gain or loss on disposition or impairment and stock-based compensation expenses.

管理層使用 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA，它們是非 GAAP 財務指標。之所以呈現這些指標，是因為它們是管理階層用來評估財務表現的重要指標。管理層認為，與單獨的 GAAP 指標相比，它們可以更透明地反映公司的基本經營業績和經營趨勢。新聞稿中提供了淨收入與 EBITDA 以及調整後 EBITDA 的對帳表。該公司將EBITDA定義為扣除淨利息、稅金費用、折舊及攤銷費用前的淨利或虧損。該公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為扣除收購相關費用、廉價購買收益、處置或減損淨損益以及股票薪酬費用前的 EBITDA。

With that, it's my pleasure to turn to Peter Holt on Slide 3. Thank you very much.

現在，我很高興請幻燈片 3 上的 Peter Holt 發言。

Thank you very much, Kirsten, and I welcome everybody to the call. During the fourth quarter, our retail-based chiropractic clinic concept demonstrated continued strength and resilience even as the pandemic evolves with Omicron variant. Throughout 2021, we successfully executed our long-standing strategy to grow by opening new clinics, both franchise and greenfield corporate owner managed clinics and retail setting. We ended the year with 706 clinics well positioned to achieve our goal of 1,000 clinics in operation by the end of 2023, creating the foundation for our continued future growth. Before I go in greater detail, I'd like to welcome our new investors and summarize our investment rationale.

非常感謝，Kirsten，我歡迎大家來參加電話會議。在第四季度，即使疫情隨著奧密克戎變種的出現而發展，我們以零售為基礎的脊椎按摩診所理念仍展現出持續的實力和韌性。在整個 2021 年，我們透過開設新診所（包括特許經營和綠地企業所有者管理的診所和零售診所）成功執行了我們的長期成長策略。今年，我們的診所數量已達 706 家，預計將實現到 2023 年底診所數量達 1,000 家的目標，為我們未來的持續成長奠定基礎。在詳細介紹之前，我想歡迎我們的新投資者並總結我們的投資理由。

The Joint is revolutionizing access to chiropractic care. Located in convenient retail setting, our clinics provide concierge-style membership-based services. Patients benefit from our attractive pricing convenient hours without the need of insurance or appointments. Our growth strategy is to build our brand, increased awareness of the efficacy of chiropractic care, deliver an exceptional patient experience and open more clinics. We're already the largest and most recognizable provider of chiropractic care in the country, and yet we only account for approximately 2% of this highly fragmented nearly $18 billion chiropractic market. As such, we have a significant opportunity to continue increasing our market share as we further refine and expand the market itself.

該聯合組織正在徹底改變脊椎矯正治療的取得方式。我們的診所位於便利的零售環境中，提供禮賓式會員制服務。患者可享有我們優惠的價格和方便的服務時間，無需保險或預約。我們的成長策略是打造我們的品牌，提高人們對脊椎矯正治療功效的認識，提供卓越的患者體驗並開設更多的診所。我們已經是國內最大、最知名的脊椎按摩治療服務提供商，但我們僅佔這個高度分散的近 180 億美元脊椎按摩治療市場的約 2%。因此，隨著我們進一步完善和擴大市場本身，我們有重大機會繼續增加我們的市場份額。

As we turn our attention to 2022, we're focusing efforts on 3 key areas. We call them our enterprise initiative. Each are critical to advancing our growth strategy. Our first initiative is forging the chiropractic dream by offering the best career path for chiropractic doctors. The second initiative is harnessing the power of our data by leveraging our new CRM platform. And finally, the third initiative is to accelerate the pace of our clinic growth through continuous improvement of our comprehensive franchise sales and clinic opening strategy. I'll go in more detail on the 2022 enterprise initiatives in a moment.

當我們將目光轉向 2022 年時，我們將重點放在三個關鍵領域。我們稱之為我們的企業計劃。每個因素對於推進我們的成長策略都至關重要。我們的首要舉措是透過為脊椎按摩治療師提供最佳的職業道路來實現脊椎按摩治療師的夢想。第二項措施是利用我們新的 CRM 平台來發揮數據的力量。最後，第三項措施是透過不斷改進我們的綜合特許經營銷售和診所開設策略來加快我們診所的成長速度。稍後我將更詳細地介紹 2022 年企業計畫。

Turning to Slide 4. I'll review our record-breaking operating performance metrics in 2021. The total number of adjustments performed during the year reached $10.9 million, up from $8.3 million in 2020 and $7.7 million in 2019. The total number of unique patients treated reached 1.4 million, up from 1.1 million in 2020 and 998,000 in 2019. 807,000 new patients visited The Joint, up from 584,000 and 585,000 patients in 2020 and 2019, respectively. 85% of the system gross sales came from our monthly memberships the same as 2020 and up from 80% in 2019.

轉到投影片 4。 00 名新患者造訪了 The Joint，高於 2020 年和 2019 年的 584,000 名和 585,000 名患者。系統總銷售額的 85% 來自我們的月度會員資格，與 2020 年相同，高於 2019 年的 80%。

We opened 110 new franchise clinics, up from 70 and 71 in 2020 and 2019, respectively. We significantly increased our corporate greenfield clinics to up to 20, up from 3 and 5 in 2020 and 2019, respectively. And we sold 156 franchise licenses, up from 121 in 2020 and 126 in 2019. This high-level performance even in the middle of the pandemic validates our business model and indicates a very positive long-term outlook.

我們開設了 110 家新的特許經營診所，高於 2020 年的 70 家和 2019 年的 71 家。我們將企業綠地診所數量大幅增加至 20 家，而 2020 年和 2019 年分別為 3 家和 5 家。我們出售了 156 個特許經營許可證，高於 2020 年的 121 個和 2019 年的 126 個。

Turning to Slide 5. I'll review our 2021 financial highlights. Later, Jake will discuss our results in detail. For 2021 compared to 2020, system-wide sales grew to $361.1 million, increasing 39%. Our comp sales for clinics that have been opened for at least 13 full months, grew to 29%. Revenue growth rose to 38%. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $13.3 million, up 46% compared to 2020 record of $9.1 million. And on December 31, 2021, our unrestricted cash was $19.5 million compared to $20.6 million in December 31, 2020.

翻到第 5 張投影片。稍後，傑克將詳細討論我們的結果。 2021 年與 2020 年相比，全系統銷售額成長至 3.611 億美元，成長 39%。我們開業至少 13 個月的診所的同店銷售額成長了 29%。收入增幅升至38%。調整後 EBITDA 增至 1,330 萬美元，較 2020 年的 910 萬美元成長 46%。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們的無限制現金為 1,950 萬美元，而 2020 年 12 月 31 日為 2,060 萬美元。

Turning to Slide 6. Let's review our portfolio. Regarding clinic expansion, during Q4 2021, we opened 43 clinics, 34 franchise and 9 greenfields, up from the total of 21 clinics opened in Q4 2020. Our fourth quarter and full year 2021, we closed 3 clinics. This compares to 2 closed in Q4 2020 and 7 for the full year 2020. We continue to have exceptionally low closure rate of less than 1% annually. During 2021, the total number of new clinics opened reached 130, consisting of 110 franchise and 20 greenfield clinics, up from 70 clinics and 3 greenfield clinics opened in 2020. In 2021, we acquired 12 previously franchised clinics, up from 1 acquired in 2020.

翻到投影片 6。關於診所擴張，2021 年第四季度，我們開設了 43 家診所、34 家特許經營店和 9 家綠地診所，高於 2020 年第四季度開設的 21 家診所總數。相比之下，2020 年第四季關閉了 2 起案件，2020 年全年關閉了 7 起案件。 2021 年，新開設診所總數達到 130 家，其中包括 110 家特許經營診所和 20 家綠地診所，高於 2020 年的 70 家開業診所和 3 家綠地診所。

Our expansion focuses on strategically opening greenfield in new markets and enlarging our presence in existing corporate clinic clusters and finally purchasing previously franchise clinics that will be accretive to our P&L. During 2021, we established corporate clinic foothold in the Southeast region. Throughout the year, we extended our reach across our corporate portfolio in Virginia, Southern California, New Mexico and Arizona.

我們的擴張重點是策略性地在新市場開闢綠地、擴大我們在現有企業診所集群中的影響力，並最終購買以前的特許經營診所，以增加我們的損益。 2021年，我們在東南地區建立了企業診所立足點。在這一年中，我們擴大了在維吉尼亞州、南加州、新墨西哥州和亞利桑那州的公司業務範圍。

As we've repeatedly stated, corporate clinics contributed 100% of their top and bottom line, therefore, when greenfield mature that they can have a greater economic benefit compared to franchise clinic for the consolidated company financials. However, we expect greenfields to compress margins when they first opened. In the fourth quarter 2021, we opened 9 of the 20 greenfields in 2021. As such, the effect of the new corporate clinic margin pressure was greater in the fourth quarter.

正如我們一再指出的那樣，企業診所貢獻了公司 100% 的營業收入和利潤，因此，當綠地診所成熟時，對於合併後的公司財務而言，它們可以比特許經營診所獲得更大的經濟效益。然而，我們預計綠地專案在首次開發時利潤率會受到壓縮。 2021年第四季度，我們開放了2021年20家綠地中的9家。

In summary, on December 31, 2021, we had 706 clinics in operation, consisting of 610 franchise clinics and 96 company-owned or managed clinics. Compared to September 30, our portfolio mix shifted approximately 2 percentage points to 14% corporate clinics and 86% franchise clinic. At the quarter end, we had 283 franchise licenses in active development. This figure demonstrates a strong pipeline for franchise clinic openings and compares to 295 at September 30, 2021, and 253 at December 31, 2020. This reflects both the accelerated number of franchise openings as well as ongoing increased interest in the franchise system.

總而言之，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們共有 706 家診所投入運營，其中包括 610 家特許經營診所和 96 家公司自有或管理的診所。與 9 月 30 日相比，我們的投資組合結構變化了約 2 個百分點，至 14% 為企業診所，86% 為特許經營診所。截至本季末，我們共有 283 個特許經營許可證正在積極開發中。這數字表明，特許經營診所開業管道強勁，相比之下，2021 年 9 月 30 日為 295 家，2020 年 12 月 31 日為 253 家。

Turning to Slide 7. In Q4 2021, we sold 24 franchise licenses compared to 56 in Q4 2020, with the 2020 number reflecting excess pent-up demand after the COVID disruption. Our total 2021 franchise license sales reached 156 increasing from 121 franchise license sales in 2020 and 126 in 2019. Our franchise concept continues to attract sophisticated, well-capitalized franchisees, and we're experiencing increasing interest in our multiunit licenses. During 2021, 56% of the franchise licenses were to existing owners reinvesting in the brand, which is a very strong validation of the business. In fact, since 2018, the trend has been the existing franchisees by more than half the new licenses in the year.

轉到幻燈片 7。2021 年第四季度，我們出售了 24 個特許經營許可證，而 2020 年第四季度為 56 個，2020 年的數字反映了 COVID 中斷後被壓抑的過剩需求。我們 2021 年的特許經營許可證銷售總額達到 156 個，高於 2020 年的 121 個和 2019 年的 126 個。 2021年，56%的特許經營許可證都是授予現有所有者對品牌進行再投資，這是對業務非常有力的驗證。事實上，自 2018 年以來，現有特許經營商的趨勢是當年新增特許經營權的一半以上。

Also of note, 81% of our franchise licenses were sold by our regional developers during 2021. The RDs performance remains strong as they continue to accelerate our growth. At December 31, 2021, our 21 RDs supported 71% of our clinics and their territories covered 59% of the metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs. Our aggregate 10-year minimum development schedule for the new RD territories established since 2017 is 713 clinics. Keep in mind that a proportion of these clinic count is already open, but the remaining unopened clinics still provide a large foundation to fuel our continued clinic expansion and sales growth.

另外值得注意的是，2021 年，我們 81% 的特許經營許可證是由區域開發商出售的。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們的 21 名 RD 支援 71% 的診所，其管轄區域涵蓋了 59% 的大都會統計區 (MSA)。自 2017 年起，我們對新 RD 地區的整體最低 10 年開發計畫為 713 家診所。請記住，這些診所中的一部分已經開業，但其餘未開業的診所仍然為我們持續的診所擴張和銷售成長提供了巨大的基礎。

Turning to Slide 8. Let's review our marketing efforts. In Q4, we launched our annual holiday promotions, our Back Friday package sale and our year-end membership promotion. Significantly, both promotions beat prior year performance with Back Friday growing 27% and End-of-Year growing 42%. This demonstrates the continued growth potential of our limited time promotions as well as the engagement of our clinic teams and the success of our marketing best practices.

翻到第 8 張投影片。在第四季度，我們推出了年度假期促銷、「回歸星期五」套餐促銷和年終會員促銷。值得注意的是，這兩項促銷活動的業績均超過了去年同期，其中「回歸星期五」促銷活動增長了 27%，而「年終促銷」促銷活動則增長了 42%。這證明了我們限時促銷的持續成長潛力、我們的診所團隊的參與度和我們行銷最佳實踐的成功。

On December 1, we launched our new national brand campaign targeting millennial consumers with a message targeting the power of chiropractic care and living their best lives as well as The Joint's convenient and affordable offering. As a part of the campaign, we produced 2 new TV spots, updated our print ads and promotional materials, all featuring our new brand tagline, Don’t Do Pain. Do You. The work will be featured throughout 2022, reaching new prospects to our national streaming platforms, regional television buyers and other media channels.

12 月 1 日，我們啟動了針對千禧世代消費者的全新全國品牌活動，宣傳主題為脊椎按摩護理的力量、如何讓他們過上最好的生活以及 The Joint 的便捷和實惠的產品。作為活動的一部分，我們製作了兩個新的電視廣告，更新了我們的平面廣告和宣傳資料，全部都採用了我們的新品牌標語「Don’t Do Pain」。你。該作品將在 2022 年全年播出，為我們的國家串流平台、地區電視購買者和其他媒體管道帶來新的前景。

Speaking of new prospects. In 2021, we increased investment in awareness driving market tactics funded by our growing national marketing fund as well as our regional marketing cohorts. Tactics like these help build our brands reach and name recognition with the greater public. This activity continues to record breaking new patient growth and boosted the proportion of our patients who are new to chiropractic. In our most recent annual independently conducted patient survey, we found that 36% of patients who visited in our clinics in 2021 had no previous experience with chiropractic care.

談到新的前景。 2021 年，我們增加了對提高知名度的市場策略的投資，這些投資由我們不斷增長的國家行銷基金以及區域行銷團隊提供資金。此類策略有助於擴大我們品牌的影響力以及在廣大公眾中的知名度。此項活動繼續創下新患者成長的記錄，並提高了新接受脊椎矯正治療的患者比例。在我們最近進行的年度獨立患者調查中，我們發現 2021 年到我們診所就診的患者中有 36% 以前沒有接受過脊椎按摩治療。

In 2013, the first year of this survey, that number was just 16%. In 2020, it was 27%. This demonstrates our growing ability to attract a larger population of consumers who are initially unaware of the benefit of chiropractic care, which is fulfilling our vision of educating the consumer about the power and efficacy of chiropractic.

2013年，即本次調查的第一年，這一數字僅為16%。 2020年這一比例為27%。這表明我們吸引更多最初不知道脊椎矯正治療益處的消費者的能力不斷增強，這實現了我們讓消費者了解脊椎矯正療法的力量和功效的願景。

Turning to Slide 9. I'd like to review our initiatives to improve our technology infrastructure. As you may know, last July, we achieved our milestone of launching our new IT platform, which we call AXIS. Because our patients can visit any clinic in our network to receive their chiropractic care after extensive testing, we were required to switch the entire system from our original platform to the AXIS platform overnight instead of a time to regional rollout. It was quite an undertaking. Of course, migrating from our homegrown legacy system to a licensed scalable platform caused a few bumps, but we were pleased to accomplish this without major disruptions. And again, I want to thank our franchisees and our clinic users for their patients throughout this process.

前往投影片 9。您可能知道，去年 7 月，我們實現了推出新 IT 平台的里程碑，我們稱之為 AXIS。由於我們的患者經過廣泛的測試後可以訪問我們網路中的任何診所接受脊椎按摩治療，因此我們需要在一夜之間將整個系統從原始平台切換到 AXIS 平台，而不是在區域推廣時進行。這是一項相當艱鉅的任務。當然，從我們自己開發的遺留系統遷移到許可的可擴展平台會帶來一些麻煩，但我們很高興能夠在沒有重大中斷的情況下完成這項任務。我再次感謝我們的加盟商和診所使用者在整個過程中對我院病患的耐心。

It's important to remember that this launch is only the first iteration of AXIS, primarily a lift and shift in functionality with updated accounting and reporting systems and greatly improved security. Our 2022/'23 road map has us layering in additional innovations that will unlock greater value. These initiatives include improvements in our user experience, enhanced promotional capabilities, advanced analytics, marketing automation, a native mobile app and elevated risk control measures.

重要的是要記住，此次發布只是 AXIS 的第一次迭代，主要是功能的提升和轉變，包括更新的會計和報告系統以及大大提高的安全性。我們的 2022/'23 路線圖讓我們分層加入更多創新，以釋放更大的價值。這些措施包括改善我們的用戶體驗、增強促銷能力、進階分析、行銷自動化、原生行動應用程式和加強風險控制措施。

I'm also excited to welcome our newest member of our leadership team, Chief Technology Officer, Charles Nelles who will help lead this mission. Charles has more than 20 years of experience in health care and financial service industries. He and his team will spearhead our technology development, leverage our new IT platform to sustain our position as a trailblazer and utilize our data to improve business performance. We look forward to his contribution as The Joint pursues new growth opportunities to bring routine and convenient and affordable chiropractic care across the nation. With that, Jake, I'll turn it over to you.

我也非常高興地歡迎我們領導團隊的最新成員、首席技術長查爾斯·內爾斯 (Charles Nelles)，他將幫助領導這項使命。查爾斯在醫療保健和金融服務業擁有 20 多年的經驗。他和他的團隊將帶頭進行技術開發，利用我們的新 IT 平台保持我們的開拓者地位，並利用我們的數據來提高業務績效。我們期待他的貢獻，因為 The Joint 正在尋求新的成長機會，為全國帶來常規、方便且價格合理的脊椎按摩治療服務。說完這些，傑克，我就把麥克風交給你了。

Thank you, Peter, and we'll turn to Slide 10. Please remember, while the second quarter of 2020 was impacted by the pandemic, our swift actions enabled The Joint to rebound in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. As a result, full year 2020 delivered strong financial performance in spite of COVID-19. The momentum we gained in 2020 continue to accelerate in 2021, delivering our strongest financial performance for any year-to-date. First, I'll review preliminary Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020. System-wide sales for all clinics opened for any amount of time increased to $102.1 million, up 32%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months or more were 22%. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more were 15%.

謝謝彼得，我們轉到第 10 張幻燈片。我們在 2020 年獲得的發展勢頭在 2021 年繼續加速，實現了今年迄今為止最強勁的財務表現。首先，我將回顧 2021 年第四季與 2020 年第四季的初步情況。所有開業 13 個月或以上的診所的全系統同店銷售額為 22%。開業 48 個月或以上的成熟診所的系統範圍內同店銷售額為 15%。

Revenue was $22.4 million, up $5.4 million or 32%. Company-owned or managed clinic revenue increased 33%, contributing $12.2 million. Franchise operations increased 30%, contributing $10.2 million. Cost of revenues was $2.4 million, up 24% over the same period last year, reflecting the increase in franchise clinics, the associated higher regional developer royalties and commissions and higher website hosting costs related to the new IT platform. Selling and marketing expenses were $2.9 million, up 38% over the same period last year. This reflects the grand opening marketing expenses for 9 new greenfields, the larger number of franchised and company-owned or managed clinics and the timing of the national marketing fund spend as well as the new brand campaign.

營收為 2,240 萬美元，成長 540 萬美元，增幅 32%。該公司自有或管理的診所收入成長了 33%，貢獻了 1,220 萬美元。特許經營業務成長 30%，貢獻 1,020 萬美元。收入成本為 240 萬美元，比去年同期增長 24%，反映了特許經營診所的增加、相關區域開發商特許權使用費和佣金的增加以及與新 IT 平台相關的網站託管成本的增加。銷售和行銷費用為290萬美元，比去年同期成長38%。這反映了 9 個新綠地的開業行銷費用、更多的特許經營和公司擁有或管理的診所以及全國行銷基金支出的時間表以及新的品牌活動。

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased for the fourth quarter of 2021 as compared to the prior year period, primarily due to the amortization of development rights we acquired in December 2020 and January 2021. The amortization of intangibles related to the 2021 clinic acquisition and depreciation expenses associated with our new IT platform and with our greenfield development.

2021 年第四季的折舊和攤銷費用與去年同期相比有所增加，主要原因是我們在 2020 年 12 月和 2021 年 1 月獲得的開發權的攤銷。

G&A expenses were $14.6 million compared to $9.5 million, up 53%. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in company-owned or managed clinic expenses and increase in payroll required to remain competitive in the tight labor market and professional fees and IT expenses to support continued clinic count and revenue growth. We opened 9 greenfields during the fourth quarter and anticipate an increased pace of greenfield openings.

一般及行政開支為 1,460 萬美元，去年同期為 950 萬美元，成長 53%。成長的主要原因是公司自有或管理的診所費用增加、在緊張的勞動力市場中保持競爭力所需的工資增加、以及為支持診所數量和收入持續增長而增加的專業費用和 IT 費用。我們在第四季開設了 9 個綠地，預計綠地開設速度將會加快。

As such, we expect the G&A as a percentage of revenue to increase over the next several quarters. Operating income was $663,000, which reflects the compressed margins from accelerated greenfield development and the aforementioned depreciation and amortization from reacquired development rights and clinic acquisitions. This compares to $2.8 million in 2020. Income tax expense was $424,000 compared to an income tax benefit of $7.9 million in Q4 2020, which included the reversal of a tax valuation allowance of $8.9 million. Net income was $224,000 or $0.01 per diluted share compared to $10.6 million or $0.72 per diluted share in Q4 2020. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.7 million, decreasing 26% compared to the same period last year.

因此，我們預期未來幾季一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比將會增加。營業收入為 663,000 美元，反映了加速綠地開發帶來的利潤率壓縮以及前面提到的重新獲得的開發權和診所收購帶來的折舊和攤銷。相比之下，2020 年為 280 萬美元。淨收入為 224,000 美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.01 美元，而 2020 年第四季為 1,060 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.72 美元。

Franchise clinic adjusted EBITDA increased 29% to $4.9 million. Company-owned or managed clinic adjusted EBITDA decreased 21% to $2 million, reflecting the increase in payroll required to remain competitive in the tight labor market, compounded by margin compression with 45% of our new greenfields for the year opening in Q4. Corporate expenses as a component of adjusted EBITDA loss increased to $4.1 million compared to $2.6 million in Q4 2020 and $3.8 million in Q3 2021.

特許經營診所調整後 EBITDA 成長 29%，達到 490 萬美元。公司自有或管理的診所調整後的 EBITDA 下降 21% 至 200 萬美元，反映出在緊張的勞動力市場中保持競爭力所需的工資增加，加上我們今年 45% 的新綠地在第四季度開業導致的利潤率壓縮。作為調整後 EBITDA 虧損一部分的企業費用增至 410 萬美元，而 2020 年第四季為 260 萬美元，2021 年第三季為 380 萬美元。

On Slide 11 for a review of the preliminary financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the same period in 2020. Revenue was $81.2 million, up 38% compared to $58.7 million. Operating income was $6 million, up 9% compared to $5.5 million, reflecting the increase in labor costs and expenses related to opening new corporate clinics. Net income was $7.2 million, down from $13.2 million in 2020, which included the tax benefit of $7.8 million. And adjusted EBITDA was $13.3 million, up 46% compared to $9.1 million in 2020.

第 11 頁回顧了截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日的年度初步財務業績，與 2020 年同期相比。 營業收入為 600 萬美元，較 550 萬美元增長 9%，反映了開設新公司診所相關的勞動力成本和費用的增加。淨收入為 720 萬美元，低於 2020 年的 1,320 萬美元，其中包括 780 萬美元的稅收優惠。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,330 萬美元，較 2020 年的 910 萬美元成長 46%。

On to our balance sheet and cash flow review. At December 31, 2021, our unrestricted cash was $19.5 million compared to $20.6 million at December 31, 2020. During 2021, cash flow activities included $15.2 million provided by operating activities, which was offset by $14.1 million of investing activities, consisting of acquisitions, greenfield developments and IT capital expenditures as well as $2 million of net cash used in financing activities primarily driven by the repayment of the Paycheck Protection Program loan in March of 2021.

繼續審查我們的資產負債表和現金流量。截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們的非限制現金為 1,950 萬美元，而 2020 年 12 月 31 日為 2,060 萬美元。 2021 年，現金流量活動包括經營活動提供的 1,520 萬美元，但被 2021 年，現金流量活動包括經營活動提供的 1,520 萬美元，但被投資 20 萬美元所用的投資支出，包括 20 萬美元，包括 20 萬美元投資現金，主要由於 2021 年 3 月償還薪資保護計畫貸款。

During the annual audit management, along with our audit team determined that our internal controls over financial reporting were not effective as of December 31, 2021, due to a material weakness. We have undertaken remediation measures to address the material weakness, which we expect will be completed prior to the end of fiscal year 2022. We expect our auditors to express an adverse opinion on the company's internal controls, about which we will provide details in our upcome 10-K filing for the period ended December 31, 2021.

在年度審計期間，管理層與我們的審計團隊確定，由於存在重大缺陷，截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日，我們的財務報告內部控制無效。我們已採取補救措施來解決重大缺陷，預計將在 2022 財年結束前完成。

On to Slide 12, for a review of our guidance for 2022. In 2021, The Joint like so many retail concepts experienced rising labor costs, which will necessitate a price increase to maintain our status quo. However, one of our core tenets is affordability. Therefore, we plan to implement a modest price increase. Effective March 1, 2022, every clinic in our system will raise the price of an individual visit, which will be reflected in price increases on our memberships and packages. Our new patient special will remain unchanged at $29. While this is the first national price increase The Joint has undertaken since 2016, we did implement several market price adjustments in certain markets in 2018 and 2019.

轉到投影片 12，回顧我們對 2022 年的指導。然而，我們的核心原則之一是價格實惠。 因此，我們計劃適度提高價格。自 2022 年 3 月 1 日起，我們系統中的每個診所都將提高單次就診的價格，這將反映在我們的會員資格和套餐價格上漲上。我們的新患者特別優惠將保持不變，仍為 29 美元。雖然這是 The Joint 自 2016 年以來首次在全國範圍內上調價格，但我們在 2018 年和 2019 年確實在某些市場實施了幾次市場價格調整。

As existing patient subscriptions will be grandfathered at our current price, the impact to our revenue will be gradual and incremental with the addition of new patients and we do not expect significant incremental lift for approximately 6 to 9 months.

由於現有患者的訂閱將按照我們當前的價格保留，隨著新患者的增加，對我們收入的影響將是漸進的，並且我們預計在大約 6 到 9 個月內不會有顯著的增量增長。

Our 2022 guidance is based on our strong performance and market position. We expect revenue to be between $102 million and $106 million, up from $81.2 million in 2021, with the midpoint equal to a 28% increase over the prior year. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $15 million and $17 million compared to $13.3 million with the 2022 midpoint equal to a 20% increase from our 2021 adjusted EBITDA. Once again, the increased number of greenfields will increase margin compression until those clinics mature. We expect franchise clinic openings to be between 110 and 130, up from 110 in 2021. We expect to increase our company-owned or managed clinics by between 30 and 40 through a combination of greenfield openings and franchise clinic purchases, up from 32% in 2021.

我們對 2022 年的預期是基於我們強勁的業績和市場地位。我們預計營收將在 1.02 億美元至 1.06 億美元之間，高於 2021 年的 8,120 萬美元，中位數相當於比上一年增長 28%。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 1500 萬美元至 1700 萬美元之間，而之前為 1330 萬美元，2022 年的中位數相當於 2021 年調整後的 EBITDA 增長 20%。再次，綠地數量的增加將加劇利潤率的壓縮，直到這些診所成熟為止。我們預計特許經營診所的開業數量將在 110 至 130 家之間，高於 2021 年的 110 家。 我們預計透過新建診所和收購特許經營診所相結合的方式，我們公司自有或管理的診所數量將增加 30 至 40 家，高於 2021 年的 32%。

And with that, I will now turn the call back over to you, Peter.

說完這些，我現在將電話轉回給你，彼得。

Thanks, Jake. During 2021, The Joint demonstrated remarkable resilience to the pandemic pressures. While managing this, we still delivered record openings, new patients, revenue and adjusted EBITDA. As the chiropractic market expands, we continue to fuel our growth as illustrated by our growing number of patients, franchisees, clinics and franchise license sales. While as a nation, we focus so much time and energy on the COVID-19 pandemic, frankly, there are other more -- other serious epidemics that we're also facing, such as pain, obesity and diabetes. Increasingly, younger generations seek more holistic way to treat these elements and frequently choose chiropractic care as the first line of defense.

謝謝，傑克。 2021年，聯合會展現了對疫情壓力的卓越抵禦能力。在實現這一目標的同時，我們仍然實現了創紀錄的開業數量、新患者數量、收入和調整後 EBITDA。隨著脊椎按摩治療市場的擴大，我們繼續推動我們的成長，這從患者、特許經營商、診所和特許經營許可證銷售額的不斷增長中可以看出。雖然我們整個國家都把大量時間和精力集中在對抗新冠肺炎疫情上，但坦白說，我們還面臨其他更嚴重的流行病，如疼痛、肥胖和糖尿病。越來越多的年輕一代尋求更全面的方法來治療這些疾病，並經常選擇脊椎矯正療法作為第一道防線。

The average age of our patient continues to trend younger. In 2021, 61% of our patients who visited that year were millennial or Gen Z, with Gen Z being the biggest gainer. This is up from 58% in 2020 and 55% in 2019. As I stated earlier, we've entered into 2022 with a focus on 3 enterprise initiatives, key to advancing our brand growth. Our first initiative is to forge the chiropractic dream. Like most employers, we are navigating a challenging labor market that some are calling the great resignation.

我們患者的平均年齡持續呈現年輕化趨勢。 2021 年，當年就診的患者中有 61% 是千禧世代或 Z 世代，其中 Z 世代是增幅最大的族群。這一比例高於 2020 年的 58% 和 2019 年的 55%。我們的第一項措施是打造脊椎矯正療法的夢想。與大多數雇主一樣，我們正在應對一個充滿挑戰的勞動市場，有些人稱之為「大辭職」。

By leveraging our considerable advantages as market leader, we are creating a must-have employment experience by building a modern, relevant employer brand and a connected community of doctors of chiropractic. We offer unrivaled career path that can provide financial success and would provide choice and opportunities that fit the needs of DCs and their interest, with exceptional professional development as well as high-volume hands-on experience.

透過利用我們作為市場領導者的巨大優勢，我們正在透過建立現代化、相關的雇主品牌和脊椎按摩治療師的互聯社群來創造必備的就業體驗。我們提供無與倫比的職業道路，可帶來財務上的成功，並提供符合 DC 需求和興趣的選擇和機會，以及卓越的專業發展和大量的實踐經驗。

Our second initiative is to harness the power of our data. As discussed over the past several years, we've allocated considerable resources to technology, now we have the fortified -- we fortified our foundation with improved accounting, reporting and security and we're turning our attention towards the utilization of accumulated data to transform the patient experience, drive business innovation and optimization and sustain our revenue growth. We're excited to build upon our new CRM platform in 2022 and beyond. And we look forward to updating you on the progress.

我們的第二個舉措是利用數據的力量。正如過去幾年所討論的那樣，我們已為技術分配了大量資源，現在我們已通過改進會計、報告和安全性鞏固了我們的基礎，並且我們將注意力轉向利用積累的數據來改變患者體驗，推動業務創新和優化並維持我們的收入增長。 我們很高興能夠在 2022 年及以後建立我們的新 CRM 平台。我們期待向您通報進度。

Our third initiative is to accelerate the pace of clinic growth. We're implementing new clinical strategies through the real estate optimization and strengthening of our development team. We're utilizing innovation to shorten our development time line, enabling us to open clinics faster, reduce costs and provide quality direction for our franchisees.

我們的第三項措施是加快診所發展步伐。我們正在透過房地產優化和加強我們的開發團隊來實施新的臨床策略。我們正在利用創新來縮短我們的發展時間，使我們能夠更快地開設診所，降低成本並為我們的特許經營商提供優質的指導。

In our expansion, we're evaluating additional location profiles that can maintain our brand in an affordable and accessible chiropractic care. For example, we're looking at opening clinics in highly urbanized markets and in micro market, where the franchisee is typically owned by the doctor of chiropractic and on military basis, leveraging our agreement to serve the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

在我們的擴張過程中，我們正在評估更多的地點資料，以便能夠維持我們品牌在經濟實惠且易於獲得的脊椎按摩治療方面的優勢。例如，我們正在考慮在高度城市化的市場和微型市場開設診所，這些市場的特許經營商通常由脊椎按摩治療師擁有，並以軍事為基礎，利用我們的協議為陸軍和空軍交換服務提供服務。

Last fall, we've already opened 2 clinics on bases and are excited about the opportunity to open up more bases going forward. In addition, we're working closely with our high-performing franchisees who are looking to further leverage their development.

去年秋天，我們已經在基地開設了 2 家診所，並且對未來開設更多基地的機會感到非常興奮。此外，我們正在與那些希望進一步促進其發展的高績效特許經營者密切合作。

Increasingly, franchisees are doubling down and adding a second clinic within their existing trade area, some even only a mile away. These sales operators are repeatedly proven that by increasing clinic density and lowering patient wait time, they can uphold The Joint's tentative accessibility and drive sales growth in both the new and their existing clinic. We're on pace to open up 1,000 clinics by the end of 2022.

越來越多的特許經營商加倍投入，在現有貿易區域內開設第二家診所，有的甚至距離診所只有一英里。這些銷售業者一再證明，透過增加診所密度和減少患者等待時間，他們可以維持 The Joint 的暫時可及性並推動新診所和現有診所的銷售成長。我們計劃在 2022 年底開設 1,000 家診所。

As previously discussed, we see a near-term goal as a stepping stone for further development, both domestically and at the appropriate time internationally. This year, as part of our analysis, we reanalyzed the patient demographic and psychographic profile comparing them to all MSAs across the U.S.

如同先前所討論的，我們將近期目標視為進一步發展的墊腳石，無論是在國內還是在適當的時候在國際上。今年，作為分析的一部分，我們重新分析了患者的人口統計和心理統計資料，並將其與美國所有 MSA 進行了比較。

As a result, we've broadened our derived potential clinic count now to a minimum of 1,940 clinics. Yet we realize this is based upon actual chiropractic usage as of today. With 36% of our new patients also new to chiropractic care, this leaves much room for additional expansion. As only 50% of the U.S. population knows what chiropractic care is, we have significant opportunities to grow our business as we educate more consumers about the efficacy of chiropractic care. I'm confident in our ability to drive long-term growth and stakeholder value.

因此，我們已將得出的潛在診所數量擴大至至少 1,940 家診所。然而，我們意識到這是基於迄今為止實際的脊椎矯正療法的使用情況。由於我們的新患者中有 36％ 也是第一次接受脊椎按摩治療，因此還有很大的擴展空間。由於只有 50% 的美國人口知道脊椎矯正治療是什麼，因此，隨著我們向更多消費者宣傳脊椎矯正治療的功效，我們將有很大機會發展我們的業務。我對我們推動長期成長和利害關係人價值的能力充滿信心。

With that, Lori, I'm ready to begin the Q&A.

有了這些，洛瑞，我準備開始問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Linda Bolton-Weiser of D.A. Davidson.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Linda Bolton-Weiser。戴維森。

So maybe you can comment just with this accelerated pace of greenfield openings, how are they performing? Are they ramping and performing in the early stages as they would be historically? Or are they better or worse than historical opening?

所以也許您可以評論一下，隨著綠地開幕步伐的加快，它們的表現如何？他們是否像歷史上一樣在早期階段不斷提升並表現出色？或者說它們比歷史開局更好或更差？

Yes, Linda, great question. As I look at cohort ramps comparing the last several years, really from 2017 all the way through 2021, we've seen each of those annual cohorts continue to ramp quicker, and 2021 was no exception. So that just continues to give us the further confidence in accelerating our greenfield development because we're still seeing successful ramps.

是的，琳達，這個問題問得很好。當我比較過去幾年的群組成長情況時，實際上從 2017 年一直到 2021 年，我們看到每年的群組成長速度都在繼續加快，2021 年也不例外。因此，這繼續給予我們進一步加速綠地開發的信心，因為我們仍然看到成功的成長。

Okay. And then can you just remind us where in the income statement do we see the biggest impact of the higher costs related to the greenfield? Is it in selling and marketing or G&A or both? Or where does it show up more?

好的。然後，您能否提醒我們，在損益表中哪裡可以看到與綠地相關的更高成本的最大影響？是在銷售和行銷方面，還是在一般行政管理方面，或者兩者兼而有之？或者它更多地出現在哪裡？

Sure. The majority of our clinic expenses were going to come through the G&A line. You will see some additional flow through in sales and marketing, specifically when we have those greenfield openings because we have a large chunk of grand opening marketing expenses that are kind of front loaded with that process. So in quarters where we have a large number of greenfield openings like we did in the fourth quarter this year, you'll see that line tick up a little bit. But the majority of those clinic level costs, some of our payroll, clinic level expenses, mostly come through G&A for us.

當然。我們診所的大部分費用都來自一般及行政費用。你會看到銷售和行銷方面有一些額外的流程，特別是當我們有那些新建的店鋪開業時，因為我們有大量的開業行銷費用，這些費用都是在這一過程中預先投入的。因此，在我們有大量綠地開業的季度，就像今年第四季度一樣，你會看到這條線略有上升。但是，這些診所層面的成本，包括我們的部分薪資、診所層級的開支，大部分都是透過一般行政費用 (G&A) 產生的。

Okay. And then with that point, I guess I'm curious in -- I mean, on the one hand, you have those expenses, but on the other hand, you can leverage some of those expenses as your revenue and your top line grows bigger. So in 2022, do you think you can offset the higher G&A expense from openings with leverage such that the ratio actually goes down a bit? Or do you expect that G&A ratio to actually go up?

好的。然後關於這一點，我想我很好奇——我的意思是，一方面，你有這些費用，但另一方面，隨著你的收入和你的營業額的增長，你可以利用其中一些費用。那麼，在 2022 年，您是否認為可以利用槓桿來抵消開業帶來的更高的 G&A 費用，從而使該比率實際上略有下降？或者您預計 G&A 比率實際上會上升嗎？

I think given the not only the significant pace of development we're projecting for 2022, but with the 2021 development being a little bit back-end weighted, I think you're going to see that suppression come through and not necessarily have as much leverage opportunity in the early part of 2022, right? When we talk about the maturity curve, you're reaching that breakeven point at that 6 months or less mark.

我認為，考慮到我們預測的 2022 年發展速度不僅顯著，而且 2021 年的發展有點後端加權，我認為你會看到這種抑制措施得到實施，而且在 2022 年初不一定有那麼多的槓桿機會，對吧？當我們談論成熟度曲線時，您會在 6 個月或更短的時間內達到損益平衡點。

So when you have so many back-end weighted greenfields in 2021 and an accelerated pace in 2022, it's going to be hard to get that full leverage cycle in that short-term period. But like I said, the ramps are still great. It's still a great use of capital. You just kind of have the short-term suppression that you have to work through.

因此，當 2021 年有如此多的後端加權綠地，且 2022 年步伐加快時，在短期內實現完整的槓桿週期將會很困難。但就像我說的，坡道仍然很棒。這仍然是一種很好的資本利用方式。你只是有點需要努力克服的短期壓抑。

Okay. And then when you talk about the expectation for 30 to 40 corporate additions in 2022, I mean, obviously, you can't really anticipate the acquisition opportunities. So is it kind of like if there's no acquisitions, it will be 30 or you actually are seeing that there's more than 30 that can actually be greenfielded?

好的。當您談到預計 2022 年將新增 30 到 40 家企業時，我的意思是，顯然您無法真正預測收購機會。那麼，如果沒有收購，是否就會有 30 個，或者您實際上看到有超過 30 個可以真正實現綠地擴張？

Yes, I think you had it right. It's just hard to forecast the number of acquisition opportunities. They'll still be an opportunistic piece of our strategy. We have a robust enough pipeline in terms of greenfield development that if we were to accelerate that or slow that we have the ability to control that with so much time left here in the 2022 period. But just not having a great way to project those opportunistic acquisitions we give ourselves some travel there.

是的，我認為你說對了。只是很難預測收購機會的數量。他們仍將是我們策略中的一個機會主義組成部分。我們在綠地開發方面有足夠強大的管道，如果我們要加速或減緩這一進程，我們都有能力控制它，因為 2022 年還剩下很多時間。但由於沒有很好的方法來預測這些機會性收購，我們只能去那裡旅行。

Okay. And today, on Planet Fitness' call, I know they're different business, but they have franchisees that are opening doors. They talked about the pandemic like maybe slowing things down a little, like it just takes longer to get certain approvals as they -- in order to open up a new gym. Are you experiencing that as well that things are just taking longer for your franchisees or not?

好的。今天，在 Planet Fitness 的電話會議中，我知道他們是不同的企業，但他們有正在開業的特許經營商。他們談到疫情，例如可能會讓事情慢下來一點，例如為了開設新的健身房，獲得某些批准需要更長的時間。您是否也遇到過這種情況：您的加盟商處理事情的時間變長了？

I would say, yes. I think that it's always a matter of scale in that. And so if you look at the Planet Fitness build-out versus our 1,200 square foot with a false wall and a couple of adjustment tables, that it's a smaller and easier build-out, as you can imagine compared to what they're doing. But we also all have to go to that same municipality to get the permit. And so we have to deal with our landlords who, I think, in this inflationary period are responding slower to the kind of the whole lease negotiation process. So while we didn't call it out, I think that as we look at 2022 and think about the impact that could have those macro issues on our development. Yes, I think that we also will experience part of that, but just at a smaller scale because it's just such a simpler build-out.

我想說，是的。我認為這始終是一個規模問題。因此，如果您將 Planet Fitness 的擴建與我們的 1,200 平方英尺（配有假牆和幾張調節台）進行比較，您可以想像，與他們所做的相比，它的擴建規模更小、更容易。但我們也都必須去同一個城市領取許可證。因此，我們必須與房東打交道，我認為，在通貨膨脹時期，他們對整個租賃談判過程的反應較慢。因此，雖然我們沒有明確指出這一點，但我認為，當我們展望 2022 年並思考這些宏觀問題可能對我們的發展產生的影響時。是的，我認為我們也會經歷其中的一部分，但規模較小，因為這只是一種更簡單的構建。

Okay. But I mean it doesn't sound like it really affected your expectation for how much you could grow in 2022. Is that fair to say?

好的。但我的意思是，這聽起來似乎並沒有真正影響您對 2022 年成長幅度的預期。

Well, I would say that we took into account some of these macro issues that we don't really control as we've said our guidance. And obviously, we set our guidance that we believe that we'll open more clinics in 2022 than we did in 2021. So I'm not saying that we didn't take it into account, but I do think that we are less impacted by it than some of these more complex build-outs that are out of concept.

嗯，我想說的是，我們考慮到了一些我們無法真正控制的宏觀問題，就像我們在指導中所說的那樣。顯然，我們設定了指導方針，我們相信 2022 年開設的診所數量將比 2021 年多。

Okay. And then just on the price increase, can you remind us how much of your revenue is the subscriptions versus the individual visit? And then can you give a percentage price increase on average that you're expecting to make?

好的。那麼，關於價格上漲，您能否提醒我們，您的收入中有多少來自訂閱，有多少來自個人訪問？然後，您能給出預期的平均價格上漲百分比嗎？

Sure. Yes. 85% of all of our gross sales comes from our subscription. So that is still the vast majority of our gross sales is coming through that offering. In a lot of the markets, we will be moving our price tiers up by $10. So where they were $59, $69, $79, you'll see a $69, $79, $89 mix across the country.

當然。是的。我們總銷售額的 85% 均來自訂閱。因此，我們的絕大部分銷售額仍來自於該產品。在許多市場，我們將把價格等級上調 10 美元。因此，在之前的價格為 59 美元、69 美元和 79 美元的地方，你會看到全國各地的價格組合為 69 美元、79 美元和 89 美元。

And our next question comes from the line of Jeremy Hamblin of Craig-Hallum Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum Capital 的 Jeremy Hamblin。

Congratulations on a really strong year and quarter. I wanted to get into a little bit more of the details of the total EBITDA impact based on company-operated locations of 30 to 40 new units this year. I think based on your prior maturity curves and the expectation for an average loss of about $75,000 in year 1, can you give us a total estimate on opening 30 to 40 new stores -- new units this year, I guess, part of it is a carryover from the new openings at the end of last year as well. But if we looking at about maybe a $2 million drag on your FY '22 EBITDA?

恭喜您度過了一個非常強勁的年度和季度。我想更詳細地了解今年公司在自營店中新增 30 至 40 個新單位對整體 EBITDA 的影響。我認為，根據您之前的成熟度曲線以及第一年平均損失約 75,000 美元的預期，您能否給我們一個開設 30 到 40 家新店的總估計數字——我想，今年的新店部分也是去年年底新開店的延續。但如果我們看一下，這可能會對您的 22 財年 EBITDA 造成約 200 萬美元的拖累？

Yes, I think you do have to factor in the carryover from 2021, just given the back-end weighting of those. So that has to be factored in there. We didn't split out the 30 to 40 in terms of how many are greenfields, but you have it right in terms of around a $75,000 kind of working capital loss that you have to work through in year 1 type period. Now again, those are going to be scaled depending on when they open. If you have a Q1 opening, it may reach breakeven and start to offset some of those the back end weighting. All you're going to feel is the strain of those until they get into that maturity curve. So hard to put a quantified number on it without some of those variables, but I think you've got the pieces correct.

是的，我認為你確實必須考慮 2021 年的結轉，因為這是後端權重。所以必須把這一點考慮進去。我們沒有將這 30 到 40 個項目分開來計算有多少是綠地，但您說的對，大約有 75,000 美元的營運資本損失，您必須在第一年期間解決。現在，這些將根據開放時間進行調整。如果您有第一季的開局，它可能會達到收支平衡，並開始抵消一些後端權重。你所感受到的只是它們的壓力，直到它們進入成熟曲線。如果沒有這些變數的話就很難給出一個量化的數字，但我認為你已經正確地理解了這些部分。

Okay. So it sounds like we're in the ballpark depending on acquisitions. Okay. And then I also wanted to have a quick hitter here on expectations around tax. I think you might have mentioned that I just missed it, we look at 27% tax rate.

好的。因此，聽起來我們大概是靠收購來決定的。好的。然後，我還想在這裡快速談談對稅收的預期。我想您可能提到我剛剛錯過了，我們看的是 27% 的稅率。

Correct. Yes. The federal rate is 21%, a blended state rate in the 6-plus percent range for us across our footprint. So I think that's a pretty fair estimate. We will come out of this year with some NOLs still to utilize, and we'll see a lot of that kind of eaten up as we move through 2022.

正確的。是的。聯邦稅率為 21%，而對於我們整個業務範圍而言，混合州稅率在 6% 以上。所以我認為這是一個相當公平的估計。今年我們仍有一些淨營運成本 (NOL) 可供利用，而到 2022 年，我們會看到許多此類成本被消耗掉。

Great. And then in terms of kind of the COVID impact with this last surge, a lot of retail businesses had significant impact back half of December and throughout January and now started to see some recovery. What's -- can you give us a sense of what you saw in your traffic patterns whether or not you had any impact, kind of where the trends stand today versus maybe where they were at the beginning of December.

偉大的。就最近這波疫情對零售企業的影響而言，許多零售企業在去年 12 月中旬和整個 1 月都受到了重大影響，現在已經開始出現一些復甦。您能否讓我們了解一下您在流量模式中看到的情況，無論是否產生了影響，目前的趨勢與 12 月初的趨勢相比如何。

Well, what I say, Jeremy, is that in terms of the impact it's had on us is probably suppressed a little bit of our accelerated growth. As I mentioned, our fourth quarter, the big 2 promotions we have, our Back Friday and our year-end promotion. The Back Friday, it was 27% higher than last year. The year-end promotion was 42% higher than compared to last year. So it suggests to you that we've had some pretty strong numbers.

嗯，傑里米，我想說的是，就它對我們的影響而言，它可能會稍微抑制我們的加速成長。正如我所提到的，在第四季度，我們推出了兩大促銷活動，「回歸星期五」和年終促銷。週五，這一數字比去年同期高出了 27%。年終促銷比去年同期成長了42%。所以這顯示我們的數據相當強勁。

I think it would have been stronger if we -- also there was -- I'm not saying there wasn't some impact due to the pandemic or whether it was the Omicron or the Delta before that. I think if I reflect really from the beginning of COVID to where we are to this point, is that when it comes to pandemic is that we remain incredibly resilient, that our patients see this experience is essential to their health care and that while they may be reluctant to do other things in the marketplace is that they are coming in to The Joint.

我認為如果我們——而且有——的話，它會更強大。我認為，如果我認真反思一下，從新冠肺炎疫情爆發之初到現在的狀況，就會發現當疫情來臨時，我們仍然保持著令人難以置信的韌性，我們的患者認為這種體驗對他們的醫療保健至關重要，儘管他們可能不願意在市場上做其他事情，但他們會來到 The Joint。

And as we talked about in 2021, what did we see? We saw record-breaking new patient counts. So it's not just our existing patients, but we had 807,000 new patients come into The Joint for the very first time. Now to me, what was really the most exciting part of that is we just did our new survey, and last year, we were saying, okay, in 2020, our 27% of those new patients that came in were new to chiropractic. The most recent survey we just got back is 36%. So the model is working.

正如我們在 2021 年所談論的，我們看到了什麼？我們看到了創紀錄的新患者數量。因此，我們不僅有現有的患者，而且還有 807,000 名新患者首次來到 The Joint。現在對我來說，真正最令人興奮的部分是我們剛剛做了新的調查，去年我們說，好吧，到 2020 年，我們來的新患者中有 27％ 是第一次接觸脊椎按摩療法。我們剛剛得到的最新調查結果是36%。因此該模型是有效的。

We're continuing to educate more and more consumers about the power and efficacy of chiropractic by putting it in those retail setting. And so I think that when I reflect on the impact of the pandemic or kind of as we go through in 2022, are we going to be impacted by some of the macro issues, whether -- as we're talking about with Linda in terms of the municipalities, we don't have their permitting people there or addressing inflation issues or who knows what's going to go on with Ukraine. Is that -- those macro issues are out there, and they certainly can have an impact on us. But I would say, as I think through the pandemic is that we've been pretty resilient.

我們將繼續透過將脊椎矯正療法引入零售環境，讓越來越多的消費者了解脊椎矯正療法的功效和效果。因此，我認為，當我反思疫情的影響，或者當我們經歷 2022 年時，我們是否會受到一些宏觀問題的影響，正如我們與琳達談論的市政當局一樣，我們沒有他們的許可人員在那裡，或者解決通貨膨脹問題，或者誰知道烏克蘭會發生什麼。是的——這些宏觀問題確實存在，而且它們肯定會對我們產生影響。但我想說，我認為，在經歷這場疫情之後，我們已經相當堅韌了。

Okay. Great. Last one for me. So labor costs, can you give us a sense for the run rates that you're having to pay up for your administrative staff and your clinicians as well. What's the...

好的。偉大的。對我來說是最後一個。那麼勞動成本，您能否告訴我們您為行政人員和臨床醫生支付的運作率是多少。這是啥...

Yes. I think we're seeing it on -- sure. Yes. I think we're seeing it on both fronts, whether it be the doctor of chiropractic or wellness coordinators at the front desk. Those retail positions are becoming highly competitive as well. And then when you have any element of specialized labor, you have to remain competitive, and that was one of the driving factors. Tougher to quantify given the footprint across the country again. But as we look at it, which probably a roughly 10% increase potentially if we're going to do some sort of blended average in terms of either a base rate or a part-time rate for a chiropractor that's out there or increasing the hourly wage for the wellness coordinator position. So it's really both of our core roles. And quite honestly, it's also our corporate staff. I mean it's a phenomenon that's affecting us on a couple of different fronts.

是的。我想我們確實看到了這一點。是的。我認為我們從兩個方面都看到了這一點，無論是脊椎按摩治療師還是前台的健康協調員。這些零售職位的競爭也變得異常激烈。當你擁有任何專業勞動力時，你必須保持競爭力，這是驅動因素之一。鑑於其在全國範圍內的影響力，量化變得更加困難。但當我們這樣看時，如果我們要對脊椎按摩師的基本工資或兼職工資進行某種混合平均，或者增加健康協調員職位的小時工資，那麼這個數字可能會增加大約 10%。所以這其實是我們兩人的核心角色。老實說，這也是我們公司的員工。我的意思是，這種現象正在從多個不同方面影響著我們。

And our next question comes from the line of George Kelly of ROTH Capital Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH Capital Partners 的喬治凱利 (George Kelly)。

So to start another greenfield question for you. And I was hoping that you could just walk us through an average opening. So if -- I don't know if you want to sort of specify it or quantify as much as you can, but what is the preopening marketing spend just on average? And then what is the amount kind of invested until you hit breakeven after X months, if you could give us that kind of time line, that would be helpful.

因此，我要向您提出另一個新問題。我希望您能為我們講解一個普通的開場白。所以如果——我不知道您是否想對其進行詳細說明或盡可能地量化，但開業前的營銷支出平均是多少？那麼，X 個月後達到收支平衡之前需要投資多少金額呢？

Sure. Yes. The preopening marketing, I would peg that around $15,000. Again, there's different tactics by market that we can capitalize on. But I think on a rounded number, you're probably looking at $15,000 per. Your cost structure for your clinic, I would say your breakeven point is -- again, it varies by market. My rent in Virginia is going to be different than my rent in California. But I think you're looking at an average of $25,000 to $28,000 a month as kind of a breakeven point. And so it's really how quickly can you ramp your revenues to get above that breakeven point, which for us, we would say is 6 months or less.

當然。是的。我估計開業前的行銷費用約為 15,000 美元。再次，我們可以利用不同市場的不同策略。但我認為，以整數計算，可能需要花費每人 15,000 美元。您的診所的成本結構，我想說您的損益平衡點是--再次強調，它因市場而異。我在維吉尼亞州的租金與我在加州的租金不同。但我認為平均每月 25,000 至 28,000 美元是一個盈虧平衡點。因此，問題實際上是你能多快提高收入以達到損益平衡點，對我們來說，我們認為是 6 個月或更短的時間。

And just to add to that, I think that our marketing department has increasingly created a more sophisticated and effective grand opening strategy, particularly taking into account the pandemic. I mean in the early part of the pandemic -- pre-pandemic, we had this idea that you're going to have this big blow at a moment for 3 days, do all these free adjustments and then kind of tail off from there.

補充一點，我認為我們的行銷部門已經制定了更複雜和有效的開業策略，特別是考慮到疫情的影響。我的意思是，在疫情初期，也就是疫情爆發之前，我們有這樣的想法，你會在三天內遭遇這種巨大的打擊，進行所有這些自由調整，然後逐漸減弱。

And what we recognize is that with the pandemic is that we don't want everybody jammed up in the clinic for 3 days. And so they've spread that out over a period of a month, and then they've added a whole series of new programs specifically on -- I think on the digital side, which we've seen increasingly improve the time to breakeven across the board. So I think we're getting better in our grand opening process and that we're seeing it more effective in our clinics.

我們體認到，在疫情期間，我們不希望每個人在診所裡堵上三天。因此，他們將這項活動分散到一個月的時間內，然後他們特別添加了一系列新的項目——我認為是在數字方面，我們看到這在全面縮短了收支平衡時間。因此，我認為我們的開業流程越來越好，而且我們的診所也越來越有效率。

Okay. Great. And then next question for me, a modeling question. It's something that's in your Q, I was wondering for your Ks, but curious if you could just share with us on the call that so the quarterly breakdown of G&A between unallocated corporate and everything else, do you have that?

好的。偉大的。接下來是我的一個問題，一個建模問題。這是您在 Q 中提到的內容，我很好奇您的 K，但很好奇您是否可以在電話會議上與我們分享，那麼未分配的公司和其他所有費用之間的 G&A 季度明細，您有嗎？

George, I don't have it in front of me at the moment.

喬治，我現在面前沒有它。

Okay. Okay. Fair enough. And then last question for me is just back to pricing. What happened last -- when was the last time you took a broad based just an across-the-board price like you're doing now? And what happened? Is there really any impact or -- I mean, I guess, what gives you confidence with what you've seen in the past and with the pricing gap with some of your competitors? Like how are you thinking about volume changes or anything else as we approach this pricing increase?

好的。好的。很公平。對我來說最後一個問題還是關於定價。上次發生什麼事了－您上次像現在這樣採用全面價格是什麼時候？發生了什麼事？真的有影響嗎？當我們接近漲價時，您是如何考慮銷售變化或其他事情的？

Yes, it's a great question. The last wholesale price increase we did was back in 2016. And then in really the 2019-ish time frame, we did market adjustments just moving certain markets up a tier. But 2016 was the last time we did an across-the-board increase similar to the one that we'll be launching on March 1. What typically happens is in each of those scenarios, we always grandfather in the existing rates.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我們上一次提高批發價格是在 2016 年。但 2016 年是我們最後一次進行類似於 3 月 1 日推出的全面上調。

So if you're an existing member, that will be your pricing on a go-forward basis until such time that you cancel. So we always offer that. The phenomenon that results and is really there's kind of a rush to the window before that price increase for people to kind of lock in the rates to get a slight forward buy and then you get some nice kind of retention benefit as people kind of hang on to that pricing a little bit longer. But really, what that does is kind of delay some of the new sign-ups under that higher rate.

因此，如果您是現有會員，那麼這將是您今後的定價，直到您取消為止。因此我們始終提供此項服務。由此產生的現像是，人們在價格上漲之前蜂擁而至，鎖定利率，進行少量遠期購買，然後由於人們會將該定價保留一段時間，因此你會獲得一些不錯的保留收益。但實際上，這樣做會延遲一些較高費率下的新註冊。

When we looked at those factors and we monitor a lot of KPIs, as we look at new patient interest, as we look at conversions onto our subscription model or retention. So far, we've seen very favorable metrics any time that we've gone through that. So it's something that we always do very carefully. As we mentioned in the script a few different times, affordability is a core tenet of what we do and will always be. So we have to be very mindful anytime that we touch price. But in a time frame where you're facing some of the labor pressures that we are, we felt we needed to make that adjustment to remain competitive.

當我們考慮這些因素並監控大量 KPI 時，我們會關注新患者的興趣，關注訂閱模式的轉換或保留。到目前為止，我們在任何時候都看到了非常有利的指標。所以我們總是非常小心地做這件事。正如我們多次在腳本中提到的那樣，可負擔性是我們工作的一個核心原則，而且永遠都是如此。因此，我們在任何時候觸及價格時都必須非常小心。但在你們面臨我們所面臨的一些勞動力壓力的時間段內，我們認為我們需要做出調整以保持競爭力。

And our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Van Sinderen of B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Jeffrey Van Sinderen。

Just wondered if we could circle back to the model and some of your assumptions. Any further insight that you could give us around kind of how you're thinking about the quarterly progression or annual assumptions that you're baking in for gross margin, selling, marketing, G&A, just kind of considering the new greenfield buybacks and kind of planned amidst a number -- a larger number of franchise clinics you're expecting to open? And I guess if there's anything you can give us in terms of first half or second half weighting of any of those elements?

只是想知道我們是否可以回到模型和您的一些假設。您能否進一步向我們介紹一下，您如何考慮毛利率、銷售額、營銷費用、一般及行政費用等季度進度或年度假設，是否考慮了新的綠地回購以及您計劃開設大量特許經營診所？我想您能為我們提供一些關於這些元素的前半部分或後半部分的權重嗎？

Yes, lots of variables there, Jeff, to work through. The one more predictable element that we can usually count on within our model is the top line performance, right? We've been fortunate to have continued organic growth, so strong comps, and then we expect accelerated unit opening. So on the top line, I would project a gradual incremental build throughout the quarters. Cost of revenue for us is largely tied to that. So a fairly predictable line. You get down to sales and marketing, and that is largely -- such a large driver of that is dependent on the timing of our national marketing fund spend.

是的，傑夫，有很多變數需要解決。我們模型中通常可以依賴的另一個可預測因素是頂線表現，對嗎？我們很幸運能夠持續保持有機成長，因此同店銷售額成長強勁，我們預計新店開幕速度會加快。因此，就營收而言，我預計整個季度的營收將逐步增加。我們的收入成本很大程度上與此相關。因此這是一條相當可預測的線。你談到銷售和行銷，這在很大程度上——其很大程度上取決於我們國家行銷基金支出的時機。

So I always go to my Chief Marketing Officer and ask that he spent that perfectly ratably throughout the year. It's just harder to do that. So typically, you see a little bit of back-end weighting to that national marketing fund spend. And then as we mentioned, some of that will be contingent on clinic-level activities, when do we have those preopening marketing, those grand opening marketing expenses.

因此，我總是會去找我的首席行銷官，並要求他全年合理地使用這些資金。但做到這一點就比較困難了。因此通常你會看到國家行銷基金支出有一點後端加權。然後正如我們所提到的，其中一些將取決於診所級別的活動，我們什麼時候進行那些開業前行銷，那些盛大開業行銷費用。

As it stands right now, I don't project too much variability between our greenfield openings. But as we saw, went into 2021 with that same assumption, and we ended up a little bit more back-end weighted than I would like. So still working through some of that. But the G&A fluctuations are largely tied to the clinics as they build. So it's probably the best I can do on a broad brush.

就目前情況而言，我預計我們的綠地開幕之間不會有太大的變化。但正如我們所見，我們帶著同樣的假設進入了 2021 年，而我們最終的後端權重比我希望的要高一點。因此仍在努力解決其中的一些問題。但一般及行政開支的波動很大程度上與診所的建設有關。因此，這大概是我能做的最好的概括了。

Okay. Understood. And then just if we can touch on the new software system, I guess, plans and timing to layer on some of the newer applications you're developing or working on this year. When you expect some of those applications to begin to, I guess, to hit and then to begin to have an impact on the business, especially interested in when you can start to mine and leverage patient data.

好的。明白了。然後，如果我們可以談談新的軟體系統，我想，計劃和時間將對您今年正在開發或研究的一些較新的應用程式進行分層。我想，當您預計其中一些應用程式將開始發揮作用，然後開始對業務產生影響時，您會特別對何時可以開始挖掘和利用患者數據感興趣。

Sure. And I think it's a great question, Jeff. And obviously, one we're really focused on, and it really is incremental for us and that we are just so excited to have our new CTO, Charles Nelles, who is really helping us to refine that road map. And so we really see this as a progression. And so we still have some cleanup issues, quite frankly, in terms of just making our existing system more user-friendly for the end users that we definitely see doing that patient portal and mobile check-in, that probably will be a little bit later, that won't be early in this year, that we're working on the creation of a data warehouse. It really does start unleashing the power of that data, but that's going to take time to develop.

當然。我認為這是一個很好的問題，傑夫。顯然，這是我們真正關注的重點，它對我們來說確實是漸進的，我們非常高興有新任首席技術官查爾斯·內爾斯 (Charles Nelles) 來幫助我們完善這份路線圖。因此我們確實將此視為一種進步。因此，坦白說，我們仍然存在一些清理問題，只是讓我們現有的系統對最終用戶更加用戶友好，我們肯定會看到使用患者門戶和移動登記的最終用戶，這可能要稍後才能完成，不會在今年年初，我們正在努力創建一個資料倉儲。它確實開始釋放數據的力量，但這需要時間來發展。

So I'm not sitting here and say, oh, my gosh, okay, we got through the lift and shift and then you see this huge impact starting in Q1 2022. But what I'm expecting is that over time, we'll continually refine and improve and add more and more power to that as we build out that road map. So it doesn't give you a lot of detail around it, but I think we have very specific projects that we're working on. And as they develop and roll out, we certainly would be sharing them with you and the Street.

所以我不會坐在這裡說，哦，天哪，好吧，我們完成了提升和轉變，然後你會看到從 2022 年第一季度開始產生的巨大影響。因此，它不會向您提供很多細節，但我認為我們正在進行非常具體的項目。隨著它們的發展和推出，我們肯定會與您和華爾街分享。

(Operator Instructions) And we have a question from Anthony Vendetti of Maxim Group.

(操作員指示) 我們收到來自 Maxim Group 的 Anthony Vendetti 的一個問題。

Two questions. One on the AXIS IT platform and then one on the material weakness. And so maybe we'll start with the material weakness. So you announced preliminary results. Is the reason for that because of the material weakness, the auditors have to finish up. And I guess when do you expect to have audited numbers? And then what exactly do you need to do to satisfy the auditor's concern? It sounds like it's financial controls, right?

兩個問題。一個是關於 AXIS IT 平台，另一個是關於材料弱點。因此，我們或許應該從材料弱點開始討論。所以你們公佈了初步結果。原因是由於有重大缺陷，審計師必須完成。我猜您什麼時候能得到審計數據？那麼你到底需要做些什麼才能消除審計員的顧慮呢？這聽起來像是財務控制，對嗎？

Yes. It's our internal controls. And it's a fair question, Anthony. And you're right, we are still working through the final elements of our audit with our outside auditors. If you remember, we changed auditors in Q1 of 2021. So this is the first year that we're working through their full financial audit as well as our first year of 404(b) SOX compliance and subject to audit of our internal controls with them. So any time you go through an audit the first time through, you're going to go through that. Not to mention it's our first time as an accelerated filer with some of these accelerated deadlines. So we're going to come down to it. We have -- our filing deadline is March 1. So we'll continue to work with our auditors up and through that deadline to get that audited financials out there and file.

是的。這是我們的內部控制。這是一個合理的問題，安東尼。您說得對，我們仍在與外部審計員一起完成審計的最後工作。如果您還記得的話，我們在 2021 年第一季更換了審計師。因此，當您第一次接受審計時，您都會經歷這一點。更不用說這是我們第一次以加速申報者的身份面臨這些加速截止日期。所以我們要開始討論這個問題。我們的提交截止日期是 3 月 1 日。

Okay. Great. And then on the AXIS IT platform, how -- as that has rolled out, how has the reception been among the clinics, the franchisees. And any feedback, any tweaks to it. I was just curious what you've heard so far.

好的。偉大的。那麼在 AXIS IT 平台上，隨著該平台的推出，診所和特許經營商的接受度如何。以及任何反饋和任何調整。我只是好奇你到目前為止聽到了什麼。

Sure, Anthony. Absolutely, listen in a franchise system, you are never short of feedback. So we have a very active and robust franchise community, and they share all of their concerns with us and the positive things that are going on as well. And so I think like in any time that you are taking an existing system and asking everybody overnight to go to the new system, of course, there's going to be disruptions and you're almost learning the new language. And then you do all of this testing upfront and making sure you're minimizing any of the things that you're going to have to face as you roll this out.

當然，安東尼。當然，在特許經營體系中，你永遠不會缺少回饋。因此，我們擁有一個非常活躍和強大的特許經營社區，他們與我們分享他們的所有擔憂以及正在發生的積極的事情。因此，我認為，無論何時，當你採用現有系統並要求每個人一夜之間轉到新系統時，當然會出現中斷，而且你幾乎要學習新的語言。然後，您要提前進行所有這些測試，並確保盡量減少在推出產品時將要面對的任何問題。

But as you know, you can't really get into it until you have thousands of users using these millions of patient records to ensure where all these little bugs are get those cleaned up. And so I would love to tell you that we rolled it out, the franchisees just said that was the best thing they've ever seen in their life and everybody is happy. But I'd say it's a little more complex with that and that there are some changes in the new system that give quite frankly a little less flexibility on that line level that we're working through with our franchise community.

但如您所知，除非您有成千上萬的用戶使用數百萬份患者記錄來確保所有這些小錯誤都已清除，否則您無法真正開始這項工作。因此，我很高興地告訴你們，我們推出了這項服務，特許經營者都說這是他們一生中見過的最好的東西，每個人都很高興。但我想說的是，這確實有點複雜，而且新系統中有一些變化，坦白說，這些變化會降低我們與特許經營社區合作的線路層面的靈活性。

But overall, what's been really important is that to make that significant change from just flipping overnight from our existing platform to the new platform, the fact that it went through and with such little disruption, I just could not tell you how excited and relieved am I that we were able to accomplish that.

但總的來說，真正重要的是實現這一重大轉變，即在一夜之間從我們現有的平台轉移到新平台，事實上，它完成了，並且幾乎沒有造成任何干擾，我無法告訴你我對我們能夠實現這一目標有多麼興奮和欣慰。

And now we're really excited to really start unleashing that power. And that was really one of the reasons that we upgraded that position. We have our new CTO. I think that he's been here for less than a month, but just watching and working with them. He's continuing to reach out to our franchise community to really get a real understanding of what we need to do and the order need to do it so that we can continue to meet the needs of the system. So we're really excited about it. If at any time you go through this level of the transition, it's got its issues, but I've never had to deal with fewer issues in an environment like this, at least in my career. So I'm pleased with the work that was done to make this conversion.

現在我們非常高興能夠真正開始釋放這種力量。這確實是我們提升該職位的原因之一。我們有新的首席技術長。我認為他來這裡還不到一個月，只是觀察他們、與他們一起工作。他繼續與我們的特許經營社區聯繫，以真正了解我們需要做什麼以及需要按照什麼順序做，以便我們能夠繼續滿足系統的需求。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。如果你在任何時候經歷了這種程度的轉變，就會出現問題，但至少在我的職業生涯中，我從來沒有在這樣的環境中處理過如此少的問題。因此我對這次轉換所做的工作感到滿意。

Thank you. And there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over back to Peter Holt, CEO, for his closing remarks.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。現在，我將把電話轉回給執行長彼得霍爾特 (Peter Holt)，請他致最後總結。

Thank you, Lori, and thank you all for your time today. Our mission is improving quality of life to retain an affordable chiropractic care and I'm proud of the inclusion and cooperative culture we foster with all The Joint teams, our corporate staff, our RDs, our franchisees, our doctors, our wellness coordinators who time and again, deliver their best work to help our patients live their best life.

謝謝你，洛瑞，也謝謝大家今天抽出時間。我們的使命是提高生活品質以維持可負擔的脊椎按摩治療，我為我們與所有聯合團隊、我們的公司員工、我們的研發人員、我們的特許經營商、我們的醫生、我們的健康協調員共同培育的包容和合作文化感到自豪，他們一次又一次地盡最大努力幫助我們的患者過上最好的生活。

We were recently honored in the Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times and Franchise Business Review, all recognizing The Joint for our outstanding performance in growth, financial strength, stability and brand power. We look forward to seeing you at the D.A. Davidson Consumer Growth Conference and the Annual ROTH Conference both in March.

我們最近獲得了《企業家》雜誌、《特許經營時報》和《特許經營商業評論》的嘉獎，這些獎項均認可了 The Joint 在成長、財務實力、穩定性和品牌力方面的出色表現。我們期待在 D.A. 見到您。戴維森消費者成長會議和 ROTH 年度會議均於三月舉行。

I'd like to close with the doctor franchisee story. One of our doctors started The Joint in 2018. First, he's a chiropractor and then is a clinic director before becoming a franchisee owner operator. And he stated, I became a franchisee because I understood The Joint chiropractic model is nothing like anything else in the industry, providing a simple and easy operating model for delivering chiropractic care. It allowed me to do what I love doing without the hassle of the insurance game. So thank you and stay well adjusted.

我想以醫生特許經營者的故事來結束我的演講。 我們的一位醫生於 2018 年創立了 The Joint。他表示，「我之所以成為特許經營商，是因為我知道聯合脊椎按摩治療模式與業內其他模式不同，它為提供脊椎治療提供了一種簡單、便捷的操作模式。它讓我可以做我喜歡做的事情而不用面對保險的麻煩。所以謝謝你並保持良好的狀態。

Thank you, and this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。