FRANCHISE LAW
Franchise Law Articles
Plain-English analysis of FDD reviews, franchise agreements, exit strategy, and ongoing counsel for franchisees and franchisors.
477 articles
Franchise Training Program: A Franchisor Checklist
A franchise training program should teach a new franchisee to run the business to your exact standards — and it must deliver everything you promised in Item 11 …
Franchise vs Independent Business: Legal Guide
The choice between buying a franchise and starting an independent business is, at bottom, a trade between a proven system with strings attached and full …
Franchisee Exit Strategy Checklist
The franchisee exit checklist comes down to three jobs: read the clauses in your franchise agreement that control how you can leave, get your financials and …
Franchisee Performance Metrics: A Franchisor Checklist
The franchisee performance metrics worth tracking fall into four groups — financial, operational, customer, and compliance — and the ones you can actually …
Franchisor Rights and Obligations in a Franchise Agreement
Balancing a franchisor’s rights and obligations comes down to one principle: every right you keep to control the brand carries a matching duty to support …
Franchisor's Guide to Exit and Transfer Provisions
Exit and transfer provisions let a franchisor control who takes over a unit and on what terms — protecting the brand, continuity, and royalty stream when a …
Funding a Franchise After a Job Loss, Safely
The safest way to fund a franchise after a job loss is to protect your living expenses first and avoid putting your entire savings into one business. Most …
Future-Proofing Your Franchise Agreement
You future-proof a franchise agreement two ways: by building flexibility into the contract so most changes happen without amending it, and by following the …
Ground Round: When the Franchisor Collapses
The Ground Round’s collapse is a striking lesson in franchisor abandonment — and in what franchisees can do when the company they signed up with simply …
Handling Competition Between Your Franchisees
Competition between franchisees is best handled through the franchise agreement itself — clear territory rights, encroachment and channel rules, consistent …
How Franchisors Actually Make Money
Franchisors make money mainly from royalties — an ongoing percentage of each franchisee’s gross sales, usually in the 4% to 8% range — plus one-time …
How Long Does It Take to Franchise a Business?
Franchising a business typically takes about three to six months to go from the decision to franchise to a finished, registration-ready Franchise Disclosure …
How the Franchise Renewal Process Works
Franchise renewal is the process of extending your franchise for another term when your current agreement expires — and it is a conditional right spelled out in …
How to Assess Each Franchise Unit's Performance
You assess a franchise unit’s performance by measuring it against the performance standards written into the franchise agreement — not against a gut …
How to Build a Franchise Recruitment Strategy
A franchise recruitment strategy rests on four parts: a clearly defined ideal candidate, a lead-generation engine that reaches them, a legally compliant …
How to Draft a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)
A Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is the federally required disclosure a franchisor must give every prospective franchisee before selling them a franchise, …
How to Evaluate a Franchise's Peer Network
A strong franchisee community is a real asset, and you can size it up before you buy by using the FDD’s Item 20 franchisee list to call current and former …
How to Get Out of a Franchise Agreement
When a franchise isn’t working out, you usually have four realistic ways out — fix the problem, negotiate a release, sell the business, or terminate for …
How to Keep Franchisees Engaged for the Long Term
You keep franchisees engaged for the long term by making them profitable, giving them a real voice, recognizing performance, and treating them fairly — and the …
How to Launch a Franchise: A Founder's Checklist
Launching a franchise runs on two tracks at the same time: building the legal franchise system (trademark, Franchise Disclosure Document, state registrations, …
