Every franchise document that must be signed is a step toward your success and happiness as a future franchise owner

Each franchise document is just as much of the dream of owning your own franchise as the rewards you seek. The image you might have in your mind about owning a franchise may be a vision of opening the doors to your wildly successful business with customers forcing their way in with money clenched in hand to spend in your store. But the reality is that there are some details to cover along the way. Above all, to get from here to there, you need plenty of franchise information so you know what you are doing when you fork over your hard earned money to buy your own franchise business. Each franchise document that you must review will give you the clues to the puzzle to how to become a big winner in the game of owning your own franchise business.

There are a couple franchise documents that may seem dry and dull but understanding them can make you a happy camper in the franchising world.  You can learn about franchise operations by sitting around a McDonalds and taking notes. But looking at each franchise document is a smarter way to go and a better use of your time to boot.

An important franchise document with a strange name is the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular because it makes it sound like junk mail you get from your grocery store. Instead, the UFOC represents one of the most detailed documents you will get that lays out in plain English not only what you and the franchising company must do to make your partnership fly like an eagle but exactly how much it is all going to cost.  The number crunchers in the accounting department will like that.

The franchise agreement is a franchise document that means the day you open your doors of your own small business is right around the corner.

Next to the UFOC, the franchise document that can most change your life is the franchise agreement. Look at this document like the marriage license in terms of its importance. There is no romance here but when you and the franchisor sign the franchise agreement, your franchise relationship is set in stone and you are ready to make some serious money.

You can expect both the UFOC and the franchise agreement to be delivered to you in the two weeks before the franchise partnership is about to become a reality. Yes, you can believe it that each franchise document is important. It is important because they will change you from a casual observer into a full fledged franchisee.  But they are also legal documents that you and the franchisor will sign that puts the relationship into motion.

So that is why they are like a marriage license without the cake or the “kiss the bride” part.  But you can stage a big celebration and bring your own cake because once you have mastered and signed every franchise document, your new business will be ready to go for the gold.  That is worth a cake and a kiss from somebody to be sure.