Writing your own franchise agreement document can be intimidating so don’t be afraid to get some help from the experts.

Creating a solid franchise agreement document is one of the big steps any business has to get past to launch a major franchising effort.  It is not hard to get excited about how franchising your company can put your expansion plans into high gear. But it can be intimidating if not downright scary to think about how to draft a workable franchise agreement document because the franchise agreement is a legally binding contract between you and those who invest in your franchises.

You do not want to make a mess of this document. At the same time, do not fall into the trap of stalling out in the process of creating a franchise agreement document.  The drafting of the significant franchising documents should be done early on in your plans to start selling franchises of your business because without them in place, you really cannot move forward.  So make a plan and carry it out with courage. It may not be a difficult as it seems.

Creating a great franchise agreement document is best done as a three step process.

There is an old saying that goes, “Don’t try to eat the whole elephant.” It is a goofy image but the meaning of the saying is to take on a big challenge by breaking it down into little challenges. So we can apply the elephant eating idea to writing a franchise agreement document.  The best approach is to separate the process into three steps.

Step one is to find some reliable franchise agreement templates to study.  These templates will lay out exactly what kind of information you need to cover in the typical franchise agreement document. You can even take this step to the next level and hunt up franchise agreement examples from similar companies as you so you can see what industry specific types of topics that must be covered.  After all, a franchise agreement document for a hardware store chain is going to differ significantly from a franchise agreement document for a fast food chain. So try to narrow in on what you need.

Step two is to “brain storm” your own franchise agreement document.  Now that you schooled yourself in the basics of what goes into a franchise agreement document, tap into that industry expert that lives inside of you.  Create a draft of the franchise agreement document that reflects in words your vision of how your vast network of franchises will work.  The key to what makes this step work is to not worry a bit about if that draft is legal or correct.  Just get your ideas out of your brain and then organize them into a rough format of a franchise agreement document that you learned from step one.

Step three is to get some help.  If you ever wondered if you will need a franchise lawyer or other experts in this peculiar business step, the answer is yes! So spring for a good franchise lawyer and don’t just take the first name in the yellow pages. Your franchise agreement document gurus can fine tune your brain storming from step two into a great franchise agreement document that lives up to every detail of franchise law and that covers your back nicely.

Be sure that franchise lawyer has a resume of success in setting up franchise operations and that he or she knows your industry niche well. By doing that, if you are franchising a fast food chain, you won’t end up with a franchise agreement document for a hardware store.