A sample franchise contract must be sent to the franchise applicant by franchise law but there is much more you can do with it with a little creative thinking.

A copy of a sample franchise contract is required to be sent to the hopeful franchise owner shortly before D-Day when you and that starry eyed future franchise magnate sit down to sign the formal franchise agreement template document. When you get ready to roll out hundreds or more franchise ownerships, it is easy to have a standard sample franchise contract on the shelf that you ship out just to punch the clock and live up to that quirk of the franchise rules.

There are places you can download a sample franchise contract template that is generic.  It is easy to consider simply sending that to the franchise owner and let it go at that.  Of course, if do that, when the franchise owner sits down to sign the actual franchise agreement form that will turn into a long term franchise relationship with you, he or she may find some surprises.  That is a situation that you should avoid at all costs because surprises when you are ready to seal the deal and collect those fat franchising fees can put big storm clouds over the relationship.

It takes more work but make it a part of your franchising program to send to each franchise applicant a sample franchise contract that is exactly what he or she will sign not that many days later. Much depends on how customized you make your sample franchise agreement for each franchise applicant.  The more you bend over backward to make each franchise relationship unique and a perfect fit for that particular market and franchise owner, the more success and big bucks you can expect from that franchise sale.

The sample franchise contract is a great way to stimulate conversation and relationship with your franchise partners.

There is no getting around that you have to send that sample franchise contract because that is spelled out in franchise law in bold letters. So while you are doing your duty as a good franchise operator and sending along that sample franchise contract, why not get some good from this step along the path to adding a new franchise to your chain?

Along with the legal hoops you jump through to take that raw franchise owner recruit from application to closing the deal, there is an educational path to take each new franchise owner through as well. Even if the franchise applicant is an old pro at buying franchises, if this is the first franchise they have bought from you, they need to learn the ropes. The sample franchise contract is a great step to stimulate questions and to get a dialog going with the franchise applicant.

Along with the sample franchise contract, you can send support material that encourages the new franchise owner to ask questions and arrange meetings to clear up any hazy areas about that document or any other quirks of the franchise relationship. A smart franchise buyer will turn into a much better franchise owner who will deliver the goods when it is time to roll up his sleeves and turn that franchise into a huge money making operation. You can help that new member of your team become that productive by using the sample franchise contract step of the process to build that partnership into something that will stand the test of time.

The format of franchise agreement will take some getting used to but by understanding it advance, you will fly through the process of buying your own franchise small business

When you are new to the process, the format of franchise agreement will seem very odd to you. The franchise agreement is a unique animal that will not read like the newspaper or even a business memo that you ever saw in your life.  That is why it is smart to take some time to understand the format of franchise agreement before the moment of truth arrives and you are ready to click your pen and sign your life away investing in a new franchise opportunity.

You should remind yourself that the franchising company does not mean to make the franchising documents cryptic or hard to understand.  Much about the format of franchise agreement is simply the nature of the beast and it is you who is getting used to this new way to conducting a business discussion.  There will be new terminology that makes up the format of franchise agreement and you will be expected to have already become a native in the world of franchising long before the final franchising documents are signed and it is time to roll up your sleeve and get to work building a world class franchise outlet for the company whose name is now outside your building.

One way to get that feeling of disorientation that could happen when you start to look at the format of franchise agreement for the first time is to look at it well in advance of any formal steps that will happen when you and the franchise get serous about working together. There are plenty of ways to get that orientation on the fly.  You can download templates that will show you the format of franchise agreement as well as the contents and how you should go about slicing and dicing that tricky document when the next one you see has your name on it.

Don’t let the legal language that is part of the format of franchise agreement throw you.

One reason that the format of franchise agreement is awkward to the average Joe or Jane is that the franchising company has to let the lawyers in the room when the franchise documents are prepared.  The entire franchising process is heavily regulated from the handshake to the final agreement process and even past that too.  Before we scream conspiracy theory about the evil interference of government, keep in mind that most of that oversight is for the benefit of the franchise buyer and that the franchising industry has exploded since the feds got their fingers in the middle of it with so much franchise law.  So having that much regulation may not be such a bad thing.

But all that regulation makes for some very strange language in the franchising documents which makes the format of franchise agreement very weird to the regular person. It might be smart to get your own set of franchise legal wizards in on the act when you start looking at the format of franchise agreement for the document that will become your marriage license in this new love affair with the franchising company.

You will be able to see the actual format of franchise agreement for the paperwork that you will sign at least a week before the date of the big step to take ownership over your own franchise comes along.  Jump all over the sample format of franchise agreement that they send to you and have your overpaid franchise lawyers jump all over it too.  If you do that, you will be able to waltz into the meeting to sign on as a new franchise owner knowing that you did your part to make sure you know what is what and that this is a sweet deal for you and for the franchising company.  If you did your homework well in reviewing the format of franchise agreement, you may be in for a very profitable new franchise experience indeed.

Take some time with a franchise agreement PDF so that you are up to speed on the steps leading up to buying your own franchise.

A franchise agreement PDF is a way for you to look ahead in time to that moment when you say “I do” to the marriage between you and the company you are buying a franchise from. Buying a franchise is not the same as buying a can of tuna fish from your local grocery store.  It is a process that can take weeks if not months of reviewing documents, negotiating the terms of the franchise agreement,  and getting preliminary preparations on your end done so that when you do sign that document, you are ready to hit the ground running to get your exciting new franchise small business off the launch pad.

Anytime you start out on a great adventure, having a roadmap of what to expect is a great start. By getting your hands on a franchise agreement PDF, that can serve as the road map to the future that you need. It is not to difficult to find examples of a franchise agreement PDF online that will show you what kinds of things you will be agreeing to when you make that deal to buy a new franchise to launch your empire.  They are accessible online to download in franchise agreement PDF format and they are an excellent template to give you the inside track on what you are getting yourself into.

Along with the preparations you do before that final day that you buy that franchise, you will get a franchise agreement PDF from the franchising company about a week before the actual legal document shows up for you to sign.  You should be aware that any franchise agreement PDF that you get as a template for what these documents look like will be general in nature.  The franchise agreement PDF and the final document you get from the franchising company will be customized to the specific line of business you and the franchising company are in as well as with specific tweaks based on how that franchising company works and any changes that you may have worked out with your new business partner.

Studying a franchise agreement PDF far in advance of buying a franchise is preparation, not cheating.

By the time that first draft of the actual franchise agreement PDF is sent to you, you should be well educated in what each franchising document is telling you so there are no surprises when you pay your franchise fees and it is time to open the doors of your new franchise outlet. That is why looking at templates of the various franchise documents should be considered to be part of “franchising 101” for you.

This kind of preparation by examining templates of the major franchising documents is not cheating.  If anything, the franchising company is looking for people who are industrious enough to hunt up a franchise agreement PDF so you are well prepared for the big task of building a wildly successful franchise for yourself and for them.

Don’t be afraid to download templates of the other important franchise documents to learn all you can from them. The franchise disclosure document  is a major publication that will come to you big enough to choke a horse so learning how to slice and dice it ahead of time will cut down on the fear and trembling you will go through when it shows up on your doorstep. Just chock up to preparation time this step of accessing a franchise agreement PDF. It is all just living up to that age old motto of the Boy Scouts of “be prepared” when it comes to getting ready for this huge step in your career of buying a franchise small business.

 

The franchise agreement format is a necessary step toward selling a franchise to a new partner so make it a useful tool as well.

You are required to send a franchise agreement format to any new franchise owner within a week of closing that big deal and sealing another great franchise purchase for your company. So since franchise law is not going to budge on insisting that you provide a franchise agreement format to your future franchise owners, it makes sense to put some thought and TLC into it so it really does help the process along.

For one thing, in the same way that you are not allowed to skip out on sending that franchise agreement format as part of the process of preparing for the final signing of the franchise agreement,  the future franchise owner will be expected to know every paragraph and line of what is in there.  So you can put the guns of the law to good use by using the franchise agreement format as a way to force feed some serious franchise training into the process.

There are a number of franchise documents that must be passed along to the future franchise owner and each of them is valuable even if they are a bother for you to create and for the franchise applicants to have to digest.  By the time you put the stamps on the franchise agreement format to send it along the future franchise owner, that poor soul already has had some time to go over the franchise disclosure document that is a virtual encyclopedia of information about your company and what will happen when the franchise process goes full steam ahead.

That disclosure documents can get very large and involved so the franchise hopeful has to do some serious homework to understand that huge document.  So when they get the much more manageable franchise agreement format, they will have already paid their dues. So you know you have a potential franchise owner who is willing to put in the hours to make this business relationship work.

Using the franchise agreement format to create smart franchise owners.

When that final moment comes that you sell a franchise to a new member of your franchise community, it is a big deal.  It is not all about just collecting that fat paycheck when the new franchise owner ponys up his or her franchise fees.  It is about growing your business and making that work.  You want that new franchise owner to hit it big and for that new outlet of your business to take off like gangbusters.  That can only happen when that new franchise manager knows the score.

Sending the franchise owner a solid franchise agreement format is part of showing him or her the ropes.  By the time the checks are written and that franchise owner must translate all of that giddy enthusiasm into the hard work of creating a world class franchise, there should be no more surprises.  Communication is your magic spell book of turning that franchise owner into the big money maker you want them to be.

The franchise agreement format is just one step of many in the process of creating a seasoned old pro at running a franchise out of a raw recruit.  It is your job to mold that fresh young franchising newbie into a rock solid business man or woman who can handle the challenges and jump over the obstacles like a gazelle to steel that franchise to massive success.

Along with the franchise agreement format, you will support that evolution with a franchise operation manual that will become the bible of what to do in every situation in the life of that business. Armed with these great documents and your phone number to call anytime that franchise owner needs some help, you simply will not let that new franchise fail. That is the stuff success is made of.

Business franchise templates are great tools for businesses that are creating franchise documents but they also can help hopeful franchisees get ready for their new adventures.

Business franchise templates have been developed for a specific crowd to use.  They are a good tool for a business that wants to get into franchising to jump start the process of developing their franchise documents. But there is a little trick that people who are interested in buying a franchise can use to tap the franchise information that is buried away in those business franchise templates.

It isn’t a very difficult trick to master.  By downloading some very basic business franchise templates and doing a little research and snooping around, you can get the lay of the land about what lies ahead in your grand quest to land a franchise. By simply looking over these samples of the kinds of franchising documents that you will see come your way once you are up to your ears in the franchising process, you can get your franchising sea legs in a hurry.

While any franchising documents that you get once you have started the ball rolling to buy a franchise will be customized to the specific business, there are a lot of common elements that you can pick up on by looking at business franchise templates.  If you are just starting the process of picking a franchise or two to open talks with or filling out franchise applications, you can get access to quality business franchise templates online that will help you learn more about the process. These information rich documents can serve as your crash course in franchising 101.  By studying them, you become a smarter franchise applicant and you can chase away the butterflies out of your stomach too.

You can be ahead of the game getting your information gathered by learning from business franchise templates.

When a business and a potential franchise owner start that delicate process of feeling each other out, a lot of information has to come to the table. Its all about that one word – accountability. You want to know that the franchising company knows what they are doing and that the franchise you spend your life savings to buy will be a massive financial success. But look through their horned rimmed glasses for a minute. The franchising company wants to know that you are for real too.

You can be ahead of the game by knowing what kinds of documentation you should have ready when you start actually having that back and forth dialog to buy a franchise.  By looking at business franchise templates, you can get a good idea what will be expected of you on that fateful day when you sign that franchise agreement to get the party started.  You can also know what you have to be able to demonstrate to show to the franchising company that you are a management guru and will own one of the most profitable outlets in their franchising chain.

A simple step of taking a day to review the various business franchise templates can become that crash course in franchising. It can school you in the terminology, the time frames and the responsibilities that lay ahead in your quest to own your own franchise.  That education alone is worth the effort to review a few business franchise templates just to get the lay of the land.

Using the master franchising concept, you can take great franchise owners and turn them into master franchisers and expand their success and yours along the way.

It is hard to say if master franchising benefits the franchising company or the franchisee more. The concept is an elegant one to be sure.  Instead of developing a small army of franchise owners, each of which operates one franchise per owner, you take the real winners in from your franchisee elite and let them operate many franchises by offering sub-franchisees that they train and run based on their vast experience and expertise. In exchange, you fork over a little bigger piece of the pie from the profits of those sub-franchises and with that exchange, you pass to the master franchising candidate a boat load of headaches, costs and risks.

The changes to the franchise agreement can be handled by your legal eagles who know the in and outs of franchise law.  It is all very legitimate and it is a beautiful way to kick your franchising program into the next level. You can continue to grow your empire through franchising but the results in terms of reduced effort, overhead and risk to the franchising company plummet even as your profits sour.

The control of risks alone should make master franchising a very sweet deal to the big bosses in your company. As much as we put a sweet spin on the business maneuver of franchising, there is always a risk.  When you sell a franchise to a new partner, you do all you can to snoop around and make sure that he or she has the right stuff to make it big running one of your operations. By try as you might, some people can’t cut it. When a franchise fails, that is terrible for the franchisee and you lose a bundle too.

Master franchising turns over the risk of opening new franchise to the master franchising guru.  You know that the partner you are signing a master franchising agreement knows his stuff because there is a track record of stunning growth and profits that you already get from that franchisee. So why not mine that huge experience and let him or her make you even big piles of money through master franchising.

Master franchising means everybody shares in a bigger pot of money.

When you bring in that candidate for master franchising to negotiate a deal with, it isn’t hard to dangle some sweet profits out there to wet his appetite.  Along with taking over the recruitment, the training, the management and the risks of handling sub-franchise, you will be able to put a nice increase in profits into that master franchising agreement.  You get to still keep raking in the big profits from the anchor franchise your master franchising candidate runs because that isn’t going away.

The change is that all of that seasoned knowledge about how to turn a franchise into a cash cow is now gets spread to man sub-franchises. Not only can that master franchising guru train his or her charges to run serious profitable outlets of your business, he or she can jump in there and fix things when they break and fine tune each sub-franchise until it is a money generating machine too.

The result is the master franchising guru gets to use his or her hard fought experience to get very rich indeed. The sub-franchise managers begin to get a taste for serious money that they can enjoy working in a tightly run franchise and you see the cash flow from the chain of operations run under the master franchising agreement explode making you huge amounts of money.  That is a win-win-win situation.

The franchise application is not too early to start to sell yourself to the franchising company as someone they want on their team.

The franchise application step is the first significant document you will fill out on your quest to buy a franchise from a popular business. In the last few years, buying a franchise has become one of the Cadillac ways to strike it rich when starting your own business.  If you can land one of the primo franchises that everybody wants, all that stands between you and tremendous success is a bunch of investment capital and even more hard work.  The name recognition, explosive customer base and amazing corporate good will all comes with that franchise name that you are buying into will do all the rest.

The downside of that much potential wealth just laying out there is there is a lot of competition for the good franchise opportunities. Whether you want to buy a franchise in Starbucks, Wendy’s or some other very successful business, you can bet that when you submit your franchise application, it is competing with hundreds of other money hungry entrepreneurs who want that franchise just as much as you do.

The key is to know the tricks for how to get your franchise application picked so you move on toward the franchise agreement that you want. One thing that a franchising company looks for is that you are a person who loves to deal with the public and that you have a lot of success doing so.  Look for ways to brag about the success of your current business and putting a big and bright spotlight on how well you have done making customers love you. That is what will set your franchise application apart from the rest.

Look on the franchise application as a type of job interview and be who they want you to be.

When you start to fill out your franchise application, it is not too early to think about getting your ducks in a row financially.  When you state boldly that you are floating in the capital and credit that you need to afford the franchise fees, royalties and start up costs, be sure you really are that financially healthy. Be honest on the franchise application because overstating your financial health will only come back to haunt you later.  There is no getting around it that when you turn in that franchise application and you make the cut as a franchise owner they want on their team, they are going to check your credit rating. So make sure it is four star before you even start filling out a franchise application.

When a franchise company is ready to franchise a small business and set you up for great success, they want to know that you know exactly how to take the ball and run with it. That means you know how to be a team player and create a franchise the bosses back at the mother ship will be proud of. But it also means you can run your own ship as an independent business person and solve problems and come out the other end smelling like a rose.

Your success in running your own business before you started the franchise application should scream out that you are just the guy or gal they are looking for.  Make sure your franchise application shouts those qualities of sound judgment, good business savvy, the ability to get on board with the bosses and still make it big as a small business franchise owner all wrapped up in one neat package. If that is the song your franchise application sings, you can bet your paperwork will cause you to get the call that they want you to take the controls of their next successful franchise outlet.

The franchise contracts that legally define the roles of franchisee and franchisor are not above questioning.

When you sit down to sign franchise contracts with a company that is selling the franchise, be sure you have already reviewed every concept in that document so your expectations line up with what they really will do for you.  Because many of the franchise documents such as the franchise disclosure document are very involved, complicated and large, it is easy to think that buying a franchise is all about franchise contracts. It is also easy to get intimated by the fact that the franchising company has a small squadron of lawyers who put together those scary looking franchise contracts.

Don’t let them hustle you with slick marketing, lawyers in expensive suits and glossy looking franchise contracts and promotional literature. A franchise relationship is all about two businesses negotiating a deal.  Negotiation is a two way street and even though you are “the little guy”, you still have the right to say yes or no to franchise contracts right up to when you click that pen and put your autograph on the dotted line.

The company selling you that franchise has just as much on the line as you do.  Those franchise contracts must line up with the promises both made and implied when they sold you the idea of buying a franchise from them. Those words “sold” and “buying” are important.  The franchising company is selling you a product. You are not a new employee of theirs. You are a customer so you can expect every promise that was used to “sell” you that franchise to show up in slick lawyer language in the franchise contract.

Know what you are obligated for when you sign those franchise agreements.

Next to holding the franchising company accountable for what is in the franchise contracts, be sure you know what you are promising when you take out your pen and sign that franchise agreement.  When that franchise contract is signed, you will be in a legally binding relationship that comes with obligations that are spelled out in detail in the various franchise contract documents.

There are financial obligations that come due the moment the franchise contracts are signed. So you should understand down to the last dime, nickel and penny what you are paying and what that buys you.  You may be responsible to subscribe to the franchising company’s advertising and to pay a share of other costs of running your franchise.

So before you stand up from the table after signing those franchise contracts, get a firm understanding of who pays for what, when and how much. If you need to get your own swat team of high priced lawyers and accountants in on the act, do it.  Far better to go overboard before signing those franchise contracts than to regret it after when nothing can be done to change those contracts in your favor.

Asking “Can I franchise my business?” is just the first step to buying a franchise and getting on the road to success and owning your own business.

When a small business person asks, “Can I franchise my business?”, that question alone means a lot.  It means that you have the ability to dream big and you have the backbone to dare to think that there is a way to blow past the limitations of your current situation to become even more profitable.  It means that you understand that franchising a business is a huge opportunity but that it will come with plenty of challenges as well.

But you never passed out in front of a challenge.  So if you have the question in your mind, “Can I franchise my business?”, hold onto it.  Just starting to wonder about the potential could be that first big step toward owning a franchise of your own.  The best reason to start researching the huge opportunities that may lie in buying a franchise is that you are ready be launch out on a new business adventure because you have conquered all of the current challenges before you.

“Can I franchise my business?”  The first step, of course is to learn all you can.  The great news is there is so much franchise information out there that you will have no trouble getting the low down on how to start on your quest to success and huge money in franchising.  The second great news that you will be happy to hear is that businesses who sell franchises hand over fist are eager to talk to you and they can help you understand everything that is involved when you sign a franchise agreement with them.

There is very little cost and no risk to just asking the question, “Can I franchise my business?” As you dig deeper, you will find out the financial resources you will need and the amount of work that goes into becoming a franchise owner and running a very profitable franchise of a large national chain. There is no sense sugar coating it that when you stick your hand out to shake hands with a company that is selling you a franchise, it is going to mean a big investment of cash and hard work.

If you ask yourself, “Can I franchise my business?”, you owe it to yourself to find out the answer.

It is impossible not to notice that more and more successful small business people are taking the plunge and asking themselves, “Can I franchise my business?”  The potential profits that can be made when you take your considerable business and management savvy and sink it into a growing franchise opportunity are huge.

On top of the wealth that is waiting for you, there is a lot of pride and prestige that goes with being an owner of a successful franchise of a well known company.  You still are a small business owner because you bought that franchise. You do not work for the franchising company. You work with them to make both of you very rich. At the same time, the sign on your building is one that everybody knows and it alone will bring customers rushing to use your products or services.  It is the best of both worlds because you have all the clout of a big business and all the freedom and pride of owning a small business.  So if that question, “Can I franchise my business?”, flits across your mind, don’t let it go out the other ear. It may be stage one of a new and exciting and very profitable new world for you.

 

 

 

Franchise law is a big part of what you must navigate as you prepare to make big money in franchising but it is worth the effort.

When you get ready to offer franchises of your prosperous business, it pays to be aware of franchise law issues that must be handled just right. When it gets right down to brass tacks, that franchise agreement that you sign with each and every bright eyed new franchise owner is a legal document.  The new franchise owner is committing to get in there and roll up his or her sleeves and make that franchise work.  That commitment includes a long term time frame where nobody cuts and runs, lots of hard work and big piles of money as well. And when money is involved in a business relationship, there are contracts.

There is no getting around that the government big shots have their noses in the middle of the franchising process in a big way. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Since the FTC has become more active in managing franchise law, the business phenomenon of franchising has taken off like a rocket ship. So clearly, for once the politicians are helping more than they are hurting.

That said, you should be on top of what is required by franchise law as you start to roll out your franchising business.  That advice is especially true when it comes to franchise documents such as the franchise disclosure statement. The all important franchise agreement is what makes everything legal and puts you and the new franchise owner in a legally binding relationship that some have suggested is even harder to get out of than a marriage license.

Finding the right franchise lawyer.

It makes sense that early in your discussions about launching into the world of franchising, you should get a good franchise lawyer involved.  Now you may think you have enough lawyers working with your company to recreate the OJ trial but think twice about simply calling in your general corporate attorneys to handle the complicated issues of franchise law and how to properly prepare franchising documents to strike the right kind of deal with future franchise partners.

Franchise law is a very specific area of government regulation. A lot of money is on the line when those franchise agreements kick in.  Not only do you call for some serious cash from the franchise owner in franchise fees, but when the big profits start to roll in, franchise royalties can fill up everybody’s’ bank accounts. To make sure that every franchise document you present to that future franchise owner is absolutely kosher, look for a franchise lawyer who specializes in this area of business legal representation.

The details of franchise law get even more complicated when you factor in franchise law for the state where the franchise buyer resides and does business. This can get pretty complicated if you begin to sell franchises in many states. The anti gets upped even more when you take your franchise empire international. You want a franchise lawyer who knows how to deal with the many layers of franchise law each step of the way. If you get that kind of help and you do all you can to understand franchise law in your daily dealings with your vast army of franchise owners, the results can be very rewarding indeed.

 

 

Next Page »