Franchising Documents

Franchising can be an overwhelming process due to its associated expenses, labor and reams of paperwork. Putting together franchising documents can be confusing and time-consuming, but there are ways of minimizing these problems and making the process streamlined and efficient. All of these approaches to simplifying the documentation of franchising have one thing in common: they involve seeking the guidance of more experienced people.

Franchising experience can be shared with prospective franchisors in a number of ways. One of these ways is through franchise consultation agencies or individual franchise consultants. The consultants in these two contexts are well-versed in the intricacies of franchising because of their special training and their experience helping other clients with their franchising needs. Some of them actually learnt franchising the hard way: by trying to franchise their own businesses and learning what worked and what didn’t along the way.

Ultimately, figuring out which of these consultants is the best for your needs will come down to his or her track record and your budget. If you choose to go with a consultant, make sure to get recommendations beforehand. The amount of money paid to consultants for help putting together franchising documents can be so high that you must be sure you are getting your money’s worth from the get go.

 

Using Templates for Franchising Documents

 

Another source of guidance on franchising documents is the franchise package, including all the document templates and instructions you will need to put together the franchising documents on your own. These templates and instructions will have been put together by professionals who are intimate with the franchising process and have themselves helped other clients to franchise their businesses. Hence their guidance will be a great comfort to you. Of course the process will not be an interactive one: you will not be able to talk to the people who compiled the document templates and ask them questions that are unique to your circumstances. You will have to resolve any issues you encounter along the way by referencing various resources.

This can be a challenging way to put together franchising documents. However, if you are diligent, thorough and know what your best resources are, it is manageable. One advantage of doing things this way is that learning from experience empowers you to make more informed decisions about your franchise company. Another advantage is that it will save you lots of money if you succeed in doing it the right way. If you decide to follow this path, make sure to consult professionals for legal matters and matters relating to accounting. These are not areas where you should wing it, no matter how great you are at independent research.

When the bulky franchising documents start coming your way, instead of feeling intimidated, look on this phase as part of your basic training in becoming a franchise owner.

When the many franchising documents that you must review begin to flood your mailbox, don’t give in to the impulse to hide under the bed.  First of all, the franchising company is not trying to scare you out of your wits with those huge franchising documents full of legal statements of everything from the money you have to pay to how hard you are going to have to work. In fact, the franchising company has to send you all of that franchise information because if they don’t, they are going to be in hot water with franchise law.

When you sit down to sort out the massive amount of detail that comes flying at you in those franchising documents, the divide and conquer method is a smart plan. A good example is the franchise disclosure document which may be so bulky that you have to carry it in two hands for fear of dropping it and breaking a toe.  It is huge for good reasons. By law the franchising company has to disclose every tiny detail about themselves and about what will happen every step of the way on your grand adventure into buying a franchise from them.

This is not light reading. But you should gather your courage and face your fears when it comes to reading that disclosure document or the many other kinds of franchising documents that will come your way.  Overwhelmingly franchising documents must be prepared with you in mind.  That means two things that should cheer you up.  First it means that when you sink your teeth into franchising documents, you will find that franchise law is on your side.  So while those franchising documents are massive, they are your best friends in getting ready for buying that franchise.

On the job training in franchising document form.

The second happy news is that it is the law that franchising documents should be written so you can understand them.  They are not going to be a bunch of legal gibberish that only an overpaid lawyer will understand. They will make sense to you once you get a cup of coffee and sit down to take it all in.  So take your time and dive in head first.  You may like what you find.

Look on the time you have to invest in reading those big franchising documents as a type of on the job training. If you ever thought that it would be great if you could break into the franchising company’s offices and read their secrets, put away your burglars mask and flashlight.  It is all there in those franchising documents and it is being given to you without cost and without you having to break the law.

Even though franchising documents are intended to be understandable to the average Joe or Jane who is interested in buying a franchise, do not be afraid to have your own franchise lawyer look them over.  You have that right and a franchise lawyer who has your back may find areas for you to question before you plop down your hard earned money to buy that franchise. So be nosey and insist that you understand everything in those franchise documents and that it all is what you like. If you do that, you will sail into that franchise relationship ready to take on this big adventure and turn it into a massive success that will fulfill you dreams and make that franchising company pretty happy as well.

 

 

The legal requirement that franchising documents must be understandable to the average person impacts franchisee and franchisor in different ways.

Franchising documents must be understandable to the average person.  That is more than just a cute idea.  It is part of franchise law.  Since franchising documents originate with the franchisee, you take the kick off on making those documents complete and accurate but also so any average person can read them and get what you are saying.

This can be tricky.  Franchising documents are, after all, legal documents that will eventually become signed and binding agreements between you and every small business person who buys a franchise from you. So cannot just lock the doors and not let the lawyers take a crack at making sure the franchising documents are right.

What you can do is to have your franchising documents reviewed by “average people” that you have hanging around your offices to make sure they can be understood by a potential franchisor. Obviously, you have to assume that the concept of the average person means you are writing your franchising documents to be understood by adults with sufficient education to run a business and be successful dealing with the many financial and legal issues that all grown ups deal with.

The idea here is to cut down on the legal mumbo jumbo.  Have your “testers” jump all over any legal terms that show up in those franchising documents.  Let them ask questions about terminology such as, “What does this mean?”  If some legal terminology pops up in your franchising documents that confuse your testers, some rewrites are in order.

A franchise lawyer or no franchise lawyer? That is the question.

For those who are launching out on the adventure of buying a franchise, brace yourselves.  You are going to be seeing a number of franchising documents show up and it is important you read them and understand them. The understanding part is the important thing because what is written in those franchising documents well, in essence, be the story of your life when you own that franchise and you are an active partner with this strange creature called a franchisee.

You can expect those franchising documents to be understandable by you without the aid of a lawyer. If they are not, you should not be afraid to let the franchisee know that you are having trouble because you have the law on your side that the documents should not be a jumble of legal terms.

You may wonder if you should retain the services of a franchise lawyer as well before you sign those franchising documents.  The answer is yes but not necessarily right away. You should be able to read them and grasp the ideas there without the help of a high priced legal team. But since the step of signing those franchise agreements is a legally binding  step, it pays to have your own franchise gurus look over what is there to make sure the documents line up with state and federal franchise law and that there is nothing missing that you need in there to cover your back.

It is just a smart idea to have your own legal eagles on board to watch out for your interests.  Signing those franchising documents is the start of your new life as a small business owner running a very prosperous franchise operation.  Make sure you start it out right by handling those franchising documents with care.