If you’re considering starting a business in the sunny state of Florida, you may want to look into obtaining a franchise. Franchises are businesses that are focused on sustainable replication for business expansion. Before you can open a franchise store, you’ll need to negotiate a franchise agreement.
Franchise owners like cookie-cutter agreements
It’s important to craft an agreement with a franchise owner while understanding what they’re looking to get out of it. Since franchises are built on the idea of expanding through sustainable replication, they’re going to want you to sign a pre-made franchise agreement. They’ll want to resist any sort of significant changes to the contract as it just makes things more difficult for them.
You should expect resistance when it comes to requesting changes to any part of the agreement. However, that doesn’t mean that the owner won’t agree to changes in the franchise contract. Rather, you’ll need to have the right legal assistance and be persistent in trying to obtain the things that you want out of the contract.
Changes you may want to make
It’s a good idea to have all the changes listed ahead of time so that you can address the franchise owner with a complete list of what you consider reasonable changes to your contract. One area that you may want to address is the financing for your grand opening. You may ask them to contribute more money for things like advertising and marketing. Franchises usually come with a specific territorial protection clause that allows you to be the sole franchise owner for a specific mile radius. You may opt for having them give you a greater franchise area to keep competition at bay.
Franchise agreements don’t always have to be black and white. When a franchise owner provides you with an agreement for you to sign, it’s important that you take the time to determine what’s in your own best interests. While it can be difficult to negotiate an agreement with a franchise owner, it’s completely possible to do with the help of a legal professional.
