Franchise Law

As a potential franchisee, you cannot afford just to trust the franchisor to have written a contract that will work for you. You need to review it thoroughly before signing to cement your agreement.  Known as the franchise disclosure document, it outlines your future...

You possess an entrepreneurial mindset and have been thinking about owning a franchise. In the U.S. alone, there are approximately 674,000 franchise owners, and you wish to become part of this statistic. Owning a franchise is a popular way to make money, but it does...

If you want to buy into a franchise, the first thing you have to do is get out your checkbook and make a payment to the franchisor for the franchise fee. How much do you have to pay? It depends largely on the particular franchise you want to operate. Opening a Subway...

What’s one of the most important considerations when buying a franchise opportunity? Location. No one wants to go to the trouble of setting up a business only to have someone turn up and plant theirs right next to you.  As a franchisee, you need to enter into a...

The relationship between the franchisee and the franchisor can sometimes be delicate. Relationships can quickly start to break down where a franchisee feels like they’ve been misled or unsupported in business operations, and they consider their business is suffering...

When you want to open a franchise, you’ll have to sign a franchise agreement. This is to protect you and the franchisor. It sets expectations and enables you to know your responsibilities.  You shouldn’t ever sign a franchise agreement unless you read through the...

The allure of a franchise is indisputable. In many cases, you’ll benefit from existing brand recognition, a proven business model and actionable data. But there are no guarantees in business. Humans and their spending habits can be fickle. A wildly successful business...

There are thick piles of papers to wade through before franchisees buy or open a business. Covering a business's purchase, sale or merging, mergers and acquisition agreements (M&A) are addressed early in the transaction process when examining finances, tax...

There has long been a debate about failure rates for franchises. One outdated study claimed that only 5% failed and 95% succeeded, so some people will continually repeat this statistic. It is outdated at this point, but it’s a problem that permeates the industry. If...

It can be tedious and expensive to resolve a franchise dispute. While the first thing a franchisor and franchisee may do is talk out the difficulties that caused the dispute, not everyone is willing to negotiate. If a dispute isn’t resolved, then people may look to...