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Helping
Franchisees
Additional
pages on franchise law:
Franchise Law
Helping Start-up Franchisors
Helping Existing Franchisors
I help
franchisees, including new franchisees and experienced
multi-unit developers and master franchisees.
I help
franchisees with counseling on whether purchasing a
franchise is right for you, your purchase, termination and
renewal of franchises, review and comment to the franchise
package (including the franchise agreement and the franchise
disclosure document / UFDD), buying and selling of operating franchises, etc. I
also help with your general legal needs, for example,
formation of your corporation / LLC, review and negotiation
of your real property lease, partner / shareholder issues,
employment issues and more.
For a legal
compliance checklist when buying your franchise and setting
up your business, see
Legal Compliance Checklist for a Startup Franchisee.
If you want
help understanding the franchise disclosure document (UFDD / UFOC)
that your franchisor has given you, see my article
The
Franchise Disclosure Document.
To
understand how your franchise's non-competition covenant
works against you, see
Franchise Non-Competition Agreements in California.
If you are new to the game and want to learn more about
buying a franchise, go to these sites:
o
The FTC has a good list of links at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/invest/business.shtm
o
The California Department of Corporations has a franchises
page with helpful publications; go to
http://www.corp.ca.gov/SRD/franchise.asp
o
FoodFranchise.com is a good online resource for food
franchises.
The three sites all provide good advice on buying a
franchise from the consumer’s perspective.
Please remember that buying a franchise is a serious and
long-term commitment. You will sign binding contracts, for
example, the franchise agreement, a personal guaranty and a
real property lease. If things don’t turn out as planned,
you can’t just walk away. For this reason I highly
recommend that you get the advice of a business attorney
with franchise experience before buying into a franchise
system.
Legal Fees.
For a flat fee of $2,000, I will review the franchise
documents, including the Franchise Agreement, and give
you a written summary of their more important terms.
The franchise flat fee does not include additional work
such as negotiation, lease review or general corporate
work (but for this work I usually can quote flat fees
based on the type of work). Otherwise I charge $225 per
hour.
A final note about franchise brokers: Franchise brokers help
franchisors (that is, the sellers of the franchise) find
franchisees (who are the buyers of the franchise). Brokers
work for the franchisors and are paid by the franchisors.
Brokers maintain relationships with certain franchisors and
they might steer you to their favorite franchisors.
Franchise brokers can be very helpful, but you should
remember that their interests align with the franchisors. | 