Not that precise is it? Why are legal agreements written in Legalese? Well the real reason is because the language needed to describe the exact nature of the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee needs to be clear. The colloquial, or conversational nature of the first paragraph leaves too many holes.

Franchise agreements should be comprehensive documents and tend to be between 40 and 60 pages long. You will find as you start to look into franchising that they are weighted in favour of the franchisor but should be fair. The reason that there are obligations on the franchisee is because the franchisor has to protect the business and also protect the other franchisees in the network. The reason that there are obligations on the franchisor is because the relationship should be fair despite it being one-sided in favour of the party with more to lose; i.e. the franchisor.

So contracts are written is legalese, weighty, favour one party and are also non-negotiable. This is why it is crucial that you get the contract independently assessed by a bfa affiliated lawyer.

They should be non-negotiable because you need to know the contract that you are on is the same as everyone else. The reason for using a specialist lawyer is that they understand franchise law and will therefore save you time and money by not making suggestions for changes that will never happen. The reason for getting it assessed when it won't be changed is that you still have an option, whether you sign it or not!

Finally make sure that you do see the agreement, if you don't see it, if you don't understand it, if you don't consider it, on what terms are you contracting to start your business?

So there was this bloke, yeah, his name was Mike he was considering franchising and took Dave's franchise agreement to a bfa affiliated lawyer.

Eyes wide open!

Dan Archer
Head of Marketing
British Franchise Association