Document Franchisor Obligations

Your obligations to your franchisee are a critical part of the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC). Since this is a binding contract, it behooves you to go into a great deal of detail. You want to be fair, and you can always do more than you contract for, but you do not want to be in a situation where the franchisee can claim you have to do more because you didn’t say you wouldn’t do it. Use this section to your benefit. Begin it by stating “Except as listed below, we need not provide any assistance to you.” Then list, by category, what services you will provide.

Major categories include:

• Before opening
• During operation
• Advertising
• Computer systems
• Operations manual
• Site selection
• Time of opening
• Training