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Entering a franchise agreement

We read the agreement properly and tell you what you are actually committing to.

A franchise agreement is the only commercial contract most people sign that governs their working life for a decade. It sets what you can sell, where, at what price, who you have to buy from, what you pay for the privilege, and what happens to the business you built if the relationship ends. It was drafted by the franchisor’s lawyers, for the franchisor, and the parts that matter most to you are rarely the parts the franchisor talked about. Reading it properly takes a few days. Living with it takes years.

Speak to a lawyer What is included

The end of the term, checked first

Renewal, transfer and restraint clauses decide whether the business you build is ever one you can sell.

Unusual separated from standard

You find out which terms are genuinely aggressive and which are simply how every franchise agreement reads.

A basis to negotiate

Some franchisors will move on territory, renewal or transfer for a franchisee who asks properly and early enough.

What are you actually agreeing to in a franchise agreement?

Four things, mostly. A licence to use somebody else’s brand and system, on their terms and only while they allow it. An obligation to operate the way the system says, which can extend to suppliers, pricing, fit-out and trading hours. A payment structure, usually an upfront fee plus ongoing royalties and a marketing levy. And a set of rules about how the relationship ends: whether you have a right to renew, whether you can sell the business and to whom, what the franchisor can do if you breach, and what you are prevented from doing afterwards. The Franchising Code of Conduct sits over all of it and gives franchisees protections the agreement alone does not, including a disclosure document a set period before you sign and a cooling off period after.

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What does the Franchising Code give me?

A disclosure document a set period before you can sign, a cooling off period afterwards, a good faith obligation on the franchisor that runs for the life of the relationship, a process the franchisor must follow before terminating for breach, and access to a dispute resolution procedure. These apply regardless of what the agreement says, and they are often more than franchisees realise they have.

Can I negotiate a franchise agreement?

Sometimes. Franchisors with large established networks resist changes that would make one franchisee’s terms different from everybody else’s, and that resistance is genuine rather than a negotiating position. Smaller or growing systems are frequently more flexible, particularly on territory, renewal rights and transfer conditions. We will tell you which of your terms are worth raising and which are not.

What happens at the end of the term?

It depends entirely on the agreement, and this is the section most often skimmed at signing. The questions are whether you have a right to renew or only an option the franchisor can decline, whether you are compensated for goodwill if it is not renewed, whether you can sell the business and who has to approve the buyer, and what you are restrained from doing afterwards. We look at this first.

How long should I allow for a review?

Usually about a week from receiving the full documents, which fits comfortably inside the disclosure period the Code requires before you can sign. If the franchisor is pressing for a faster decision than that, it is worth asking why, because the Code exists to stop exactly that pressure working.

Get it reviewed before you sign anything

Send us the franchise agreement and the disclosure document. We will tell you what the agreement actually commits you to, which terms are unusual, what the Code gives you regardless, and what is worth putting back to the franchisor.

The document was written by the other side, for the other side

You have done the commercial work and the numbers stack up, and now there are several hundred pages in front of you that you are not equipped to assess and are being encouraged to sign fairly soon. The risk is not that something in there is unlawful. It is that the terms are perfectly lawful, entirely one-sided, and you will not find out which ones matter until the relationship is under strain and you have no leverage left.

We will read the franchise agreement and disclosure document in full.
We will tell you in plain terms what the agreement commits you to and what it costs across the whole term.
We will flag the terms that are unusual and separate them from the ones that are simply standard.
We will advise on what the Franchising Code of Conduct gives you regardless of the agreement.
We will help you put any terms worth negotiating back to the franchisor.

The opportunity looks right and the paperwork is in front of you

You have found a franchise that fits what you want to do. You have looked at the territory, spoken to other franchisees, and worked through the numbers, and it makes sense. Then the agreement and the disclosure document arrived, running to hundreds of pages of terms you have no practical way of judging. The franchisor would like an answer. What you would like is somebody to read it properly and tell you, in plain terms, what you are signing up to and whether any of it should worry you.

What's included in your franchise agreement review service

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Full review of the franchise agreement and disclosure document.
A plain-language summary of your obligations, costs and restrictions.
Analysis of the renewal, transfer, termination and restraint of trade terms.
Advice on your protections under the Franchising Code of Conduct.
Support in putting negotiation points to the franchisor.

The clauses that matter later

Franchisees who run into trouble have almost always done the commercial due diligence well. What they did not do was read the agreement with the right questions in mind, and the clauses that cause the damage are rarely the ones that look important at signing. Territory that turns out not to be exclusive, so the franchisor can open another site nearby. Supply obligations requiring you to buy from approved suppliers at prices the franchisor sets. Renewal that sits at the franchisor’s discretion, which means your business has an expiry date you do not control.

The worst of them is the end of the term. Many agreements let the franchisor decline to renew without compensating you for the goodwill you built, and then restrain you from operating in the same industry for a period afterwards. A franchisee in that position has spent years building a business they cannot sell, cannot keep, and cannot replace with something similar. All of it is in the document, and all of it is visible before signing.

From hundreds of pages to a decision you understand

We read the agreement and the disclosure document in full and give you the short version: what it commits you to, what it costs across the term rather than at the start, what the franchisor can do unilaterally, and what happens at the end. We flag the terms that are unusual against what we ordinarily see, and separate those from the ones that are standard and simply unwelcome.

We also tell you what the Franchising Code gives you regardless of what the agreement says, which is often more than franchisees expect. Then, where terms are worth raising, we help you put them properly. Some franchisors will not move on anything. Others will, particularly on territory, renewal and transfer, for a franchisee who asks well and asks early. Either way you sign knowing exactly what you have agreed to.

How we get you to a decision

From hundreds of pages to a clear answer, usually within the week.

Read it properly

We work through the franchise agreement, the disclosure document and everything attached to them, in full.

Tell you what it means

We give you a plain summary of your obligations, the total cost across the term, what the franchisor controls, and what happens at the end.

Put your position

Where terms are worth raising, we help you take them back to the franchisor in a way that has a chance of succeeding.

Agreements read by lawyers who also draft them for franchisors

Franchise opportunities arrive with momentum attached. The franchisor wants a decision, you have already put time and hope into the idea, and pausing for advice feels like it risks the whole thing. It is worth remembering that the Code deliberately gives you a minimum period with the disclosure document before you are allowed to sign, precisely because this is not a decision meant to be made at speed.

We review franchise agreements regularly and we also build franchise systems for franchisors, which is the useful part. Having drafted these documents from the other side, we know which terms are genuinely standard, which are unusually aggressive, and which ones a franchisor will quietly adjust if they are asked properly.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Know what you are signing before you sign it

Send us the franchise agreement and the disclosure document. We will tell you what you are actually committing to, which terms are unusual, what the Code protects regardless, and what is worth putting back to the franchisor.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590