n the mid 1970’s when I began consulting with business owners there were only a hand full of consultants who specialized in franchise development. Back then, the Federal Trade Commission’s Rule 436 had not even been active. The only regulations on franchising were in fifteen (15) states that adopted the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) where a franchisor could not offer a franchise within their jurisdiction without prior registration and review of the document. Today a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is required in all regulation states as well as nationally. This document, depending on the actually business system and opportunity being described may be anywhere from 40 pages upwards to a 100 pages. There are 23 basic items that MUST be disclosure with numerous sub items.

Before the FDD can be prepared, a franchisor needs to have the proper business structure or entity created along with a name that can be trademarked federally through the United States Patient and Trade Mark Office in Washington, D.C. The trade name is the corner stone of the franchise business. As the name is branded regionally and nationally, more valuable the franchise becomes. Brand name recognition by the general public is what all franchisors strive to obtain and achieve over time.

As you can already see, a consultant teaches, informs and prepare the new franchise client for franchising. The more knowledgeable the franchisor becomes the better equipped the company is to make the proper decision related to franchise. One of the most important factors in franchising is the franchise system. Developing a concept or existing business into a franchise system requires many decision. And for every decision to be made there may be multiple options to consider.

Profran Consultants uses a 21 page questionnaire to learn particular facts about the business concept. Most young franchisors discover that during the franchise development process, they learn things about many aspects of their business never before considered. Often a young franchisor will state I would have never considered all of the options available to me had I not decided to franchise my business.

An experienced and seasoned franchise consultant can make the transaction from business owner to franchisor exciting, enjoyable and effortless in most cases. One of the most common questions is, “don’t I have to go to an attorney to develop a franchise?” My answer often surprises most potential clients when I say, “Not in the early stages of development.” Unless the attorney is a franchise business consultant in addition to being an attorney, the answer is no. Attorneys are trained to provide legal advice and prepare legal documents. How can an attorney assist or help you when there has been no evaluation of your business provided or business system developed? Many franchisors have waste time and money having an attorney prepares the required document before the franchise system has even been developed. There is a time and place for the attorney involvement but not necessarily at the beginning. One of the most important tools in the franchise system is the franchise operations manual. Contained within the FDD is the actual franchise agreement that franchise candidates sign. The franchise agreement refers to the operations manual in many places therefore how can an attorney prepare an agreement without knowledge of the operations of the business contained in the operations manual?

As a franchise consultant I’ve consulted with thousands of business owners who were considering franchising their business. The majority of those were recommended NOT to franchise because of one or more factors. But over 800 over the past 30 plus years were encourage to proceed with their dream to franchise. Business and management evaluation is extremely necessary in making the decision to franchise. Franchise is not for every business or everyone.