When it comes to all the legal intricacies of a franchise agreement, using relatives that are attorneys such as your Uncle Bob, or your Aunt Peggy may be a pitiful choice.
Legal disclaimer: Uncle Bob and Aunt Peggy are pseudonyms for any relative or close family friend that may also be attorneys. To all the Uncle Bob's and Aunt Peggy's...sorry.
What I am trying to say is that when it comes to huge decisions such as investing in a business of your own, it may make sense to use specialists familiar with business ownership questions.
When you purchased your first house, did you look in the phone book for a Realtor? Or did you start asking around for names of the right people for your situation? Did you work with just any Realtor? Or did you work with one who was familiar with the area in which you were looking?
If you are going to write a check to a franchise company for $30k, start by doing things right throughout the entire process. I just did a seminar on franchising, and a nice lady came up to me beforehand, to ask a question. Keyword here is beforehand
Question: "Hi...I know it is probably too late, but my husband and I just purchased a franchise last week, and we think we made a mistake." I think we should have talked to you before we bought this franchise."
My response:" WOW! What type of franchise is it?"
Answer: "It is an advertising related franchise, where we would go out and sell advertising."
My response: "OK. So what is the problem you are experiencing?"
Answer: " The selling part of it is not what we expected."
My response: "Meaning?.."
Answer: "Folks don't seem to like advertising salespeople. This is not right for us.Can we get our money back?"
I hope this lady can recoup some of their investment. My suggestion to them was to go out and hire a salesperson right away! This nice lady sounded like she was prepared to write off her losses.... I hope that she and her husband re-think this, and find a way to make it work. They will not be getting a refund from the franchise company.
When it comes to small business/franchise ownership, I am constantly amazed by the people who invest in a franchise, without even talking to the current franchise owners of the franchise they just purchased!
If one knows the questions to ask, one can easily get the answers.
The point here is that if you are willing to invest your money into a business of your own, but you let the excitement of finally not having to work for anyone anymore get the best of you, mistakes will be made.
If you are thinking seriously of investing in a franchise of your own, and you are pretty far down the path, make an appointment with an attorney familiar with franchise agreements. The franchise contract itself is usually 20+ pages long, and filled with head scratching legalese. An attorney who is familiar with franchising can save you time, money, and future headaches. I am a franchise expert, and can barely understand the contracts that I see on a daily basis.
Do this part right, folks.
Use a Franchise Attorney When Investing In a Franchise! - To learn more about this author, visit Joel Libava's Website.
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Joel Libava
(Visit Joel's Website)
I am a Cleveland, Ohio franchise
consultant, and popular industry blogger.
In addition to running several blogs and
websites of my own, which are focused on
franchising and small business, I am an
author on several others. I finished my
first book, recently. "The Essential Steps
To Researching a Franchise Opportunity."
is available at this website:
www.FranchiseResearchSteps.com
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The Franchise King Blog - Northeast Ohio's franchise guru discusses all things helpful for prospective franchise owners, current franchise owners, and franchise company execs, including tips, traps, industry trends, and some dirt. "I would definitely want Joel Libava in my corner any time." - Rhonda Sanderson, Sanderson PR
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