Franchise Key:
Franchising has many advantages; on the other hand, it imposes many obligations to both franchisors and franchisees, as in any close collaboration.
The franchisor’s obligations are to provide the elements recognized by the clientele (brand name for instance), to provide a concept, to transfer a certain know-how, and to provide constant assistance.
No one can be a franchisor if he does not own a brand name, and transfer this brand name to his franchisees. Thus, it is the franchisor’s responsibility to react against counterfeit.
Know how is at the heart of franchising. Without it, there would be no such thing as a franchise. This know how is precisely defined in the 1988 community regulation. It must be a set of non-patented practical information resulting from the franchisor’s experience, and tested by him. The whole must be substantial, identified and secret.
Technical assistance starts when the contract is signed. It can have many forms: continuous training of the franchisee and his staff, engineering services, boutique fitting out and product selection, advertising campaigns planning, legal consultation, set up of a legal department to the whole network, set up of a logistics hub, providing income statement model…