Tips for Reading the FDD – Advice for Franchise Businesses

The FDD is easily the most difficult aspect of the franchise buying process to understand. There is so much information in this and the legal language can be difficult to understand. This is why many people are intimidated by the FDD. Here are a few things to think about when looking at this document for pet franchises or any other franchise you are buying.

Look at Each Section Individually

Before you start you may look at this giant document with small print and be completely overwhelmed. The best thing you can do is to mentally dissect the document into sections. This breaks it down and makes it easier to understand. This should already be broken up into sections so all you have to do is just look at one section at a time.

Hire a Franchise Attorney

Another way you can get a better understanding of what the franchise agreement says is to hire a lawyer to go over the documents for franchise businesses. They will be able to break this down for you so you can understand the language. The lawyer is integral to the FDD as they will ensure you are not getting the short end of the stick. You should not rely on the lawyer alone to read this. You also want to go through the document to make sure you know what is expected of you in this.

Talk with Your Franchisor

After reading through the FDD you may still have some questions about the franchise businesses you have read through. Whether you are buying food franchises or something else, you want to make sure that you know exactly what you are getting into. Along with hiring a lawyer you should also hire an accountant that specializes in franchises to ensure the business will be viable for you.  If there are any concerns you have after reading through this, then you need to discuss this with the franchisor.