1, trademark, trade name, etc.

In most franchise chain systems, the franchise headquarters owns the following intangible assets: trademarks, trade names, products, patents and proprietary technologies;

When signing a franchise contract, the intangible assets owned by the head office and the types and scope of authorized franchise stores to use these intangible assets should be accurately and clearly stated.

2. Contract terms

The term of the contract is the duration of the relationship between the two parties. This period is long or short, ranging from 3 to 5 years to 10 years, and there is no specific standard. In the contract, it should also be indicated that the franchise stores are allowed to have the right to extend the time limit. If the extension period is not stipulated in the contract, and the headquarters is unwilling to sign a contract with a longer term, then the franchise stores may have to pay a high franchise fee if they want to renew their contracts in the future.

3. Types of services provided by headquarters

The contract should specify in detail what services the headquarters will provide for the franchise stores, including the initial services before opening and the follow-up services after opening.

Initial services: mainly site selection, decoration of franchise stores, purchase of equipment for opening stores, etc.

Follow-up service:

Including the effective implementation of franchising activities by the headquarters to help maintain standardization and corporate profits;

The headquarters constantly improves the innovative operation mode and teaches it to franchisees;

The headquarters conducts market research and transmits market information to franchisees;

Headquarters to carry out centralized and unified promotion and advertising activities; Headquarters provides franchisees with preferential sources of centralized procurement;

Management consulting services provided by headquarters experts for franchisees.

Listing these services in detail in the contract is a legal protection for the interests of franchisees.

4. Obligations of the franchisee

Franchise stores have obtained the right to use all kinds of intangible assets in the headquarters, and have been supported by all kinds of services in the headquarters, so that their operations can quickly gain a foothold and get on the right track, but they have to pay a certain price and bear corresponding responsibilities. In order to make franchisees clear their responsibilities and obligations and constrain franchisees to perform their duties, these matters must also be included in the franchise contract in detail.

Although the headquarters and franchisees are the only signatories in the contract, in order to establish a sound business system, the headquarters has added some clauses to ensure the interests of other franchisees and the public. Because any franchise store can't maintain its due standard, it will more or less damage the reputation of the franchise system, and then affect the profits of other franchisees, so the obligations of both parties should be listed in the contract in order to safeguard the interests of all parties.

Generally speaking, the operation manual contains some contents related to the obligations that franchisees should perform as a reference guide for franchisees' business activities after opening. With the development of franchise system, the operation manual will be constantly updated and improved.

5. Operation control of franchise stores

The biggest feature of franchising is that it is highly unified in business and mode, so that independent franchisees can form an external image of unified fund management under the provisions of the contract. If one of the franchisees does not operate according to the unified requirements of the headquarters, it will destroy the overall external image and damage the reputation of the entire franchise system.

Therefore, the headquarters must effectively control the franchise stores to ensure that the operating standards and norms can be meticulously implemented. In order to get the franchisee's understanding and acceptance, it is necessary to specify in detail in the contract how the headquarters controls the operation of the franchise stores.

6. Transfer of franchisees

Franchisees may not be able to continue to operate franchisees for various objective reasons, which involves the transfer or sale of franchisees. Whether the franchise store can be transferred, how to transfer it and to whom should be written into the contract to avoid disputes in the future.

Some contracts also make it clear that if franchisees want to transfer or sell their own enterprises, the headquarters has the preemptive right, or has the right to choose the object of transfer. In this case, it must be noted that the transfer price of the franchise store should be based on the market price.

7. Arbitration

There will inevitably be some conflicts between the two sides, and arbitration is more suitable for resolving conflicts. Arbitration is actually a private lawsuit conducted by arbitrators selected by both parties. Its advantage is that the whole procedure is conducted in private. In order to save time and cost, both parties can set arbitration rules in the contract in advance, and the arbitration time can be determined according to the conflict situation at that time.

Here, it is very important to choose who will be the arbitrator. If the arbitrator is improperly selected and makes an unfair or objective award, both parties or one of them will be dissatisfied, which will eventually expand the contradiction and bring the two parties to court.

8. Termination and consequences of the contract

Once a contract is established, it cannot be torn up or terminated halfway. However, there are also incidents in which both parties fail to abide by the contract. The contract should clearly stipulate the extent to which either party violates the agreement, and the other party has the right to terminate the contract. Of course, it should also be stated whether the party who violated the agreement has the opportunity to make up for his own fault, so as to avoid the consequences of the termination of the contract.

Generally speaking, after the termination of the contract, the franchisee can no longer use all the commercial trademarks, names, signs and other rights of the headquarters, and can not engage in similar business activities for a certain period of time.