Before buying a franchise: prepare an independent legal review

01 / Practical step

Create a document receipt log

Record each document’s title, version and date received, including the franchise agreement, disclosure material and attachments. Keep messages requesting payment or a signature. Tell the adviser whether anything has already been signed or paid. Ask the adviser to check applicable process requirements and timing; do not calculate a signing window from a summary or assume that a later draft changes every relevant date.

02 / Practical step

Map the linked commitments

List the premises agreement, finance, equipment, business purchase and any guarantee alongside the franchise agreement. Identify which documents use different parties or dates. Ask who will check that the dependencies fit together and what happens if one approval is unavailable. A review limited to the franchise agreement may leave another commitment unexamined. Commercial and financial viability also need their own assessment.

03 / Practical step

Frame questions about operating the business

Ask how required purchases, fees, marketing arrangements, territory, changes to the system and renewal are described in the documents. Bring the explanations supplied during sales discussions. The ACCC provides official pre-entry guidance and recommends understanding the agreement before signing. Use it to prepare questions rather than treating it as approval of a particular franchise or a substitute for tailored advice.

• Agreement and disclosure material with receipt dates
• Lease, finance and guarantee documents supplied
• Sales representations you want checked against the contract
• Questions about changes, renewal, transfer and exit

04 / Practical step

Commission a defined independent output

Request a written issues list explaining which documents are reviewed, what needs clarification and what falls outside the engagement. Ask whether advice about the lease or guarantee is included and who handles negotiation. If an accountant is also advising, decide who coordinates overlapping questions. A certificate or acknowledgement that advice was sought is not the same thing as a recommendation to invest.

05 / Practical step

Illustrative example: two different terms

A proposed franchise runs for a different period from the premises arrangement supplied to the buyer. The buyer asks the legal adviser to explain how those documents interact and what happens at each expiry, while the accountant models the financial assumptions separately. This invented example identifies an enquiry to resolve. It does not say either agreement is unlawful or that renewal will be available.

06 / Practical step

Keep a record of unresolved dependencies

Before making a decision, distinguish questions answered in writing from expectations discussed informally. Ask for clarification about changed documents and additional work before authorising it. Keep signing and payment decisions visible in the action list. If there is pressure to proceed before the review is complete, show the actual request to your adviser rather than assuming a standard waiting period protects the decision.