One of the biggest challenges for any business is offering a popular product or service while also standing out from the crowd. To succeed, businesses need to strike just the right balance between familiarity and novelty—and this is one of the reasons why franchising is so popular. Strong franchise systems offer a recognizable brand coupled with unique (often proprietary) and in-demand products and services.

Read More

There are lots of important factors to consider when buying a franchise. While most prospective franchisees will pour over the numbers and spend hours evaluating potential locations, relatively few give due consideration to the terms of their franchise agreement. As Chicago franchise agreement lawyer Jeffrey M. Goldstein explains, this can prove to be a costly mistake.

Read More

Lots of franchises fail. While some franchisees simply aren’t cut out for business ownership, more often than not, franchisees’ lack of success is due to factors beyond their control. This includes factors their franchisors can control but either: (i) choose to handle poorly; or, (ii) fail to handle effectively due to poor leadership or organization. As an Illinois franchise lawyer, this is a fact that Jeffrey M. Goldstein knows all too well.

Read More

Many former employees have taken the leap to start their own businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, while some businesses have struggled (and are continuing to struggle) due to the pandemic’s economic effects, others are struggling to keep pace with pandemic-generated demand. With this combination of factors in mind, is now the perfect time to invest in a business services franchise?

Read More

Franchise Direct is one of several media outlets that publish a list of “top” franchises each year. Notably, Franchise Direct has also published lists of its top 100 non-food franchises and its top 100 franchises with 100 units for 2022. In this article, we take a look at some of the “top” picks in these franchise reviews.

Read More

A recent article on Franchise Direct discusses workers’ growing desire for flexibility and posits that “a franchise might be the best flex-job ever.” The article goes on to discuss many of the reasons behind workers’ desire for flexibility and suggests that “franchising fits the bill” in many cases. But, as national franchise attorney Jeffrey M. Goldstein discusses below, there is a big difference between owning a franchise and collecting a paycheck while working from home.

Read More

Several years ago we published an article titled, What Not to Expect from Your Franchisor. That article was intended as a warning to prospective franchisees who were going through the buying process with a rose-colored vision of what it meant to own a franchise. But, let’s say that now you bought a franchise, and you are struggling to get the support the franchisor’s sales reps promised before you signed. What can—or what rather what should—you expect from your franchisor? National franchise lawyer Jeffrey M. Goldstein explains.

Read More

In recent years, many franchisors have turned to celebrity endorsements to boost their brands’ presence on social media. While this increased exposure is ostensibly good for franchisees, franchisees may or may not want to be associated with certain celebrities for various reasons. This is especially true when the celebrities their franchisors choose are controversial—as discussed in a recent Franchise Times article. Let’s say your franchisor has signed a celebrity endorsement deal, and let’s say you aren’t interested in using the celebrity’s image or selling the celebrity’s signature merchandise. Do you have a choice? National franchise attorney Jeffrey M. Goldstein explains.

Read More

According to the Franchise Times, Planet Fitness recently signed an agreement to acquire 114 gyms from one of its largest franchisees. The purchase price? A reported $800 million. While this deal is notable for its scope and dollar value, franchisors buy franchised outlets all the time. If you are interested in selling your franchise to your franchisor, here are some important considerations from franchisee lawyer Jeffrey M. Goldstein.

Read More

With dozens of pages and tens of thousands of words, franchise agreements are long, complicated and difficult to read. But, when buying a franchise, understanding the terms of your franchise agreement is extremely important, and there are three little words that could drastically increase the risks of moving forward. These words are “lost future royalties.”

Read More